Cancer

"Cancer lies dormant in all of us," he wrote in his new book, "Anticancer: A New Way of Life" (Viking, $25.95). "But our bodies are also equipped with a number of mechanisms that detect and keep such (defective) cells in check." Cancer rears its ugly head when things get out of balance, Servan-Schreiber said in an interview. And that can happen if the bad guys that promote the growth of cancer cells (tobacco, excessive alcohol, excessive sugar, hydrogenated fats, environmental pollutants) outnumber the good guys that support our natural defenses (cancer-fighting phytochemicals found in fruits, vegetables, herbs and teas; physical activity; and stress management techniques). But conventional treatment, while indispensable, focuses on a single target: destroying cancer cells. Doctors rarely address the other side: teaching patients how to fortify themselves using nutrition, exercise and stress-management techniques to create an inhospitable environment for cancer.

Recent media reports are suggesting that a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in fat has no notable impact on breast cancer recurrence or death.\n\nInternationally recognized integrative cancer care specialist Keith Block, MD, is advising breast cancer survivors to pay no heed to these stories.

If you want to reduce your risk for getting cancer, heart disease, diabetes and a host of other diseases, the message is clear - eat a nutrient-rich, low-fat, high fiber diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables. So why is this wisdom forgotten when a person is diagnosed with cancer, and the standard advice becomes: "Eat whatever you want, whatever you can tolerate," even when this may include a diet high in fat and refined sugars. \n\nAccording to two of the country's leading authorities on cancer and nutrition, David Katz, MD and Keith Block, MD, the typical American high-fat, empty calorie diet can set the stage for an inflammatory response that actually fuels a cancer patient's disease, undermines treatment, and promotes malnutrition.

Integrative Oncology Donald Abrams and Andrew Weil SBN13: 9780195309447 ISBN10: 0195309448 Hardback, 624 pages Nov 2008, In Stock

Lerner, Michael, 1943 - Choices in healing : integrating the best of conventional and complementary approaches to cancer / Michael Lerner. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-262-12180-8 1. Cancer--Treatment. 2. Cancer--Alternative treatment. 3. Cancer--Popular works. I. Title. RC270.8.L47 1994 616.99é406--dc20 93-39913 CIP

World Cancer Research Fund launches new policy report: 'Policy and action for cancer prevention'\nOver 40 per cent of bowel and breast cancer cases in the UK are preventable through healthy patterns of diet, physical activity and weight maintenance, according to estimates in a landmark report that has set out recommendations for policies and actions to reduce the global number of cancer cases.\nThe report, Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention,  has estimated that about 43 per cent of bowel cancer cases and 42 per cent of breast cancer cases in the UK could be prevented in this way.

The controversial place of vitamin C in cancer treatment. Verrax J, Calderon PB. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008 Dec 15;76(12):1644-52. Epub 2008 Sep 30. Review. PMID: 18938145 doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2008.09.024    

A pilot clinical study of continuous intravenous ascorbate in terminal cancer patients. Riordan HD, Casciari JJ, González MJ, Riordan NH, Miranda-Massari JR, Taylor P, Jackson JA. P R Health Sci J. 2005 Dec;24(4):269-76. PMID: 16570523

Intravenously administered vitamin C as cancer therapy: three cases.\nPadayatty SJ, Riordan HD, Hewitt SM, Katz A, Hoffer LJ, Levine M.\nCMAJ. 2006 Mar 28;174(7):937-42.\nPMID: 16567755 \ndoi:10.1503/cmaj.050346.

Intravenous vitamin C as a chemotherapy agent: a report on clinical cases.\nRiordan HD, Riordan NH, Jackson JA, Casciari JJ, Hunninghake R, González MJ, Mora EM, Miranda-Massari JR, Rosario N, Rivera A.\nP R Health Sci J. 2004 Jun;23(2):115-8.\nPMID: 15377059

Changes of terminal cancer patients' health-related quality of life after high dose vitamin C administration.\nYeom CH, Jung GC, Song KJ.\nJ Korean Med Sci. 2007 Feb;22(1):7-11.\nPMID: 17297243

Not enough vitamin D: health consequences for Canadians.\nSchwalfenberg G.\nCan Fam Physician. 2007 May;53(5):841-54. Review.\nPMID: 17872747 \n

Blueberry Punch is an Australian product but is available for sale on the internet at £16 a bottle.\n\nIt also includes a host of other natural ingredients thought to boost health, including green tea, olive leaves, the herb tarragon and the spices turmeric and ginger.\n\nIt is thought the ingredients act together to cut inflammation and block a cancer gene.\n\nDr Jas Singh, who conducted the research on mice at Sydney University, said: "We have undertaken efficacy studies on individual components of Blueberry Punch in the same laboratory setting and found these effective in suppressing cell growth in culture.\n\n"We reasoned that synergistic or additive effects are likely to be achieved when they are combined."\n\nThe researchers looked at the effect of Blueberry Punch on both cancer cell cultures in the laboratory and genetically engineered mice with human prostate tumours. After only two weeks of having the syrupy solution added to their drinking water, their tumours had shrunk by

In vitro antiproliferative, apoptotic and antioxidant activities of punicalagin, ellagic acid and a total pomegranate tannin extract are enhanced in combination with other polyphenols as found in pomegranate juice. Seeram NP, Adams LS, Henning SM, Niu Y, Zhang Y, Nair MG, Heber D. J Nutr Biochem. 2005 Jun;16(6):360-7. PMID: 15936648

A new approach to cancer treatment called immunotherapy could spare patients at least some of the grueling battery of chemotherapy treatments by retraining the body's own defenders--the cells of the immune system--to recognize and destroy tumors. Now researchers at Harvard University have developed a simple way to do this inside the body: a polymer implant attracts and trains immune-system cells to go after cancer. The experimental approach has shown great success in animal studies, increasing the survival rate of mice with a deadly melanoma from 0 to 90 percent. The implant could also be used to treat diseases of the immune system such as arthritis and diabetes, and, potentially, to train other kinds of cells, including stem cells used to repair damage to the body.

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale and kohlrabi - this family of cruciferous vegetables is naturally rich in indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a compound that is quickly becoming recognized as one of the most powerful cancer-fighting compounds that we know of.

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2006) - Drinking an eight ounce glass of pomegranate juice daily increased by nearly four times the period during which PSA levels in men treated for prostate cancer remained stable, a three-year UCLA study has found.

Calcium Associated With Lower Risk Of Cancer In Women\nScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2009) - Women with higher intake of calcium appear to have a lower risk of cancer overall, and both men and women with high calcium intakes have lower risks of colorectal cancer and other cancers of the digestive system, according to a report in the February 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2009) - Researchers at Purdue University have precisely measured the impact of a high-fat diet on the spread of cancer, finding that excessive dietary fat caused a 300 percent increase in metastasizing tumor cells in laboratory animals.

A glass of wine each evening is enough to increase your risk of developing cancer, women are being warned.\nConsuming just one drink a day causes an extra 7,000 cancer cases - mostly breast cancer - in UK women each year, Cancer Research UK scientists say