Stress Hormones Found To Make Cancer Resistant To Treatment

There are many things that drive cancer. Poor diet, chemical and radiation exposures, and certain infections, figure prominently in the process. Stress, however, is a major contributing factor that is often completely overlooked.

New research, however, sheds light on just how critically important the physiological consequences of stress are on cancer cell progression.

Adrenaline Increases Cancer Malignancy

Published in the journal Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics and entitled “Adrenaline induces chemoresistance in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells,” researchers found that the stress hormone adrenaline induces multidrug resistance in colon cancer cells.¹

Adrenaline is released during times of stress and participates in what is known as the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system.  The study investigated the cellular consequences of adrenergic activation (adrenaline activation), which included a dose-dependent increase in the expression of the cancer-associated gene (oncogene) known as ABCB1 gene and its gene product, P-glycoprotein, which is known to protect cancer cells from anticancer compounds.

When adrenaline-induced P-glycoprotein levels increase within cancer cells, they become more effective at excreting drugs that may do them harm, e.g. chemotherapy. P-glycoprotein is used to transport xenobiotics out through what are known as ATP-dependent efflux pumps. These are highly expressed in the epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract, kidney, liver, and capillaries of the brain, testes, and ovaries, and normally defend healthy cells against toxicants in the environment.  In cancer, however, a wide range of oncogenes are upregulated and tumor suppressor genes downregulated, resulting in assemblages of cells (tumors) that can do great harm to the body as a whole.

Stress Is As Real A Threat To Health As A Heart Attack

This study raises a very important issue in conventional cancer treatment: often the psychological health, attitudes, expectations and feelings of patients diagnosed with cancer are considered secondary or merely “subjective” factors, merely an afterthought in juxtaposition to clinically verifiable, or so-called “objective” signs, e.g. tumor markers, genetic tests, etc.  This “Cartesian” division between mind (the “ghost in the machine”) and the body (“the machine”), is at the root of the conventional medical model of disease treatment, and could itself be considered an inherently dis-eased or pathological system of thinking.

Indeed, recent research published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirmed that the very stress associated with being diagnosed with cancer is as lethal as the cancer itself, and sometimes far more so. After analyzing over 500,000 people who were diagnosed with cancer, it was discovered that the risk of suicide was 12 times higher and the risk of heart-related death 6 times higher during the first week following cancer diagnosis versus those who were cancer free.²

If these findings are correct, and stress hormones are capable of transforming normal cancer cells into a multi-drug resistant ones, or in increasing the risk of heart attack 6-fold, then stress reduction techniques, and other “intangible” factors, e.g. whether the doctor has a positive or negative attitude or expectation (i.e. the “placebo” and “nocebo” effect), should be given the same weight as the type of chemotherapy that is chosen, or the results of cytopathology or histopathology reports.

Can Simply Smelling Essential Oils Reduce Stress?

Simple techniques can be employed to reduce the cancer-promoting effects of elevated adrenaline in invariably stressed and anxious cancer patients.  As we reported a few months ago, researchers have found that the simple inhalation of patchouli and rose oil may reduce sympathetic nervous activity by up to 40%, with rose oil reducing adrenaline concentrations by 30%. 

A few other ways to reduce stress include:

• Chocolate: If taken over a 2 week period, daily consumption of 40g of dark chocolate can reduce urinary excretion of stress hormones cortisol, and catecholamines, while reducing other metabolic indicators of stress.


• Qigong: Qigoing can reduce blood pressure and catecholamine levels of patients with essential hypertension.


• Yoga: Yoga can reduce anxiety, depression, perceived stress, cortisol levels in breast cancer outpatients undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy.


• Tryptophan: Dietary tryptophan reduces plasma cortisol and noradrenaline concentrations in animals.

REFERENCES

¹ Cancer Genet Cytogenet. 2009 Apr 15 ;190(2):81-7. PMID: 19380024

² N Engl J Med. 2012 Apr 5 ;366(14):1310-8. PMID: 22475594

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The post Stress Hormones Found To Make Cancer Resistant To Treatment appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

Food NOT Chemo Holds ‘Cure’ For Colon Cancer

When chemo fails, or worse, feeds the cancer, the immense healing power of food may be the only hope left. 

Colon cancer is one of the world’s most prevalent and lethal forms of cancer and is believed to be driven primarily by the Western diet. It has been estimated that one million people around the world are diagnosed with colon cancer, and 500,000 die from it, each year. Conventional treatment approaches continue to do very little to reduce mortality, and this is believed to be due to the presence of a subpopulation of colon tumor cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs), or tumor-initiating cells (TIC), that are resistant to chemotherapy and therefore contribute to relapse. In fact, chemotherapy not only fails to destroy the cells at the root of colon cancer but may also induce cancer stem cell like properties (stemness) within colon tumor cells that otherwise would not express them, the result of which is to make the post-treatment, surviving colon cancer cells far more malignant.¹ Radiotherapy has also been found to induce stemness in cancers of the breast (up to 30x increased tumorigenicity), indicating that both chemotherapy and radiotherapy — the purported ‘cure’ of conventional cancer care  — may worsen the disease.

Given the bleak situation, interest in cancer stem cell targeting therapies of natural origin has increased dramatically in the past few years. In a new study published in Nutrition titled, “Colon carcinogenesis: influence of Western diet-induced obesity and targeting stem cells using dietary bioactive compounds,” researchers identified the Western lifestyle and diet as a primary driver of colon cancer incidence:

“Accumulating evidence suggests that lifestyle factors are one of the predominant components that modulate susceptibility to colon cancer [12,13]. It is a concerning fact that the highest incidence rates of colon cancer are observed in developed nations, including the United States [14]. Moreover, risk for colon cancer is elevated within one generation in individuals who migrated from developing countries to developed countries. Colon cancer rates are rapidly rising in developing nations and could be due to adoption of several features of the Western lifestyle, as previously reviewed [14]. Diets rich in red and processed meats, refined starches, sugar, and saturated and trans-fatty acids but poor in fruits, vegetables, fiber, u-3 fatty acids, calcium, vitamin D, and whole grains are closely associated with an increased risk for colon cancer. Other main features of the Western lifestyle, such as excess body mass and sedentary behaviors, are also strongly associated with higher risk for developing colon cancer [14–16].”

The researchers emphasized the special role of diet in colon cancer in particular: “Diet contributes to 20% to 42% of all human cancers and 50% to 90% in colon cancer [24].” [emphasis added]

According to the study, the primary biological mechanism by which the Western diet drives colon cancer is through increasing insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels, decreasing IGF-binding proteins, which in turn increases bioactive (free) IGF-1 levels. This results in a complex cascade of molecular events consistent with cancer initiation and promotion.

Of course, if the Western diet is the primary driver of colon carcinogenesis, the best preventive approach is to replace it by a diet much higher in organically produced, high vegetable/fiber, high non-oxidized fat (richer in omega 3 and natural saturated fats), and anti-inflammatory ingredients.  But when these modifications either are impossible to implement (think ‘food deserts’) or fail to take hold early enough or after colon tumors and invasive cancer has already taken root, a more targeted and perhaps ‘heroic’ approach is needed but that is not reliant on chemotherapy.

According to the researchers, “The search for a nontoxic chemotherapeutic regimen is fueled by epidemiologic studies that show correlation between plant-based diets and the reduced risk for various cancers [30].” Their study focused on the following natural compounds as potential chemotherapy alternatives:

The study identified these compounds as having potentially potent anti-colon cancer properties due in part to their ability to interfere with elevated IGF-1 levels, as well as ameliorating many Western diet-induced downstream effects, such as inhibiting the cancer stem cell self-renewal pathway known as the Wnt pathway.

The remarkable thing about these phytocompounds is that they are found in commonly consumed food ingredients. Curcumin is the primary polyphenol in the spice root turmeric, which is consumed the world over. Resveratrol is found in many common foods, including grapes, peanuts and chocolate. Lycopene is found in commonly consumed produce items such as watermelon, tomatoes and guava fruit. Grape seed, while not commonly consumed outside supplement form, is found in grapes and is therefore an easily accessible nutraceutical in most places in the world.

A hidden lesson here may be that instead of waiting until after one is diagnosed with a serious health condition such as colon cancer it would make sense to incorporate smaller, culinary doses of these beneficial compounds on a daily basis as a food-as-preventive-medicine approach versus taking heroic ‘drug like’ doses of the compounds later as ‘chemotherapy’ alternatives. While the latter choice should at least be made available to those whose prognosis with chemotherapy or surgery alone looks bleak, it would behoove medical professionals and their patients to take seriously this preliminary research by using non-toxic dietary modifications and/or therapeutic concentrations of these bioactive food ingredients early on as a preventive medicine strategy.

To learn more about how food-based medicine may help to overcome cancer stem cells, you can read the following articles:

​To learn more about the causes and natural/integrative solutions for colon cancer take a look at our extensive database section on the topic: Colon Cancer Research.

​References

¹ Touil Y, Igoudjil W, Corvaisier M, Dessein AF, Vandomme J, Monté D, Stechly L, Skrypek N, Langlois C, Grard G, Millet G, Leteurtre E, Dumont P, Truant S, Pruvot FR, Hebbar M, Fan F, Ellis LM, Formstecher P, Van Seuningen I, Gespach C, Polakowska R, Huet G. Colon cancer cells escape 5FU chemotherapy-induced cell death by entering stemness and quiescence associated with the c-Yes/YAP axis. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Feb 15;20(4):837-46. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-1854. Epub 2013 Dec 9. PubMed PMID: 24323901.

© August 15, 2017 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

Scientists Warn Chemotherapy Could Spread Cancer, Trigger More Aggressive Tumors

Chemotherapy can increase aggressivity in cancer, causing malignant cells to migrate and triggering more dangerous tumors — thereby also increasing the disease’s fatality — researchers in the United States found.

Patients with breast cancer who opt for chemotherapy as treatment actually face a risk of metastasis, according to a new study, as Science reports,

“The blood vessels of patients receiving chemotherapy drugs have more ‘entry points’ through which cancer cells can get into the blood flow and disperse throughout the body, scientists report today in Science Translational Medicine. In mice with breast cancer, chemotherapy shrinks the primary tumor but boosts the number of cancer cells in the lungs and circulating the body.”

Although it appears chemo effectively shrinks primary tumors, the treatment ultimately triggers the spread of malignant cells, causing cancer to act aggressively and often, leading to the patient’s death.

“It is thought the toxic medication switches on a repair mechanism in the body which ultimately allows tumours to grow back stronger. It also increases the number of ‘doorways’ on blood vessels which allow cancer to spread throughout the body,” the Telegraph reports.

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“Dr George Karagiannis, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, found the number of doorways was increased in 20 patients receiving two common chemotherapy drugs.

“He also discovered that in mice with breast cancer chemotherapy increased the number of cancer cells circulating the body and in the lungs.”

Due to this astonishing risk, Karagiannis recommends breast cancer patients be meticulously monitored upon beginning chemotherapy for signs the dangerous cells have begun circulating elsewhere or indications those ‘doorways’ are opening.

“One approach would be to obtain a small amount of tumour tissue after a few doses of preoperative chemotherapy,” the doctor explained.

“If we observe that the markers scores are increased we would recommend discontinuing chemo and having surgery first, followed by post-operative chemo. We are currently planning more extensive trials to address the issue.”

Karagiannis emphasizes this does not mean patients should abandon chemotherapy outright; rather, medical personnel should closely observe patients to ensure cancer cells aren’t spreading elsewhere.

Although this study focused on breast cancer, Dr. Karagiannis and the other researchers intend to study other cancers to see if chemotherapy acts equivalently.

“In this study we only investigated chemotherapy-induced cancer cell dissemination in breast cancer,” Karagiannis said. “We are currently working on other types of cancer to see if similar effects are elicited.”

Another recent study of chemotherapy found, in the treatment of leukemia, following the traditional treatment with cannabinoids — the active compounds in the federally-banned cannabis plant — significantly improved patients’ success rates.

Published in the International Journal of Oncology, the study found,

“In addition to the well-known palliative effects of cannabinoids on some cancer-associated symptoms, a large body of evidence shows that these molecules can decrease tumour growth in animal models of cancer. They do so by modulating key cell signalling pathways involved in the control of cancer cell proliferation and survival. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit angiogenesis and decrease metastasis in various tumour types in laboratory animals.”

Smoking cannabis, the researchers noted, does not provide similar benefits to the highly-concentrated plant extracts, and cannabinoids showed no increased advantage in treatment unless administered after chemotherapy.

Although researchers studying the deleterious effects of chemotherapy on breast cancer did not examine cannabis or cannabinoids for benefit, it must be emphatically noted the U.S. government — the same government responsible for the continuation of cannabis prohibition which lands countless medical patients behind bars — states plainly on its website for the National Cancer Institute,

“Cannabis has been shown to kill cancer cells in the laboratory.”

A Failing Chemotherapy Paradigm Looks To Flaxseed For Help

When conventional cancer medicine fails to produce positive outcomes, a humble little seed comes to the rescue. 

A new study published in the International Journal of Oncology illustrates an important shift occurring in medical research today, namely, a growing recognition that conventional treatments like chemotherapy, taken alone, are failing to produce positive results and that the use of natural substances may be an indispensable way to improve outcomes.

In the study titled, Combining doxorubicin with a phenolic extract from flaxseed oil: Evaluation of the effect on two breast cancer cell lines, Italian researchers sought to evaluate the possible synergistic role of an extract of flaxseed in combination with the conventional chemo-drug doxorubicin in a number of breast cancer cell lines.

They also noted that a commonly used cancer drug known as doxorubicin is notorious for its many side effects. You can review the primary literature on dozens of doxorubicin’s known side effects on our database. The researchers hypothesized that one way around this problem would be to reduce the amount of doxorubicin used by combining it with a safer, more natural compound.

In a previous study, the researchers showed a phenolic extract of flaxseed oil resulted in a number of chemotherapeutic effects (increase in apoptosis, G0/G1 phase cell cycle, and the activation of signaling and pro‑oxidant pathways). The new study looked at the combined effect of doxorubicin and a phenolic extract of flaxseed oil on two different breast cancer cell lines, focusing on what conditions are ideal for using lower doses doxorubicin. They reported the experiment a success:

“We report the data relating to the ability of this mixture to induce cytotoxicity and apoptosis, cell cycle modification, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and activation of extrinsic and/or intrinsic apoptotic pathway.”

While this only a preliminary investigation, and does not have the gravitas of a human clinical trial, flaxseed has been subject to extensive research on its chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic properties. We’re reported on this in depth in previous articles, such as:

We have also done a lot of advocacy around the topic of conventional treatment failure, including the problems of cancer overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and the failure of modern oncology to address the root causes of cancer and the role that cancer stem cells play in the process of carcinogenesis and treatment failure.

There is a profound shift occurring in the medical research community today. With the growing awareness that food is not just a source of energy and material building blocks for the body, but capable of being a form of medicinal or nutrigenomic information, it is no longer considered far fetched to look at something as commonplace, and benign as flaxseed as having disease-resolving power.

For more information on natural substances that may be of value in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Use our Cancer database on the topic to search thousands of studies.

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