Question about the nature of ovarian cancer recurrence

Jontaejones,

I am so sorry to hear about your girlfriend diagnosis. 

I just finished chemo for a recurrance that happened 13 months after my first go-round. I also asked this question. My oncologist said that cells are hiding and they can hide for a long time. It's not a great answer and it certainly doesn't explain why ovarian cancer cells in particular do this. But that's what I was told.

I just started Zejula, which is a chemo pill. I supposedly will be on this for the rest of my life. But even this doesn't have a great survival rate. Which I don't understand. But this is a form of chemo that I will be on forever. 

My best wishes to you and your girl friend!! Tell her to be strong

Betsy

This is a great question and something I researched tirelessly after acheiving NED almost 8 years ago.  I have found answers that make a lot of sense to me. 

Cancer cells are actually normal cells that have undergone genetic changes due to a stressful environment in which they live.  Most cancer patients, whether they are aware of it or not, have a body that is malnourished and toxic.  One can be quite overweight and still lack essential nutrients.  This environment, in which cells are constantly bathed, stresses the cells and they undergo changes in how their genes behave.  The first thing to go awry is that the mitochondria, small organ-like structures within cells, become damaged and are no longer able to produce energy through aerobic processes (which use oxygen).  In a last ditch effort to survive, these damaged cells revert to producing energy through fermentation of sugar, which is a very primitive form of energy production that produces it in an environment lacking oxygen.  Additionally, the genetic switches that have been turned on do not signal the cells to die or stop producing new cells when they are supposed to.  Due to other imbalances in the body, which cause sticky blood, these cells start to clump together, creating small tumors.  Then the body, due to yet other imbalances like too much copper, iron or growth factors, begins to build new blood vessels to feed the tumors.  A tumor cannot grow larger than 2 mm without a blood supply.  There are doctors and researchers, who recognize cancer as a metabolic disease, but many doctors still believe it is caused by genetic defects.  In a way, they are right, but the genetic changes occur as a result of the metabolic changes. 

So, to answer your question, it appears that although chemotherapy can rid the body of visible tumors, the body started out with severe imbalances before treatment, and chemotherapy itself does further damage.  I think some people just happen to fall into a lucky situation where they recover from chemotherapy and their bodies don't become imbalanced enough to grow tumors again.  But many ovarian cancer patients don't ever gain superior health after chemo because some of the things that contributed to their cancer in the first place, such as diet, stress, and toxic exposures, continue after treatment.  In that case, it seems like it is just a matter of time before the conditions that caused the cancer in the first place will push the cells to the point where they will develop into cancer cells and tumors again.  

Theoretically, we always have some cancer cells in our bodies.  But if we are healthy and things are working properly, they  just pass through our systems harmlessly and never grow into tumors.  But if conditions are poor, that leads to the sequence of events that lead to tumor growth.  Maybe I am just lucky, but I took a very proactive approach to healing my body during and after chemo, changing my diet, my exercise, my stress management, and the products I use.  I consulted with a naturopath who did numerous blood tests and other tests to identify my imbalances and she addressed them with a variety of supplements.  I have been NED for nearly 8 years.  It takes a long time for the body to get sick enough to develop cancer and it takes a long time to make it healthy again.  But is is doable. 

As for staying on chemo forever, chemo is toxic.  Many people develop a sensitivity to carboplatin and can no longer receive that drug.  Additionally, cancer cells can become resistant to treatment and exposing them to the same drugs over and over will reduce their effectiveness, which would mean using other drugs, then other drugs, then other drugs.  This repeated exposure to chemo drugs does further damage to the body and one's health.   

I wish your girlfriend well.  She is very lucky to have you. 

Hi Betsy,

I hope you can get back on the PARP inhibitors again soon.  My naturopath told me that eating sesame seeds or tahini butter helps keep them elevated.

Good luck.

Tethys41 said:

This is a great question and something I researched tirelessly after acheiving NED almost 8 years ago.  I have found answers that make a lot of sense to me. 

Cancer cells are actually normal cells that have undergone genetic changes due to a stressful environment in which they live.  Most cancer patients, whether they are aware of it or not, have a body that is malnourished and toxic.  One can be quite overweight and still lack essential nutrients.  This environment, in which cells are constantly bathed, stresses the cells and they undergo changes in how their genes behave.  The first thing to go awry is that the mitochondria, small organ-like structures within cells, become damaged and are no longer able to produce energy through aerobic processes (which use oxygen).  In a last ditch effort to survive, these damaged cells revert to producing energy through fermentation of sugar, which is a very primitive form of energy production that produces it in an environment lacking oxygen.  Additionally, the genetic switches that have been turned on do not signal the cells to die or stop producing new cells when they are supposed to.  Due to other imbalances in the body, which cause sticky blood, these cells start to clump together, creating small tumors.  Then the body, due to yet other imbalances like too much copper, iron or growth factors, begins to build new blood vessels to feed the tumors.  A tumor cannot grow larger than 2 mm without a blood supply.  There are doctors and researchers, who recognize cancer as a metabolic disease, but many doctors still believe it is caused by genetic defects.  In a way, they are right, but the genetic changes occur as a result of the metabolic changes. 

So, to answer your question, it appears that although chemotherapy can rid the body of visible tumors, the body started out with severe imbalances before treatment, and chemotherapy itself does further damage.  I think some people just happen to fall into a lucky situation where they recover from chemotherapy and their bodies don't become imbalanced enough to grow tumors again.  But many ovarian cancer patients don't ever gain superior health after chemo because some of the things that contributed to their cancer in the first place, such as diet, stress, and toxic exposures, continue after treatment.  In that case, it seems like it is just a matter of time before the conditions that caused the cancer in the first place will push the cells to the point where they will develop into cancer cells and tumors again.  

Theoretically, we always have some cancer cells in our bodies.  But if we are healthy and things are working properly, they  just pass through our systems harmlessly and never grow into tumors.  But if conditions are poor, that leads to the sequence of events that lead to tumor growth.  Maybe I am just lucky, but I took a very proactive approach to healing my body during and after chemo, changing my diet, my exercise, my stress management, and the products I use.  I consulted with a naturopath who did numerous blood tests and other tests to identify my imbalances and she addressed them with a variety of supplements.  I have been NED for nearly 8 years.  It takes a long time for the body to get sick enough to develop cancer and it takes a long time to make it healthy again.  But is is doable. 

As for staying on chemo forever, chemo is toxic.  Many people develop a sensitivity to carboplatin and can no longer receive that drug.  Additionally, cancer cells can become resistant to treatment and exposing them to the same drugs over and over will reduce their effectiveness, which would mean using other drugs, then other drugs, then other drugs.  This repeated exposure to chemo drugs does further damage to the body and one's health.   

I wish your girlfriend well.  She is very lucky to have you. 

Have u stopped all sugar?