complementary medicine

Hi Trinick,

I'm gathering from your second-line of treatment with Tarceva there was no reduction in your cancer? How long have you been on Tarceva? Did you have any nose bleeds from Avastin?

My suggestion about complementary supplements would be such in no particular order (with the caveat you should research and read up more about the supplements and talk them over with your oncologist):

1. Since you're not on standard chemo anymore, I don't think you have to be concerned with the antioxidant counter-effects to chemo. So try eating a raw, minced garlic clove (after letting it rest for about 10 or 15 minutes) daily. At a minimum, have 5 garlic cloves a week. Be careful if you're scheduled for surgery. Garlic has an anti-clotting effect and may affect bleeding post-op.

2. Walnuts have two apparent anti-cancer components: melatonin and ellagic acid. I'm not too sure about melatonin's effects. With ellagic acid, it inhibits growth of cancer cells and promotes natural cell death (apoptosis). It may prevent the formation of new blood vessels, which cancer cells are dependent on for growth. Ellagic acid is actually most prevalent in raspberries. It isn't affected by temperature so any processed raspberries will have the same potency.

3. Capaicin (in chilies and hot peppers): This component starves cancer cells of oxygen, resulting in apoptosis, and interferes with the energy source of cancer cells.

4. Cruciferous vegetables have a multitude of ingredients that are powerful against cancer initiating apoptosis and sparking phase 2 enzymes that inhibits tumor formation. Radish and broccoli are two of the vegetables in the family with the highest concentrations of sulfurophane and isiothiocyanate. Heat does weaken those components so cook them lightly (steaming and stir-frying are good cooking methods, with microwaving the most destructive). And eating the cruciferous vegetables with a selenium source is 13 times more potent than the vegetable alone. Tomatoes are also a boosting combination, too. (You can drink a cup of V8 with your meals.)

Recommended minimu is 2 or more 1/2 cup servings a week.

5. Maitake mushrooms stimulate the immune system and resists some of the chemo side effects. It reportedly also activates cells to attack the cancerous cells. MD-fraction is supposedly the most pure extract of maitake mushrooms, but D-fraction will do.

6. Turmeric (curcumin) increases apoptosis and blocks cancer-causing enzymes. The recommended dosage is 1/2 to 1 teaspoon a day.

7. Soy has genistein that prevents new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) and reduces tyrosine kinase which activates cell growth. There is a lot of literature that warns against non-fermented soy products (e.g., soy milk, tofu, etc.), which ends up confusing me. You'll have to decide if soy is for you or skip it altogether.

There are a lot more other food and supplements reported to aid in the fight against cancer. You may want to search more on your own. Again, please research further on the cancer-fighting foods I've listed for your own consideration. I don't want to come off as a snake-oil salesperson selling a cure-all potion.

Much luck to you and I hope Tarceva and any complementary treatment work for you. Best wishes.

Hi TriNick,
I can't offer much help, but it is interesting to hear from someone almost in the same boat. I was diagnosed NSCLC Stage 4 April 2006. I did the Gemzar/Carbo, Tacreva, and Taxol/Avastin. I reacted so bad to the TARCEVA I was only on it for 9 days. I did a lot of research and found they think they have a fix for the TARCEVA side effects but it may not be ready for sale until 2008. Here is a link to the company that thinks they have something to help with the side effects. If you are on TARCEVA for a long time you may want to keep up with their progress.
http://www.hanabiosciences.com/press-releases/101606.pdf
They are testing a topical cream with Vitamin K3 (Menadione). I wasted countless hours searching the internet for a source of this man-made vitamin but could not get any. Apparently it is safe in a topical cream but if taken by mouth it is deadly so it is banned in the USA.
I have read great things about Tarceva but it only works for some people. My reaction was the worst case of acne and sunburn at the same time. It hurt just to take a shower. If your side effects from TARCEVA are really bad, there is a test a lab can perform to determine if your tumor is a likely candidate to benefit from TARCEVA. The test was expensive, $1600 I think, but the insurance company approved it. $1600 is cheaper than a month of Tarceva.
If anyone is interested I can look up the details about the test. I think there is only one lab in the country that can do the test, and they would require a sample from the lab where they did your original biopsy. I don't remember very well now, but I think they said they needed a sample from before you started chemo to be able to do the test.
News article about test: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=18419
Sorry for rambling on so long. I hope the Tarceva works for you. Bye