Aug 9 • 💡Research & Education
Breast Cancer - I wrote up for 2 friends diagnosed this week
I have had two close friends diagnosed with breast cancer (2 different types) this week, and I wrote this up and shared it with them. Your mileage may vary, these are my opinions, and I am not any version of medical, just a fellow breast cancer being who has been studying.
I know similar kinds of information have been shared here in this group and I hadn't seen what I have written, a current breast cancer from the beginning write up for someone brand new to all of this, so I wanted to share it in case it's useful to anyone early on. I also shared some of this in my story shared here, because I did most of it myself!
May your journey be fruitful and filled with bits of joy and awe along the way.
Cheers,
Michelle
Biggest news - cancer testing through blood work in current trials in the USA. This can be very useful in early diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment to see if the treatment you choose is working. For more information call Dr. Tate 99% accurate so far and very new so your current team may not be familiar with it. Please let her know Michelle Love from Puerto Rico gave you her number when you call. +14809551094
I'm not a doctor, and everyone is different, what worked for me may not work for you or anyone else and both our bodies and our priorities in life are different. All of this is just FYI in case it helps you or someone you love.
Best book to read right away after a diagnosis is Cancer Resolution by Mark Lintern and go to the website and download and give to your oncologist the synopsis of this book, a much shorter PDF to share. (both PDF for oncologist and questions for oncologist are currently at this link https://www.cellsuppression.com/essential-questions-to-ask-your-oncologist )
My personal view of cancer is that it can often be managed as a chronic illness. There are a few cancers that respond very well to chemotherapy and radiation, but if yours is not one of them, you may want to look into alternative and off label therapies right from the start. If you have a cancer that has already metastasized (moved from its original location) western medicine basically sucks and does more harm than good at that point, in my opinion. This is coming from a quality of life over quantity of life perspective, along with the belief that long term remission is possible, and more likely without chemo or radiation.
Cancer loves sugar and a PET scan is where they take sugar, make it traceable in your body, and use a scanner to see where it goes preferentially in the body. More than 95% of cancers are PET scan positive and there is some debate about it being all of them, and the small percent that aren't are really from another disease process with similar symptoms. In any case, for me this means several things, if you want to prevent cancer, it can be worth it to do a 7 day water fast once a year to "starve" any possible growing cancers. If that seems like too much, maybe try a PSMF protein sparing modified fast for 7 days, to try for a similar outcome. For me, I do that, and I also don't eat any added sugars, and only a tiny amount of any processed food, and under 50 grams carbohydrate - mostly from vegetables, a day. When I get scanned I take 200mg of melatonin so that the radiation from the scan is buffered by the anti-oxidant quality of melatonin taken during the day - it helps to get sunlight in your eyes after taking it to avoid possible drowsiness.
Many of the western medicine (not all) treatments are cancer causing themselves. I often ask, is this towards remission, or extension of life? What are the side effects, short and long term? There is a questions to ask of your oncologist list created by Chris Wark with more at the end of this email, and I don't personally ask my oncologist all of these given my personal access to services and health care, and I do think they are useful to consider.
Things to explore to support whatever treatments you decide on : Ketogenic diet (healthy fats, lots of veggies, no processed foods) combined with fasting around treatments (this weakens the cancer, making it more susceptible to the treatments without weakening you, generally) If it were me, I would start this right away. I would also look into HBOT - often covered by insurance after cancer treatments. Both of these have early but decent human studies supporting them.
Consider doing EVERYTHING you do on a press, pulse schedule, meaning, do a bit more than needed for a few days, then stop or less for a few days. When I was doing treatments this went up to a 2 week press followed by a 2 week pulse, (often shorter, depending) but it also works really well as prevention as our bodies adapt to whatever is "regular" in our lives and don't as easily adapt to press/pulse.
Eat 1/4 cup of nuts a day.
Eat as spicy and herby as you can - turmeric, ginger, garlic, cayenne, etc. are all cancer prevention supportive and the more the merrier as your digestion can handle. The idea is to get as much variation and support for any possible deficiencies as you can through your food. Consider : 2 cloves raw garlic a day - cut up or smashed and let sit for 15 min before eating to increase allicin,
4 teaspoons turmeric a day - (heaping tablespoon) w/black pepper to enhance absorption,
2 teaspoons ginger a day
1/4 teaspoon cayenne a day
4000 mg Boswellia/frankincense a day
1 tablespoon Black Seed Oil/Cumin Oil (more not better, that's sufficient)
Eat no sugar, no alcohol, low carb, high orac, unprocessed, gluten free,
Rotate through some teas, essiac, graviola, moringa, butterfly pea, and other herbal and bitter teas.
Take zeolite for a week once a month and alternate hot and cold (could be sauna and cold plunge or simply hot cold hot cold showers) to support the body's clearing out of toxins in our increasingly toxic world.
Exercise twice a day approximately 12 hours apart - this can be small - a few minutes on a trampoline, a short walk after breakfast and dinner, etc. but does really matter to move intentionally at least twice a day. Even better if you can do 1 minute of HIIT High Intensity Interval Training 12 hours apart each day. The more moving the better! If you want to get a wearable - ring or wrist watch or? that alerts you if you are sitting for more than an hour ever, that's a great idea too!
Get your vitamin D levels tested and increase your vitamin D towards the high end, vs adequate, go for 80 versus 40 for example and do some research for your best levels. Many holistic practitioners recommend 90-110.
Get tested and maybe Supplement magnesium - we used to easily get all we needed in our food and most of us are deficient now because of our food supply. (just for fun I want to show you the range on this one, because it can be viciously hard to sort data out of the amazing ranges of information we're seeing these days -
2–15%
According to Healthline, this percentage of Americans experience magnesium deficiency.
52.2%
According to a 2007–2010 US national survey, 52.2% of the population doesn't meet the daily requirement for magnesium.
70–80%
According to The Washington Post, this percentage of Americans over 70 don't meet their daily magnesium needs.
75%
According to the World Health Organization, this percentage of the U.S. adult population doesn't meet the FDA's recommended daily intake of 420 mg of magnesium.
If you do end up wanting or needing surgery at any point, here are some things to consider regarding surgery specifically:
I did use HIBICLENS - everywhere, all creases and crevices toe to knees, both sides, including any hairy spots, the night before the surgery. This one, to me, is a no brainer, cheap, and safe and improves outcomes. If you are female, consider only using a female surgeon for much better outcomes.
Consider:
Greatly increasing melatonin temporarily around the surgery to lower the possibility of circulating tumor cells finding a place to land. The more light you get the less sleepy you will be, and you want to take it during the day, every 4 hours, and a high dose right before you go to sleep. 2 days of 20mg every 4 hours, then 60mg at bedtime. Consider the nightly dose of 60mg for two weeks post surgery. If you do get a PET, take 200mg 1-2 hours before the scan.
From the following link: Clinical trials revealed that melatonin is an effective adjuvant drug to all conventional therapies.
This one is about melatonin and skin cancer specifically:
Melatonin and the Warburg effect:
As much thc as you can handle for ctc's, ideally right before you go to sleep for 2 nights post surgery.
Some more data on some of these recommendations: partial overview of several of the following:
Something to consider:
Use Tramadol instead of morphine based pain killers.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10803717/ (for both of the above)
If you can get a doc to prescribe it safely for you, lower stress response in the body, better for healing, thus guessing better for lowering ctc's circulating tumor cells, and it can make a difference:
Take Propranolol before and after, slow release, 20mg all 5 days before, 80mg morning of surgery, 20 mg all 5 days after.
Check with your doc as these are the latest and most up to date guidelines regarding water and hydration:
Disregard "old school" instructions for water, better to be well hydrated according to the most up to date research. Ok to stop water 2 hours before surgery, not 12 hours before. Yes, do stop intake of food, etc. 24 hours before. (from UCLA https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/anesthesiology/patient-resources/when-stop-eating-and-drinking#:~:text=You%20are%20encouraged%20to%20drink,Water ) (from a surgery prep site : It is now advisable to drink clear liquids 2 hours before the surgery, breast milk 4 hours before, non-human milk and solid light food 6 hours before, and anything else 8 hours before the surgery. These are more relaxed guidelines to be followed but only under the advice of a doctor. But it is always important to follow the advice of your doctor.)
post surgery - increase omega 3 usage greatly, 3/6 ratio increases in importance post-op, triple or quadruple your normal dose for 3 weeks.
Consider taking cimetidine - 800mg all 5 days pre surgery and continue to at least 7 days post surgery.
Consider adding modified citrus pectin 5 days pre surgery and 7 days post operative - use manufacturer's limit for dosage, up to 14 grams. Study below is a phase 2 trial in prostate cancer. This one is specific to prostate, but, the modified citrus pectin shows usefulness in MANY cancers, and I would guess that it would be good for all, and almost certainly not harmful.
There is a tremendous amount of research around stress and surgery. You might consider getting and doing and modelling "Prepare for surgery, heal faster" by Peggy Huddleston (can order online and get as mp3s) or something like it.
Back to cancer itself, here are some starting web sites:
This one is good for finding the latest information and standard of care :
Alternative/western mix and from what I have heard can also be expensive, but many people find the guidance in alternative care they offer very worth it:
This one is further out there in the alternative world, and people find success with it, often after western medical treatment has given up:
If you decide to go the fasting route, you may want to have some support as you begin, and my favorite resource for this is:
Books I would recommend in the how and what to do alternatively area:
Cancer Resolution by Mark Lintern
The Cancer Solution by Jack Westman
Keto For Cancer by Miriam Kalamian
How to Starve Cancer by Jane McLelland
Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Nasha Winters
Radical Remission by Kelly Turner (less of a how to treatment wise, more from the emotional side)
Books on cancer itself for further understanding, but not how to, and not where I would start at the beginning of this journey. However, it's hopefully a very long journey, and these can all be useful in understanding, especially as it evolves.
Tripping over the truth by Travis Kristofferson
Metabolic Theory of Cancer by Thomas Seyfriend
Transformer by Nick Lane
Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Cancer Code by Jason Fung
Lymph and Longevity by Gerold Lemole
Consider adding to your nutrition some super nutrition to help your body in this time of challenge. Everyone's different but maybe research the following foods and supplements and off label drugs: Turkey Tail Mushroom, Cordecyps Mushrooms, Lions Mane Mushrooms, Spirulina, Chlorella, Serrapeptase, Tudca, Modified Citrus Pectin, Turmeric, Quercetin, Berberine, RSO (Rick Simpson's Oil or similar) , CBD, Loratadin, Luteolin, ECGC (from green tea), garcinia cambogia, doxycycline, statins, metformin, cimetidine, high dose vitamin c, 3bp, niclosamide, dca, ivermectin, fenbenzadole, and mebendazole
I have lymphedema from breast cancer and have had both breasts and lymph nodes on both sides removed. Some of this might not apply, but some of it might, and I certainly wasn't told much of this to start. Our lymphatic system is part of our immune system, and things that can boost our immunity can sometimes help us fight cancer. Some things that I do in support of my lymph system include LOTS of movement, especially on a trampoline, which helps in the pumping action of the lymph. The lymph system doesn't have its own pump, like the circulatory system has the heart. Its pump is our movement. Swim - the compression from the water supports lymph movement. Get up and move at a minimum of every hour, including travel, on a plane, in a car, it's very important (useful for most, very important for lymph movement). I use a lympha press pump (prescription) to help move the lymph, and I receive specific lymphatic massage (practitioners who have been through this training I have found to be the best https://klosetraining.com/ ) and you can find certified practitioners through https://clt-lana.org . If you do end up wanting/needing various custom lymph support garments, I highly recommend https://www.thecompressioncloset.com for very personalized and attentive care. If you want information on my remote CLT who will do consults from a distance, please contact me for her information. She's great!
There are drugs that are approved by the FDA but for other things, not for cancer, that can be helpful for cancer. This is called off label use of a drug. It can be a bit of a trick to get some of these prescribed, but sharing small studies can help. Here are just a few related to breast cancer, and if you want, I can send you the studies that go with them, but I didn't want to send a bunch of attachments when they probably aren't needed.
Doxycycline and Breast Cancer
In summary, our findings support that doxycycline, a FDA approved drug, can inhibit proliferation of breast cancer cells, as well as self-renewal of BCSCs. Part of the mechanism of inhibition of self-renewal is due to the suppression of key developmental stem cell factors, such as Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and c-myc.
Statins and Breast Cancer
Basic science and clinical research suggest that statins are also effective in the management of breast cancer. Specifically, in various breast cancer cell lines, statins increase apoptosis and radiosensitivity, inhibit proliferation and invasion, and decrease the metastatic dissemination of tumors. Clinical trials in breast cancer patients support these laboratory findings by demonstrating improved local control and a mortality benefit for statin users
Mebendazole and Breast Cancer
Mebendazole meets many of the characteristics desirable for a repurposed drug: good and proven toxicity profile, pharmacokinetics allowing to reach therapeutic concentrations at disease site, ease of administration and low price. Several in vitro studies suggest that MBZ inhibits a wide range of factors involved in tumor progression such as tubulin polymerization, angiogenesis, pro-survival pathways, matrix metalloproteinases, and multi-drug resistance protein transporters. Mebendazole not only exhibits direct cytotoxic activity, but also synergizes with ionizing radiations and different chemotherapeutic agents and stimulates antitumoral immune response. In vivo, MBZ treatment as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy led to the reduction or complete arrest of tumor growth, marked decrease of metastatic spread, and improvement of survival.
Metformin and Breast Cancer
Metformin significantly decreased tumor cell proliferation in vitro and suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, it induced the activation of AMP‑induced protein kinase and suppression of phosphorylated‑eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E‑binding protein 1 (p‑4E‑BP1), a downstream effector of the mTOR signaling pathway, and decreased cyclin D1 levels in in vitro and in vivo experimental models. Additionally, metformin inhibited cyclooxygenase (COX)‑2 expression. Clinically, high expression levels of COX‑2 and p‑4E‑BP1 in tissues of patients with breast cancer were significantly associated with enhanced lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis. Thus, the current data suggested that metformin may have potential value as a synergistic therapy targeting both the COX‑2 and mTOR signaling pathways.
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Question list from Chris Wark:
What treatment do you recommend?
What are the drugs you are going to treat me with?
Are there any other drugs that I might have to take?
Can I get a list of all the drugs that will be involved in my treatment?
What are the short term side effects of these drugs?
What are the long term side effects of these drugs?
Do any of these drugs have life threatening side effects?
How old are the drugs you recommend? How long have they been around?
Is this treatment curative or palliative?
If curative:
If the treatment you recommend doesn't cure my cancer, then what?
What is the recurrence rate after this treatment?
Where does that statistic come from?
If palliative:
What's the point of chemo or radiation if it's not going to cure me?
How would drugs that make me sick give me better quality of life?
How much time do you think I have to live if I do this treatment?
How much time do you think I have to live if I do nothing?
What is the 5 year disease-free survival rate for my specific diagnosis with this treat-
ment protocol?
What is the 5 year disease-free survival rate for my specific cancer if I do nothing?
How much does chemotherapy contribute to 5 year survival for my cancer?
What about 10 year survival?
Are there any studies comparing this treatment protocol to patients who did nothing?
What if the treatment doesn't work? Can I get refund?
May I have copies of the Material Safety Data Sheets on all the drugs I'll be taking?
I would like to take them home with me today to review them.
Have you ever taken any of these chemotherapy drugs to understand what they are
like?
Would you do this treatment if you had the same diagnosis as me?
Or would you just try to make the most of the time you have left?
What would you do if you were me?
Are you married? Do you have children?
If your husband/wife had this cancer would you give them this treatment?
What if it was your child? Would you give them this treatment?
Is it true that chemotherapy drugs can make cancer more aggressive?
Does chemotherapy kill cancer stem cells?
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Breast Cancer - I wrote up for 2 friends diagnosed this week
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