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Immunotherapy Increases Response to Chemo in Lung Cancer

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Pretreatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors are associated with a higher likelihood of response to salvage chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC),

Advanced non-small cell lung cancer is very difficult to treat effectively. The key, in my experience, is to learn about and employ every conventional (FDA approved) and evidence-based, non-conventional therapy at your disposal. The therapy discussed in the article linked and excerped below is in between conventional and non-conventional.

Meaning immune checkpoint inhibitors can help a small percentage of NSCLC patients. But, according to research, most NSCLC patients undergo chemotherapy. The study below cites the combination of the two as benefiting those with advanced NSCLC.

So boosting the immune system is good for NSCLC patients. What about evidened-based, non-toxic therapies shown to also boost the immune system? Non-toxic therapies such as probiotics? Or curcumin? Or maybe you want to learn how curcumin can enhance the efficacy of cisplatin?

The fact is there are dozens of therapies (nutritional, supplementation, lifestyle, etc.) that are cytotoxic (kill) NSCLC that have not been studied by the FDA. NSCLC patients should learn about these therapies and consider adding them to their therapy plan.

To learn more about evidence-based therapies for lung cancer, please watch the short video below:

Click here to follow along with the FREE Introduction Guide.

Click here for your FREE First Questions Guide.

Have you been diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer? What therapies are you considering? Scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I will reply ASAP.

David Emerson

  • Cancer Survivor
  • Cancer Coach
  • Director PeopleBeatingCancer

Recommended Reading:

Antiangiogenic therapy in Lung Cancer

Half of Lung Cancer Patients Die Despite Curative Resection

Lung Cancer Diet-


Checkpoint Inhibitors Improve Response to Salvage Chemotherapy in NSCLC

“Pretreatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors are associated with a higher likelihood of response to salvage chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results of a new retrospective study…

“Checkpoint inhibitors are currently the standard of care for NSCLC patients in the second-line setting after chemotherapy and are used for a subset of patients with high PD-L1 [programmed death ligand 1] expression as frontline therapy

“At this point we can only speculate on the reasons for better response in those pretreated with checkpoint inhibitors,” Rothschild said. “Probably the activation of the immune system by checkpoint inhibition might render tumor cells more sensitive to chemotherapy.” Another possibility is that chemotherapy may help tumor-specific immune cells to influence the tumor microenvironment…”

immune checkpoint inhibitor

“A type of drug that blocks certain proteins made by some types of immune system cells, such as T cells, and some cancer cells. These proteins help keep immune responses in check and can keep T cells from killing cancer cells. When these proteins are blocked, the “brakes” on the immune system are released and T cells are able to kill cancer cells better. Examples of checkpoint proteins found on T cells or cancer cells include PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4/B7-1/B7-2.”


The Most BioAvailable Curcumin Formulas-

“Based on a review of these studies, it is evident that better bioavailability of formulated curcumin (CU) products is mostly attributed to improved solubility, stability, and possibly low first-pass metabolism”

A search of the Pubmed database for the word curcumin yields 601 studies spaning health topics from multiple myeloma and colorectal cancer, to chemotherapies that synergizes with CU, to Alzheimer’s Disease, arthritis and more. Based on years of reading studies and personal accounts, I think it is safe to say that CU supplementation is safe and relatively inexpensive.

I have read about myeloma patients taking daily doses of CU from 400 milligrams to 8 grams (1000 milligrams = 1 gram). By almost any measure, CU is a safe, inexpensive wonder drug.

The only challenge is that CU is famously difficult to absorb in the body. In other words, a person has to mix curcumin with some sort of fat (coconut oil, chocolate, etc.) or take a brand of curcumin capsule that is already formulated to be more “bioavailable” in order to derive the full benefit of CU.

The study linked and exerpted below reviews different formulations of CU. The study itself lists the three most bioavailable formulation/brand of CU and I’ve added an excerpt from a further review from Consumerlab.com that lists four additional bioavailable brands of CU.


Recommended Reading:


Curcumin

CU is a bright yellow chemical produced by some plants. It is the principal curcuminoid of turmeric (Curcuma longa), a member of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is sold as an herbal supplement, cosmetics ingredient, food flavoring, and food coloring.[1]

Bioavailable curcumin formulations: A review of pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers.

“Curcumin is a widely studied natural compound which has shown tremendous in vitro therapeutic potential. Despite that, the clinical efficacy of the native CU is weak due to its low bioavailability and high metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract. During the last decade, researchers have come up with different formulations with a focus on improving the bioavailability of curcumin. As a result, a significant number of bioavailable curcumin-based formulations were introduced with the varying range of enhanced bioavailability.

The purpose of this review is to collate the published clinical studies of CU products with improved bioavailability over conventional (unformulated) CU. Based on the literature search, 11 curcumin formulations with available human bioavailability and pharmacokinetics data were included in this review. Further, the data on clinical study design, analytical method, pharmacokinetic parameters and other relevant details of each formulation were extracted.

Based on a review of these studies, it is evident that better bioavailability of formulated curcumin products is mostly attributed to improved solubility, stability, and possibly low first-pass metabolism. The review hopes to provide a quick reference guide for anyone looking information on these bioavailable curcumin formulations.

Based on the published reports,

exhibited over 100-fold higher bioavailability relative to reference unformulated CU. Suggested mechanisms accounting for improved bioavailability of the formulations and details on the bioanalysis methods are also discussed.”

According to Consumerlab.com:

“Novasol has the highest bioavailability (185 x compared to unforumulated CU), followed by Curcuwin (136 x), Longvida (100 x), Meriva (48 x), BCM-95 (27 x), Curcumin C3 Complex + Bioperene (20 x), and then Theracumin (16 x).”

 

 

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Lung Cancer- Surgery, lymph node involvement- How Long? - PeopleBeatingCancer says 4 years ago

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