WASHINGTON, DC—Do antioxidants help or hinder conventional cancer therapy? The question is one of the most contentious in cancer care today, not to mention one of the hottest topics at conferences on natural medicine.
Men with prostate cancer who are treated with androgen-suppressing GnRH analog drugs, are at markedly increased risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures compared with patients of similar age who are not taking these drugs. The longer a man is on a GnRH analog, the greater is his osteoporosis/fracture risk.
Roughly 80% of all women with breast cancer who are treated with radiation therapy experience skin damage at the irradiated sites. Topical preparations containing extracts of Calendula, a flower in the Marigold family, can prevent this radiation-induced dermatitis.
Estrogenic and hormonally-active environmental toxins from plastics, pesticides, animal feed, and cosmetics play a key role in precocious puberty—on the rise in young girls---as well many forms of cancer, says Dr. Devra Lee Davis, of the University of Pittsburgh’s new Center for Environmental Oncology.
The recent National Cancer Institute report showing a major downturn in breast cancer rates in 2003 had a lot of people saying "I told you so," and attributing the downturn to a drop-off in hormone replacement therapy. But it may not be that simple. Dr. Tori Hudson offers her thoughts on this hot topic.
A recent National Cancer Institute sponsored study has challenged the notion that increased lycopene consumption can prevent prostate cancer. But on closer analysis of the data, that conclusion is hardly written in stone. A wealth of other research shows that this valuable nutrient, found abundantly in tomatoes, can lower blood pressure, reduce cardiac events, and even protect against sunburn.
Most people think of melatonin as a sleep aid and jet lag remedy, owing to its ability to regulate circadian rhythms. But this compound has many other benefits, including regulation of blood pressure and slowing the growth of several types of cancer.
New data from the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) and the Women's Healthy Eating and Lifestyle (WHEL) trial show clearly that low-fat, high-vegetable diets can reduce risk of breast cancer recurrence in high-risk women. The findings should prompt a re-thinking of the negative diet data from the Women's Health Initiative.
The ongoing, lavishly-funded "war on cancer," is misguided because it is focused almost exclusively on genetics and end-stage high-tech treatments, while ignoring the biggest driving factor behind the cancer epidemic: environmental pollution. Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, a pioneer in integrative oncology, issues a call to action to the medical community and health conscious citizens.
Plant medicines can inhibit the growth of cancer through multiple biochemical mechanisms. A research team at the Columbia University Center for Holistic Urology is at the leading edge of science on herbal therapies for prostate cancer. The big stars are Zyflamend, a 10-herb anti-inflammatory combination, and Prostabel, a combo of Rauwolfia and Pau Pereira.
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