Supplements... I need to know
My
brother, 34 years old, has a recurrent AA grade III. It looks that
conventional chemo treatment (Temodal for 5 mos and
Temodal+Carboplatin for last 2 months) is not effective so I'm
looking for additional treatments. I have been reading a lot of
articles in favor of supplements and some against them but we don't
have many options. The main question for me is how to find the
optimal dosages or optimal combinations. Another question is
where/what to buy. There are so many companies on the market so it's
really hard to choose among so many labels. So I need your help.
He's
on Depakine/Keppra for seizures and Vitamin D because of very big
deficiency.
- We'd like to try Curcumin. 4g or 8g/daily? Can you recommend some manufacturers by best quality/price ratio with best adsorption? Meriva, Longvida, BCM 95 or C3?
- I've read that Boswellia can be a replacement for dexamethasone. Is it so?
- Dosage for Fish Oil/Omega 3, Selenium. Manufacturers?
- Quercetin? I've read that it works great with Temodal and some other article states that there is no clinical evidence that Quercetin works.
And
the final question for cocktail drinkers is: did you choose
supplements for your cocktail by yourself or did some doctor
recommend it?
Hi Elly,
ReplyDeleteDo you have a copy of the pathology report, and did it have any information on IDH1 status and MGMT status? Was the 5 months of Temodal his initial treatment, and the Temodal + carboplatin for recurrence? Did he have a second surgery for recurrence?
1. For brain tumors I would recommend the Longvida formula of curcumin. This was developed by scientists at UCLA as an Alzheimers treatment, and probably has the best bioavailability in terms of free concentrations of unconjugated curcumin in the bloodstream.
http://www.nutrivene.com/view_item.php?id=331
2. In clinical trials, high dose Boswellia was tested as a way to reduce the need for steroids like dexamethasone (reduced dose), but did not necessarily eliminate the need for steroids during radiation. But dex should always be used at the lowest effective dose, and it's better not to be on it at all unless truly necessary.
I have been recommending Wokvel boswellia, mainly because it is made by the same manufacturer as Longvida curcumin (Verdure sciences), which I trust as being a superior product.
https://www.pureformulas.com/boswellia-serrata-extract-wokvel-180-capsules-by-progena.html
There is mixed evidence on quercetin. In one study it actually increased tumor growth rate in the C6 rat glioma model after intraperitoneal injection of quercetin. Whether this could be replicated in other models, I don't know.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24252772
I think 3 grams of DHA + EPA (contained within fish oil) would be a reasonable daily target. 200 micrograms (mcg) of selenium is a common dosage. I don't have a preferred brand, but make sure the fish oil has been tested for mercury content and other contaminants.
Oncologists do not typically recommend supplements, especially not during standard treatments. Some are more open than others.
I contacted a doctor that "specializes" on supplements against cancer and he recommended boswellia 5-loxin. Does anyone have any more experience with it? There are some old studies (from year ~2000) that it can induce apoptosis in glioma cells, but I guess this effect isn't really big.
ReplyDeleteStephen, thank you for your information.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a copy of the pathology report, and did it have any information on IDH1 status and MGMT status?
IDH1 – YES, 395 G>A R132H
TP53, EGFR, PTEN – NO
MGMT status – not done yet
Was the 5 months of Temodal his initial treatment, and the Temodal + carboplatin for recurrence? Did he have a second surgery for recurrence?
He had DA grade II 5 years ago (surgery and radiation). Last year: surgery, chemo and reirradiation. But the problem is: now he has a few small tumors, some of them are inoperable. He was treated with Temodal during irradiation, then 5 mos Temodal only, then 2 mos Temodal+Carboplatin. It's still growth.
Oncologists do not typically recommend supplements, especially not during standard treatments. Some are more open than others.
Yes, I know. But standard treatments don't work. So I'm looking for some alternatives and began with supplements.
I've read about vaccines: Dendritic cell, Peptide cocktail, Dendritic cell + Virus, Peptide-pulsed dendritic cell etc. so it really hard to choose among them, we can't afford to try them all, they are too expensive. Next week I'll send a few requests to german clinics. Unfortunately, nobody can tell whether these vaccines will work or not in our case.
My daughter's GBM recurrence is also inoperable, so we have started IV Vitamin C treatments (along with a raw vegan diet and colon hydrotherapy) and have seen progress. One word of warning, start slow and build up. The vitamin C is absorbed into the cancer cells creating a pro-oxidant environment where the cancer cells swell before they die off (apoptosis). Starting at a low dose (25 grams) will keep the cells from swelling too much too fast.
ReplyDelete