Learn how you can manage and alleviate your current side effects while actively working to prevent a relapse or secondary cancer using evidence-based, non-toxic therapies.
Click the orange button to the right to learn more.
Hi David – My husband was just diagnosed with Stage IV Esophageal Cancer and had been taking diabetes meds prior to diagnosis. He is starting on FOLFOX Monday.
I came across the journal studies below after seeing information about diabetic drugs containing antioxidants accelerating cancer in patients who had not yet been diagnosed with cancer. My husband was just diagnosed with Stage IV Esophageal Cancer and had been taking diabetes meds prior to diagnosis. He is starting on FOLFOX Monday. Please let me know your thoughts.
I’m curious about this statement below because I have found a lot of research that supports the idea that antioxidants may help in preventing cancer, but once the cancer is established in the body it actually fuels it, making it spread faster.
“supplement with antioxidant therapies that studies have shown enhance the efficacy of 5FU while reducing the toxicity”
1. Herbal Interaction With Chemotherapeutic Drugs—A Focus on Clinically Significant Findings December 3, 2019, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6901834/
2. Avoiding Antioxidant-Drug Interactions During Cancer Treatment
By Dan Labriola, ND, and Robert B. Livingston, MD July 25, 2014
3. Antioxidants Accelerate the Growth and Invasiveness of Tumors in Mice
National Cancer Institute – National Institute of Health (NIH) November 12, 2015, by NCI Staff
4. Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse By Melinda Wenner Moyer October 7, 2015
Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks. RM
Hi RM-
Recommended Reading:
“Researchers also observed statistical differences between the two groups in overall survival of participants. For the group taking FOLFOX alone, the median overall survival was 200 days, compared to 596 days for the group taking both curcumin and FOLFOX, with a six-month overall survival of 55.6% and 93.3%, respectively.
However, the researchers do concede that despite these significant differences, there were factors that may have contributed to survival bias in the small cohort, such as differences in tumor staging and the number of metastatic sites. Additionally, median overall survival rates in the combination group were in line with expectations of standard FOLFOX treatment, and the FOLFOX group had poorer overall survival than was expected…”
“There are many concerns that antioxidants might decrease the effectiveness of chemotherapy, but increasing evidence suggests a benefit when antioxidants are added to conventional cytotoxic therapies…
“Nutritional supplements are widely used among patients with cancer who perceive them to be anticancer and antitoxicity agents…Nutritional supplementation tailored to an individual’s background diet, genetics, tumor histology, and treatments may yield benefits in subsets of patients…”