Hi everyone,
I'm so grateful to have found this blog to give me hope for my sister. Thank you so much Stephen to have create this.
She's been diagnosed recently with glioblastoma (Methyled). She's starting her treatment in a couple of days and I have some question:
Melatonin:
My sister is set to have 6 weeks of radio/chemo (TMZ). Melatonin needs to be taken at night but will there be enough in her system to have an effect during the day when She's receiving the radio/chemo?
Open mind NO or doctor:
Also, is there anyone who had good luck to find an open mind about supplements and medications that we want to add to her protocol? We are in Canada (Montreal).
Chloroquine:
If I can't find any doctor willing to prescribe it, is Artemisinin a good plan B? If so, what dosage would be best?
Celebrex:
If for the same reason I'm not able to find a doctor, is Boswellia extract a good plan B?
thanks a lot for your help.
frederique
Hi Frederique,
ReplyDeleteMelatonin has a short half-life in the body, so there is probably not much still in the system during the day, but I'm not sure that it is important to time it relative to chemotherapy and radiation. In theory, it can have antiproliferative effects on GBM cells by itself. Richard Kast (main author of CUSP9 cocktail for GBM) has written articles proposing the use of the drugs agomelatine or ramelteon in place of melatonin. These drugs also act on melatonin receptors in the body but may have advantages over melatonin itself. However these are prescription drugs, so not as readily accessible as melatonin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4444449/
As far as doctors, most oncologists will resist being actively involved in prescribing the cocktail approach of supplements and off-label drugs. It is too risky for them - if something goes wrong they do not want to be held liable. There is a documentary that goes deeply into this question called Surviving Terminal Cancer. https://www.survivingterminalcancer.com
In my experience many general practitioners or family doctors are more comfortable writing off-label prescriptions, as long as they are presented with evidence that the drug in question might be helpful.
Artemisinin has some preliminary evidence supporting it, though it is quite a different molecule from chloroquine. Even hydroxychloroquine, which has a molecular structure that is almost identical to chloroquine, has some different properties in the body that may make it less effective for GBM. For example "Hydroxychloroquine is less lipophilic than chloroquine and does not diffuse as easily across cell membranes". So I would not consider artemisinin as a replacement for chloroquine, but I would evaluate it according to its own supporting evidence. For GBM, there is some degree of clinical trial evidence (trials carried out in Mexico in the 1990s), but evidence for artemisinin compounds is more anecdotal.
Again, even though Boswellia and Celebrex may have similar uses, they are very different molecules. Bowellia is certainly more accessible as you don't need a prescription for it. The main suggested use of Bowellia is to reduce the amount of cerebral edema and perhaps lessen the need for dexamethasone. Older studies showed that large doses (several grams) of Boswellia was needed every day to achieve this, but perhaps improved formulations of Boswellia would allow the same effect to be achieved with smaller doses. In the past I have recommended the WokVel version of Boswellia made by Verdure Sciences, mainly on the basis of their being the same company that makes the Longvida formulation of curcumin.
https://www.pureformulas.com/boswellia-serrata-extract-wokvel-180-capsules-by-progena.html
https://vs-corp.com/wokvel/
I hope you are able to find a doctor who is willing to give some professional guidance and/or write prescriptions for you!