Pancreatic Cancer

The other day I got an e-mail from a friend of mine who inquired about Pancreatic Cancer. One of his relatives was recently diagnosed with this merciless disease frustrating many doctors, allopaths and holistic doctors alike. I send e-mails to some of my professors from school and did my own research about treatment options for pancreatic cancer. What I came up with is listed below. Though the prognosis of pancreatic cancer is in most cases very discouraging, there are some success stories out there. We shall focus on those. Read below what I would do if I was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.

First of, I would educate myself as much as possible about Pancreatic Cancer. I would have to become the expert. Why? Because there is a lot of stuff out there doctors won’t mention, simply because they don’t know and if you don’t bring it up, we’ll, you’ll never hear about it. It is my responsibility as a patient to participate in the process. This is only possible if I educate myself. A viable treatment can only be started if I am totally convinced that this is the best possible option and unless I have a really open minded allopath, I won't hear from the possible options below to make a truly educated decision about all viable treatments. There are several ways I could approach this.

I could go the Western medicine route. This is where I would listen to my M.D. at the hospital only and strictly follow his advise.

I could go the alternative way. This is where I would heed the advice of a LICENSED practitioner of alternative medicine only. Some of them are N.D.s, D.O.s, Doctors of Chiropractic, Doctors of Oriental Medicine etc. Again, I can not stress enough the fact that the person I would ask for advise would have to be licensed.

The optimum way I would go is to combine the knowledge of both and try to come up with the best option most suitable for my case. Remember, clinical ethics demand that the patient make informed decisions regarding his/ her health care. This is only possible if ALL viable options are considered, whether they are scientifically proven, or proven by empirical knowledge. Having said this, hold on to your seat because of what I have discovered in my research.

Some of this stuff sounds really out of the box and I don’t know if my allopathic doctor would be open to really explore all options? From experience, most of them would tell me it is either their way or the highway. If they are unwilling to work with me and help me educate myself, I would find a doctor open to being a teacher. Anyway, here is an alternative treatment option. The research of it is funded by the NIH (National Institute for Health). It has provided $1.4 million in funding for a five-year clinical trial of an alternative treatment approach for pancreatic cancer using pancreatic enzymes, dietary supplements and coffee enemas. The "Diet and Detoxification" study will be conducted at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center is a pretty respectable institution. The future top doctors in the nation are trained there.

They already conducted a pilot study of the technique, funded by the US National Cancer Institute. The results suggested that patients on the regimen, which involves taking a wide range of nutritional supplements along with the pancreatic enzymes, coffee enemas twice a day as well as a vegetarian diet and various other techniques claimed to detoxify the body, lived nearly THREE times as long as expected, compared to historical controls. It is speculated that the enzymes and nutritional supplements help kill cancer cells, while the coffee enemas stimulate the liver to break down the waste products produced when tumor cells are destroyed.

I told you it would get weird. The study was originally conducted by Nicholas Gonzalez, MD. Read about Dr. Gonzalez's treatment and how conventional medicine failed four cancer patients in this article from Prevention Medicine. They turned to alternative healing methods. They're all still alive. The person in charge of the study at Columbia is John A. Chabot, MD. I again refer to their initials after their names. Medical Doctors, working at a very respected University Hospital in New York: Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Below is the contact information. If I met certain criteria, I might be able to be included in this clinical trial. http://sklad.cumc.columbia.edu/surgery/clinicaltrials/View_Trial.php?ID=114

As I said, it can get pretty weird but more importantly, sometimes these alternative treatments really are better then the approach with drugs. If I was able to find practitioners open-minded enough to consider both options and possibly find a way to combine both of them, I would truly get world class integrated medical advice and treatment.

The next guy I would talk to is Les Moore N.D. I met him two years ago when I was giving a talk about medicinal properties of food at New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls. This Doctor of Naturopathy really knows his stuff. Here is his bio and contact information. http://www.classicalformulas.com/lmoore.html

Here is another link to people I would want to talk to if I had Pancreatic Cancer. University of Michigan Pancreatic Tumor Clinic http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/cancertreat/pancreatic/the_clinic.shtml and one of their success stories http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/news/pancreatichm05.shtml. I would ask them what they thought of combining both, Dr. Gonzalez's “Diet and Detoxification” method and their drug treatment method.

There is a drug out there which came up a lot on my initial search. It’s name is Tarceva. FDA approved Tarceva in combination with gemcitabine (I believe UofM Tumor Clinic uses gemicitabine) chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer in patients who have not received previous chemotherapy. The product is marketed by OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Genentech Inc. (gene.com). Tarceva, containing erlotinib, is the first drug in a Phase III trial to have shown a significant improvement in overall survival when added to gemcitabine chemotherapy as initial treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Tarceva is a once-daily oral tablet already approved for use in patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed after one or more courses of chemotherapy. OSI (osip.com) also announced that Roche (roche.com), its international partner for Tarceva, has submitted a marketing authorization application to the European Health Authorities for Tarceva for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. It just recently got the approval of the European Union.

Tarceva is a small molecule designed to target the human epidermal growth factor receptor 1 pathway, which is one of the factors critical to cell growth in a number of different cancer types. EGFR/HER1 is a component of the HER-signaling pathway, which plays a role in the formation and growth of numerous cancers.

The next bunch of people I should have probably put on top of my list to talk to. They are also really good in what they do, which is the whole person approach to healing, and I have heard great stories from patients. They are: Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center, 2520 Elisha Avenue, Zion, IL 60099, 800-615-3055. Here is their website: http://www.cancercenter.com/pancreatic-cancer.cfm

And now to some Pancreatic Cancer research in the pipeline to be approved for public use down the road. It is still in the experimental face. A molecular approach in concert with chemotherapy. Pancreatic cancer still remains very refractory to treatment, presumably because of chemotherapy resistance mechanisms," said Dr. Cusack, assistant professor of surgery, Harvard Medical School. This resistance appears to be mediated at least in part by activation of NF-kB, a transcription factor that has antiapoptotic activity, allowing cancer cells to survive. "Essentially, the way we envision using proteasome inhibition to target NF-kB is by stabilizing one of its inhibitors, IkBa, which is normally degraded by the proteasome," he explained. ¹

In layman's terms: Cancer researchers are looking for ways to turn on a "suicide" mechanism in cancer cells. Apoptotic: a genetically directed process of cell self-destruction that is marked by the fragmentation of nuclear DNA, is activated either by the presence of a stimulus or removal of a suppressing agent or stimulus, and is a normal physiological process eliminating DNA-damaged, superfluous, or unwanted cells -- called also programmed cell death.²

I have to stress again that even though I am not actually suffering from Pancreatic Cancer, I hopefully would draw from all available sources to make educated decisions about my health care. I realize that the talk is a lot easier then to actually taking the walk of being a cancer patient. Nonetheless, I hope this article, for whatever reason you might be reading it, will shed light on some of the available treatment options concerning Pancreatic Cancer. Again, I urge you to make your healthcare provider an ally when it comes to your health and your healthcare decisions. Truly integrated medicine can only happen when all parties involved have only one goal in mind: The Patient's Best Interest.

Beste Gesundheit,

Werner

References:

1. "New Agent Enhances Pancreatic Ca Response to Therapy.(cancer)." Oncology News International (July 1, 2006): 55. Health Reference Center Academic. Thomson Gale. LIRN. 27 Dec. 2006

2. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/apoptotic

Comments

[Treat-Cancer.nl]

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[Remi]

Thank you for your information and help in relation to this illness.

[Dr. D. Jack Grasse]

Werner:

An excellent review for those with pancreatic cancer. As you well know ca of the pancrease is beset with a poor prognosis. Take a peek at my medical website for more information about alternative cancer therapy.

[Cesar G.]

Very interesting article. I have been reluctant to accept alternative medicine as an option, but lately after seeing some positive results I'm definately a convert!

[Dinora Zambrana]

I definitely agree with you, we need to become more educated. My husband has Pancreatic Ca and this only helps me reinforce my thoughts of both western and alternative medicine. It is nice for someone like me that is 24-7 by my husband's bedside in the hospital and out to try to research on a lot of different alternatives. However, I know it needs to be done,but your article will give me a jump start. Thank you.

[Patty Vermillion]

In regards to Alternative Therapies - what do you know about Protocel or Cancel therapy? Thanks for any insight you may have.

[x-ray fluorescence]

Hi,
Can anyone please let me know ..how much there will be expenses there for Pancreatic Tumor Operation?

[dermatologist pomona]

Thank you so much for bringing up this very important matters,its good subject to explore to help for prevent this kind of illness.

sphin

[Roger Stump]

I am a 5 year survivor of stage 4 pancreatic cancer with mets to my liver. I had chemo and also saw a naturopathic doctor at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. I took Maitake Mushroom, green tea, omega-3, selenium and drank an herbal tea (God's herbal blessing tea) from Pensacola FL. I experience minimal side effects and have been in remission since June 2005.

Roger Stump

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[GIRISH AGARWAL]

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Kindly open the link http://mrsagarwalmedicalreports.blogspot.com

Please give us your kind suggestion how to go ahead.

We look forward to hear from you as soon as possible.

Thanking you,

With best regards
Girish Agarwal,
Mobile No. +91-9849166717
INDIA

[GIRISH AGARWAL]

We are contacting your good self in connection with my sister-in-law health problem who is suffering from “Pancreatic Cancer” which is in 3rd – 4th stage and spread to Bone Marrow. Please find herewith Case History of Mrs. Seema Agarwal for your kind perusal.

Kindly open the link http://mrsagarwalmedicalreports.blogspot.com

Please give us your kind suggestion how to go ahead.

We look forward to hear from you as soon as possible.

Thanking you,

With best regards
Girish Agarwal,
Mobile No. +91-9849166717
INDIA