Riding The Psa Roller Coaster
Once Id read up on my options, I decided to hunt down the best doctors I could find. Im lucky in that I live just south of Boston, where there are major medical centers. I made appointment after appointment to get as many opinions as possible, before I landed on a Harvard Medical School-trained doctor who recommended hormone therapy, coupled with external beam radiationa combo plan that would reduce the size of the cancer to make it an easier target for the radiation.
On December 1, 2000, I started the hormone treatment between December 1, 2000, and January 31, 2001, they did the radiation.
Immediately after this treatment, things were looking good. My PSA levels dropped, which is what we wanted. When the prostate produces more PSA, it may indicate a problem, such as the potential development or growth of cancerso low is better. In fact, my numbers stayed lower for the next five years.
Then my PSA levels started to rise. The docs just wanted to keep an eye on it for a while. They were concerned, but not overly so. After a few months of this watchful waiting, my teama radiation oncologist, urologist and medical oncologisttold me I needed surgery to remove my prostate. And once again, I sat across from a urologist as he looked me straight in the eyes and said, I cant give you a cure, but I can give you a treatment.
Treatments For Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Localized prostate cancer is treated with radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy. However, many patients eventually develop locally advanced or metastatic cancer, requiring hormone or radiation therapy.
Hormone therapy is used to reduce the levels of androgen and inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells.
Hormone therapy, coupled with external beam radiation therapy, can also be used for advanced or metastatic disease after chemical or surgical castration has been exhausted .
Unfortunately, many patients do not respond to treatment or relapse, requiring second-line therapy with anti-androgens , corticosteroids, and CYP17 inhibitors .
These drugs have many side effects that need careful management by your medical team.
More than 85% of men who receive hormone therapy develop metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer within 3 years of initiating hormone treatment. This is caused by prostate cancer cells adapting to low androgen levels.
The shift to androgen-independent growth also supports the migration of prostate cancer cells into environments with low androgen levels.
Chemotherapeutic agents like docetaxel and cabazitaxel may be offered to patients with metastatic CRPC. However, both drugs have marginal benefits and stop working after some months.
However, it only improves the median survival rate by less than 5 months .
Resveratrol And Other Grape Skin Extracts
Resveratrol is a phytoalexin found in high concentrations in grapes and has been shown to inhibit chemical carcinogenesis in several models . Interest in RSV as a chemotherapeutic agent increased after the publication of a seminal 1997 paper by Jang et al. . A recent review described the preclinical, animal model, and human studies across several malignancies .
Pharmacokinetic studies of resveratrol at doses up to 5 grams per day have demonstrated poor bioavailability due to extensive glucuronidation and sulfation as well as metabolism by gut bacterial enzymes . Estimates using liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and radiolabeled doses estimate oral bioavailability of 1% and peak plasma concentrations of 500 ng/mL , which is well below the doses used in most cell line experiments . However, low micromolar levels of 2.510 M have been shown to sensitize prostate cancer cells to ionizing radiation without affecting normal prostate epithelial cells . There is also data for the effect of RSV on inhibition of angiogenesis in lung, breast, and glioma xenograft models . Interest in resveratrol as a therapeutic adjuvant to current therapy persists due to accumulating cell line data and ongoing efforts to improve oral bioavailability.
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Cancer May Spread From Where It Began To Other Parts Of The Body
When cancer spreads to another part of the body, it is called metastasis. Cancer cells break away from where they began and travel through the lymph system or blood.
- Lymph system. The cancer gets into the lymph system, travels through the lymph vessels, and forms a tumor in another part of the body.
- Blood. The cancer gets into the blood, travels through the blood vessels, and forms a tumor in another part of the body.
The metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example, if prostate cancer spreads to the bone, the cancer cells in the bone are actually prostate cancer cells. The disease is metastatic prostate cancer, not bone cancer.
Denosumab, a monoclonal antibody, may be used to preventbone metastases.
Most Effective Natural Cancer Treatments
1. The Gerson Therapy and Juicing
I see in him one of the most eminent geniuses in the history of medicine. Many of his basic ideas have been adopted without having his name connected with them. Yet, he has achieved more than seemed possible under adverse conditions. He leaves a legacy which commands attention and which will assure him his due place. Those whom he has cured will now attest to the truth of his ideas.
~ Albert Schweitzer, MD
Who was Albert Schweitzer talking about?
He was referring to Dr. Max Gerson, the German-born American medical doctor who developed one of the most effective natural cancer treatments over 90 years ago. Coined the Gerson Therapy, Dr. Gerson helped hundreds of cancer patients activate their bodys extraordinary ability to heal itself by recommending:
- Organic, plant-based foods
- Natural supplements
In the words of the Gerson Institute:
With its whole-body approach to healing, the Gerson Therapy naturally reactivates your bodys magnificent ability to heal itself with no damaging side effects. This a powerful, natural treatment boosts the bodys own immune system to heal cancer, arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and many other degenerative diseases.
How the Gerson Therapy Works
- Supplements The Gerson Therapy recommends the following organic medicinal therapies:
- Lugols solution
2. The Budwig Protocol
How the Budwig Protocol Works
My Beyond Budwig Recipe
Mix all the ingredients together in bowl or blender and consume once daily.
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Effective Foods Which Fight And Destroy Cancer Cells
Despite what you might have heard in the mainstream media, there really is no such thing as a cancer cell that cannot be defeated. The main difference between cancers that continue to grow in the body and those that dont is what we put inside our bodies to stop their growth and destroy these mutant cells.
When given a proper diet, the human immune system can naturally fight off cancer cells. Certain proteins in the body can be made ineffective if these cells have uncontrolled growth because of damage or mutations to our DNA through toxins, a poor food diet, and chemical pollutants which override or derail the bodys natural immune system.
The journal Science Translation Medicine published a study in which researchers identified a molecule, called TlC10, which was shown to activate a protein that helps to fight disease and destroy cancer cells. This protein, called tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand, or TRAIL for short, can cross the blood-brain barrier.
This means that while chemotherapy is stopped from passing the blood-brain barrier because the body is smart enough to know that this is not good for the brain, TRAIL proteins are allowed to pass through to provide their beneficial effects.
Basically it comes down to eating a healthy, natural diet to prevent cancer. Some foods are superstars when it comes to improving the immune system and fighting cancer cells naturally.
Reclaiming My Lifeand Helping Others Do The Same
Ron Scolamiero and his wife, Laurie, with two of their sons, Nick and Michael
This went on until 2012, when my oncologist said he was part of a clinical trial for prostate cancer patients like me living with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. I was lucky in that my doctor was the lead physician on the second phase of this trial. After I began the treatment, my PSA levels held steady, and there was no evidence of the cancer spreading.
Since then, Ive had two tumors appear where my prostate used to beand surgeries to remove them, which have resulted in a whole lot of difficulty with my ability to urinatebut no tumors have spread throughout my body. I have continued taking the drug, and I felt incredibly grateful when it was approved by the FDA.
Im 73 now, a father of five sons and grandfather of three. Most days I dont even think I have cancer, even though I still take my pills every morning. Thanks in large part to my wife, Laurie, I have managed to live my life as if I didnt have this disease. And even though it is always lurking in the back of our minds, we dont let it get to the forefront to take over our lives.
What is at the forefront for me is doing whatever I can to help other men facing a prostate cancer diagnosis. Ive come a long way since those early days of shame, traveling two towns over to get my prostate cancer mailings.
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Deguelin Stopped Cancer Progression
Prof. Trotman and colleagues suggest that, of the 3 million men in the U.S. who have prostate cancer, roughly 100,000 carry cancers with co-mutation of .
This prompted them to look for drugs that might work specifically against prostate cancers that carry mutated PTEN and p53.
However, because several studies have shown that loss only of p53 does not give rise to prostate cancer, they decided to focus on PTEN.
The researchers began the study by running a series of experiments using cells with and without PTEN.
They found that deguelin had the capacity to kill both types of cell, but the dose required to kill cells with PTEN was 500 times higher than the dose required to kill cells without PTEN .
They also discovered that the drug had a much stronger effect on the cells without PTEN because their mitochondria were consuming ATP instead of producing it.
Thats the exact opposite, Prof. Trotman says, of what mitochondria are supposed to be doing. Mitochondria are supposed to generate ATP for the rest of the cell.
Finally, when they then tested deguelin in their mouse model of lethal metastatic prostate cancer, the researchers found that it stopped the cancer progressing.
What Is Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is metastatic if it has spread to distance tissue and organs. Prostate cancer often spreads to the bones, lymph nodes, liver, and lungs and rarely moves to other organs.
It is not well understood why prostate cancer metastasis is selective but understanding the mechanisms of this selective spread may hold the key to its prevention.
Cancer metastasis is a complex process, involving the invasion of the sentinel lymph nodes, which are the first cancer draining lymph nodes.
Once in distant lymph nodes and vessels, cancer cells can reach distant organs by following the blood flow or moving in a growth factor-dependent manner.
An important mechanism of this process is tumor-induced angiogenesis, the formation of new vessels from existing blood vessels. Tumor-associated vessels are usually premature and leaky, promoting cancer movement.
Though metastatic prostate cancer has the same cancer cells as the original prostate tumor, they are much difficult to kill. They rarely respond to hormone therapy and has significantly shorter median survival time .
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Drugs To Treat Cancer Spread To Bone
If prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it almost always goes to the bones first. These areas of cancer spread can cause pain and weak bones that might break. Medicines that can help strengthen the bones and lower the chance of fracture are bisphosphonates and denosumab. Sometimes, radiation, radiopharmaceuticals, or pain medicines are given for pain control.
Side effects of bone medicines
A serious side effect of bisphosphonates and denosumab is damage to the jaw, also called osteonecrosis of the jaw . Most people will need to get approval from their dentist before starting one of these drugs.
Questions To Ask The Doctor
- What treatment do you think is best for me?
- Whats the goal of this treatment? Do you think it could cure the cancer?
- Will treatment include surgery? If so, who will do the surgery?
- What will the surgery be like?
- Will I need other types of treatment, too?
- Whats the goal of these treatments?
- What side effects could I have from these treatments?
- What can I do about side effects that I might have?
- Is there a clinical trial that might be right for me?
- What about special vitamins or diets that friends tell me about? How will I know if they are safe?
- How soon do I need to start treatment?
- What should I do to be ready for treatment?
- Is there anything I can do to help the treatment work better?
- Whats the next step?
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Causes Of Prostate Cancer
The risks of a prostate gland becoming cancerous is often attributed to highly inflammatory diets like diets containing a lot of gluten containing foods, foods with GMOs, processed food containing chemical additives and sugars. Studies have revealed the fact that men who consume excess amounts of synthetic zinc oxide and folic acid are at greater risks of developing prostate cancer. Besides, those who are on a very high-dose of multi-vitamins, they also fall in the high-risk category. Sedentary lifestyle and poor lavatory habits also contribute to the chances of acquiring this cancer.
How Important Is It To Catch Metastatic Prostate Cancer Early
It is important to consult with your doctor if you experience any of these changes mentioned above.
This will help your doctor detect prostate cancer early and stop it from developing to advanced lethal disease.
Early cancer detection is central to the management of all cancers, including prostate cancer.
Currently, the treatment goal of advanced and metastatic prostate cancer is to slow cancer growth and spread.
In the absence of a definitive cure, it is critical to detect metastatic prostate cancer early to increase the usefulness of current management approaches.
Supplements and lifestyle changes may help you enhance the effectiveness of those therapies.
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Natural Cancer Treatments Revealed
Have you ever wondered how effective natural cancer treatments can be? Around 20 years ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was crazy for my family at the time because my mom was a gym teacher, swim instructor and was always considered to be healthy.
After her diagnosis, she took the advice of her oncologists at the Cleveland Clinic and underwent a mastectomy followed by many rounds of chemotherapy. I can still remember seeing my moms hair fall out and thinking she had aged 10 years in the few weeks following chemo.
Praise God, after all of her treatments, she was diagnosed as being cancer-free and healthy. But for the next several years, she was sicker than shed ever been in her life and struggled with constipation, candida, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Then, around nine years after her first diagnosis, a terrible thing happened: She was diagnosed with cancer again. At that point, I had experience working in the natural health field, so when I flew home, we prayed together and talked about the best healthcare strategy. She decided to pursue natural cancer treatments by focusing on diet and lifestyle changes.
I want to be clear: I am not claiming that what we did with my mother is a cancer cure. But I believe these natural therapies, either used by themselves or in conjunction with conventional medical treatments, may support the body in the healing process.
Home Remedies For Prostate Cancer
Following are some significantly useful natural remedies for treating prostate cancer at home
Ginger Ginger is thought of as a miracle natural cure for prostate cancer. Recently, the British Journal of Nutrition published an American study which showed evidence that extract of ginger killed the prostate cancer cells. On the other hand, it boosted the health of the normal prostate cells diminishing cell death. In 8 weeks, the extract had slashed the growth of tumor in the prostate gland by half. According to the researchers, if 100 grams of fresh ginger is eaten by the affected person every day, it will have the same results. Ginger is a potent chemopreventive agent with anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative and antioxidant properties. Ginger extract has growth-inhibitory effects on cancer cells which interrupt the progression of the cell cycle, modulating apoptosis. Besides, ginger, when taken orally, is also exceedingly helpful in relieving nausea or vomiting resulting from chemotherapy. Ginger extract for cancer is often sold in herbal medicine stores. Besides, you can drink the fresh juice of raw ginger mixed with honey for controlling prostate cancer.
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What You Need To Know About Diet And Prostate Cancer
10 anti-cancer nutrition tips for men
In many ways, prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer is to women. It’s the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men . And the older men get, the higher the frequency of the disease.
Health experts estimate that nearly three out of every 10 men in their 50s have prostate cancer, compared with about seven out of 10 men 80 or older. This may seem like good news for younger men — prostate cancer develops slowly, and is uncommon before age 50. But the fact that it does develop slowly behooves younger men to do whatever they can to help prevent it. And the fact that prostate cancer often doesn’t have noticeable symptoms behooves men 50 and up to get annual checkups and testing.
September is ProstateCancer Month, so this is a great time to take a few minutes to learn more about this cancer and the dietary steps we can take to reduce our risk.