Another Way of Looking at the Treatment of Cancer

 

People with cancer are fairly often cured for no known reason. This is called spontaneous remission, and it happens every day. Somehow, the body has destroyed the cancer by itself. Anything we can do to encourage this is most worthwhile. One way we may be able to assist the body is with vitamins and other nutrients. 

There are several nutritional aspects to look at in cancer treatment. One of the most important is vitamin C. 

 

VITAMIN C AND COLLAGEN 

Vitamin C is essential to the formation of collagen, the protein "glue" that holds our cells together. Think of cells in a cell tissue like bricks in a wall.  The strength of a brick wall is not truly in the bricks, for a stack of bricks can easily be pushed apart. So might a group of cells. Collagen is the "mortar" that binds your cells together, just as mortar binds bricks together. If collagen is abundant and strong, your cells hold together well. If cells stick together, tumors have a tough time spreading through them. Strong collagen can thereby arrest the spread of cancer. 

Cancer cells secrete a substance called hyaluronidase, which helps them eat away at collagen and break out into the rest of the body. This is described in great detail in the book Hyaluronidase and Cancer, by Ewan Cameron, M.D., Pergamon Press, 1966. Dr. Cameron, in a now famous collaboration with Linus Pauling, Ph.D., has offered evidence that high vitamin C levels maximize collagen production. If cancer cells are going to try to spread by destroying a person's collagen, it just makes sense to make lots more collagen to keep them from doing it. 

To do this, a person fighting cancer probably needs enormous amounts of any substance that helps make collagen. One such substance is vitamin C. Curiously enough, persons with cancer commonly have exceptionally LOW levels of vitamin C in their bodies. This might help explain why their collagen has not been able to prevent cancer from spreading. 

There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying regular high doses of vitamin C with any cancer patient. 

VITAMIN C AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM 

Another reason to use vitamin C in cancer treatments is that vitamin C helps strengthen the immune system. Maximum immune function is vital if we want the body to kill cancer. Yet medical treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy actually weaken the immune system a great deal.  There are, then, really two reasons to bolster immunity with vitamin C. First, large quantities of the vitamin often enable a person to more easily tolerate large doses of radiation and chemotherapy, with far fewer side effects. Second, stronger immune function can only help the patient to fight the disease better in general. 

VITAMIN C AND PAIN RELIEF 

In England, it is not uncommon for terminally ill patients to receive narcotics as strong as heroin to ease their pain. One side benefit of vitamin C studies at Vale of Leven Hospital in Scotland was profound pain relief. Patients given ten grams (ten thousand milligrams) of intravenous vitamin C each day had greatly reduced pain even after the narcotic was discontinued (Cancer and Vitamin C, by Ewan Cameron, M.D. and Linus Pauling, Ph.D., Warner Books, 1981). 

ADMINISTRATION OF VITAMIN C 

Vitamin C is most effective given intravenously. 

Padayatty et al. Intravenously administered vitamin C as cancer therapy: three cases. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2006. 174(7), March 28, p 937-942. http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/174/7/937

Appropriately detailed information for doctors is available in Dr. Cameron's "Protocol for the Intravenous Use of Vitamin C in the Treatment of Cancer" posted on this website under "Cameron Protocol." Additional directions for administering vitamin C by I.V., written by Robert F. Cathcart, M.D., are posted on this website under "Vitamin C I.V." Still more injectable vitamin C dosage information is found in "Significance of High Daily Intake of Ascorbic Acid in Preventive Medicine," by Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., in A Physician's Handbook on Orthomolecular Medicine, Roger J. Williams and Dwight K. Kalita, ed., Keats Publishing Co., 1977. 

Vitamin C may also be taken by mouth, but this is not ideal. To approximate the constancy of an intravenous drip it is necessary to have very frequent oral doses. A dose of the vitamin every half hour that the patient is awake is not excessive. The amount of each dose is the maximum amount that a person can tolerate without diarrhea. Diarrhea indicates bodily saturation with the vitamin. Results may require truly large daily totals.  Remember that oral doses are not as efficient as intravenous vitamin C, so it takes much more to do the job. "C" given orally has to be absorbed through the digestive tract, and a good bit of it isn't. 

Generally speaking, the sicker the patient, the more "C" s/he can hold. Let's say a person has diarrhea at just five hundred milligrams (0.5 g) per dose and a daily total of less than 20,000 mg (20 g). This indicates a NEED for relatively little of the vitamin. A person with pneumonia (or cancer) may have an immune system that would soak up as much as 200,000 mg per day. 

That is a lot of vitamin C, but then we are also asking a lot of it. 

It is important to be consistent with large quantities of vitamin C. It needs to be taken EVERY DAY and VERY OFTEN. Taking the vitamin sporadically is of little value, and may result in a rebound effect of temporary deficiency. Taking too much at one time may result in a false saturation diarrhea. Almost anyone taking 6,000 mg or more of vitamin C AT ONE TIME will experience diarrhea, yet the cancer patient might really be able to hold more than twenty times that amount IF TAKEN IN SMALLER, DIVIDED DOSES throughout the entire day. 

Evidence indicates that vitamin C does not interfere with conventional cancer treatments and may in fact assist them. 

 

NUTRITIONAL APPROACHES OTHER THAN VITAMIN C 

Several vitamins and minerals continue to show value in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Principal among these are vitamin A, vitamin E, and selenium. 

VITAMIN A 

High doses of vitamin A have proved effective against a number of forms of cancer. Vitamin A acceptance as therapy is probably slow due to the potential toxicity of the oil form of the vitamin when taken in enormous quantities for a long time. However, the vitamin A precursor, called carotene or provitamin A, is strictly non-toxic regardless of quantity or duration. It is also more effective against cancer than the oil form. The body internally converts stored beta-carotene into vitamin A on demand. It is the totally safe carotene form that needs to be given, and in very high doses. 

The effective amount of carotene may exceed 500,000 International Units (I.U.) daily. Physicians need to remember that a harmless carotenosis, or orange-colored skin, is the only side effect of massive provitamin A dosage. That amount of carotene can be obtained from six to eight glasses of fresh carrot juice per day. Such a natural source guarantees a mixture of all the different forms of carotene, which is more therapeutically effective than just the beta form.

VITAMIN E 

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and free radical scavenger that seems to help prevent cell damage related to cancer. It is a fat-soluble vitamin with no known toxicity. Doses of 800 to 1200 I.U. are commonly employed. 

SELENIUM 

Regions of the United States with this trace mineral in their soil have less cancer than those regions that don't. Research has indicated that selenium works with vitamin E both to protect body cells and to slow tumor growth. Only a very small amount of selenium is needed for this beneficial effect, probably between 50 and 200 micrograms (mcg) daily. Selenium should not be taken in large amounts. 
 

THE GERSON CANCER THERAPY 

"I see in Dr. Max Gerson one of the most eminent geniuses in medical history." 
(Albert Schweitzer, M.D.) 

In the late 1920's, Max Gerson, M.D. began curing cancer with nutrition. His treatment is detailed in A CANCER THERAPY: Results of Fifty Cases (Third Edition, by Max Gerson, Gerson Institute, CA, 1977). There is no book like this one. It is full of detailed case histories including X-ray photographs, charts and dosage schedules, and lists of all necessary materials. 

The Gerson therapy works towards the detoxification and nutritional restoration of the body, focusing on the liver. This is accomplished primarily through intensive feeding with raw vegetable juices, natural foods, and supplements. It is a labor intensive program, and takes a minimum of 18 months to complete. Hospitalization is not a requirement. Dr. Gerson achieved remarkable results even from diagnosed terminal patients. It would be difficult to justify denying any patient the potential benefits of this proven nutritional program. It can't hurt to try it. 

A site search for “Gerson” from the www.doctoryourself.com mainpage will bring up a good deal of additional information on the Gerson therapy.

CONCLUSION 

Traditional medical treatments have focused on how to go in and kill cancer with chemicals or radiation. It is likely that this approach will change in favor of trying to get the patient's BODY to kill the cancer. A well nourished body will have the best chance of doing this. During the crisis of cancer, the immune system needs to be boosted with appropriately high doses of vitamins C, E, and A as beta carotene and a trace of selenium. 

Oncologists can get nearly as discouraged as their patients when conventional cancer treatments fail. That is the point where hope does NOT have to be lost. If the answer is not here, than maybe it is indeed THERE. Every stone must be turned over in our effort to get well. It is the doctor's duty to do whatever s/he can to help the patient recover. This must include using therapeutic quantities of vitamins. 

Nutritional Support for Cancer Patients: A Typical Alternative Protocol

(Again I state two things: 1. this is just anecdotal information and 2. if you take any of this seriously, consult your health care provider before proceeding with this or any program.)

A.   Digestive enzyme tablets
Two or more multiple digestive enzyme tablets per meal. The theory is that in cancer patients, the liver produces insufficient enzymes.  Cancer patients eat and eat and eat but don't get the good of their food. They are starving to death. Therefore, they need more nutrients than usual.  Enzymes break down food so you can get the nourishment in the food. A "multiple digestive enzyme" preparation is most efficient.

B.   Kelp
5-8 kelp tablets per day. Kelp tablets are an iodine supplement. They have been reported to help resist healthy cell damage from radiation treatments.

C.   Carrot Juice
Drink at least one pint (two glasses) of carrot juice per day.  Goal: up to two quarts (eight glasses). Drink lots of fresh, raw juices. Raw food has lots of enzymes, and carrots are loaded with anti-cancer alpha- and beta-carotenes. About two pounds of carrots makes one pint of juice. Buy 25 pound bags because they keep fairly well. By good tasting produce to get good tasting juice. Yellow sprouts on carrots means they are old.  Brush or scrape the carrots to clean them; no need to peel.

D.   Green Drink
Drink one glass (8 oz.) green drink per day. Green drink is any green vegetable, e.g., celery, cucumber (peel to remove wax), green peppers, lettuce (leaf, like Romaine). Green drink is raw liquid chlorophyll. Both chlorophyll and hemoglobin have remarkably similar structures. For green drink do not use limas, spinach, rhubarb or asparagus. The last three contain oxalic acid.

E.   B-12
     Take one of the following, in order of preference:
     1.   The ideal: intra-nasal B-12 gel or spray
     2.   Injections of 1000 mcg. per week. Ask for a prescription.
     3.   Sublingual B-12. 1,000 mcg per day.
     4.   B-12 supplement: 1,000 mcg or more per day.

F.   Potassium
Potassium is in most fruits and vegetables. Read the potassium chart ("K" stands for potassium) in A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. Eat no salt and no canned foods; they contain lots of salt. Cancerous cells love sodium, says Max Gerson, M.D.

G.   Protein
Meat:  Avoid it. Try to become a vegetarian. Fish is an excellent complete protein. Broil, bake, or poach in half an inch of apple juice, simmering 6 minutes each side.

Tofu: Soy products in general contain anti-cancer substances. Cut up tofu into small pieces and throw it into whatever you are making.  It will take on the flavor of the recipe.

Cheese: Natural, with no coloring added. Eat cheese if it will keep you off meat.

Yogurt: Low fat, plain. Sweeten it yourself with a little fruit or honey.

Nut butters: Delicious and easy to digest.  Buy them fresh and keep in the fridge.
 Almond butter - may inhibit the growth of tumors.
 Cashew butter - high in the amino acid tryptophan which helps you sleep.
 Peanut butter - select the fresh, natural variety without added fat or sugar.

Milk:  There is nothing like high-quality raw milk. Speaking as a former dairyman, I raised a family on it from infancy. Certified raw milk is inspected daily.  Try to find it in a health food store or from a farmer. If not available, sweet acidophilus milk or watered-down yogurt digests better than pasteurized milk.

Sprouts: Eat two jars full per day. Sprouts are a complete protein, a complete food. A person could survive on a variety of sprouts and nothing else.  Buy untreated seed. Alfalfa is a good one to start with, but include wheat, lentil, mung bean, clover, cabbage and radish. Each day start two more jars. Harvest alfalfa at the end of 4-7 days; the others may be ready sooner. Eat them in a sandwich or as the base of a salad. Dressings and garnishes are okay. Collect 12-15 wide-mouth quart jars and start farming. Ann Wigmore’s books will tell you how to sprout, and why.

H.  Fruits
Eat as many as you wish, any kind, any time.

I. Grains
Whole grain breads, namely100% whole wheat; brown rice; whole wheat pasta.

J. Special Vegetables:
Eat all the cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale and broccoli that you can. Research confirms that these "cruciform vegetables" are naturally rich in several phytochemicals that are like "plant chemotherapy." They fight tumors. 

The other exceptionally fine food class is the legumes: peas, beans and lentils. They are loaded with fiber, protein, minerals, and complex carbohydrates. And, they are really cheap. Eat lots.

K. Good Snacks
Popcorn, fresh, unsalted popcorn. On it put 2 tsp. nutritional yeast flakes which give the popcorn a cheesy taste and additional B-vitamins, chromium and selenium.

Raw Veggies. Keep a tray of all your favorites in the center of your fridge, where you can reach it 24 hours per day. Celery, carrots, peppers, broccoli, black olives, tomatoes, snap peas, etc.

L.   Beverages
Vegetable juices, fresh and raw. (Whenever you cook, or bottle, or can anything, you destroy its natural food enzymes.)
Fruit juices, fresh
Spring water or mineral water
Herbal teas
Green tea or decaf black tea

M.   Vitamins
Vitamins are food supplements or food concentrates. They are not drugs, so the margin for safety is excellent.

Vitamin E

Begin with 200 IU of natural mixed tocopherols and gradually work up to about 1,000 IU daily. If you are on an anticoagulant drug (such as Coumadin), or if you are on medication for high blood pressure, it is likely that your vitamin and drug doses will need to be tailored over a period of weeks.  You can quite easily monitor your blood pressure at home, and your doctor can and should check your prothrombin time for you.  Occasionally blood pressure goes up slightly in folks not used to vitamin E. Know that it is usually temporary. Reduce the vitamin E for a while, then resume a leisurely increase. If your protime gets too long, have your doctor reduce the drug dose, not the vitamin. Vitamin E greatly reduces the side effects of radiation therapy. Vitamin E is the body's number one antioxidant, very valuable in slowing tumor growth and slowing the spread of malignancies. You will very much want to read Vitamin E for Ailing and Healthy Hearts, by Wilfrid Shute, M.D., or any other book by him or his physician brother, Evan. They will walk you through the whole process.

Iron

If your physician says you need iron, take ferrous gluconate or ferrous fumarate iron tablets, which would replace your current prescription of harder-to-handle ferrous sulfate. Chelated iron tablets are better absorbed, therefore, better utilized by the body. Iron is best absorbed if taken with vitamin C but not at the same time as Vitamin E.

Vitamin C

Begin with 1,000 mg a meal for a total of 3,000 mg per day. Your goal is bowel tolerance, which may be anywhere between 20,000 to 100,000 mg per day or even higher. It would be ideal to take some vitamin C every half hour you are awake, which is a real nuisance. Do the best you can to divide the dose for maximum absorption. For maximum stomach comfort, I strongly recommend a “buffered” vitamin C supplement for persons taking a lot. Instead of tablets, try vitamin C powder for economy and a "fewer pills to take" feeling. Mix the powder in a sweet beverage such as fruit juice. Take the amount of vitamin C needed to feel better, to show improved lab tests, and to get well. Patients in remission should continue taking it for life. There are two meanings to that statement. Do not be put off this valuable adjunctive therapy by unscientific scare tactics. Please be certain to read Cancer and Vitamin C by Ewan Cameron and Linus Pauling. 

The Carotenes and Lycopene Until you can get a juicer, eat lots of yams, sweet potatoes and winter squash.  These are all very high in all the natural carotenes, not just the best known beta- form.  Tomatoes, preferably uncooked, are loaded with lycopene, which is even more valuable than carotene.  Studies in Italy (of course) showed that men that ate five or ten fresh tomatoes daily had almost no prostate cancer.  Red or purple grapes (and fruits and vegetables in general) are high in many other cancer-fighting antioxidants related to the carotenes.  Enjoy!

Selenium Only a minuscule amount is needed, generally around 300 micrograms.  A microgram is a millionth of a gram.  Selenium works closely with vitamin E.  Avoid excesses; more is not better in this case.

Zinc The zinc in your multivitamin (perhaps 15 mg?) is low. Take 50 mg of zinc gluconate or preferably zinc monomethionine. Work up to a goal of perhaps 100 mg per day. Zinc reduces postsurgical healing time and profoundly strengthens the immune system.

Calcium and Magnesium


Tablets can be used to conveniently buffer between-meal vitamin C doses. 1,500 mg of calcium and 500 mg of magnesium is a good target amount.  Divide the doses as much as humanly possible, including snacktime and bedtime. Your body will absorb it much more efficiently that way.

Vitamin B Complex Take one balanced B-50 tablet with each meal, at least. If you are on intense drug therapy or are very fatigued, you can take additional Bs between meals.  Patients on chemotherapy report greatly reduced nausea and much less hair loss when they take their B-vitamins (and C). You have to try this to believe it.

Suggestions


If you get diarrhea, ease up on the vitamin C or the vegetable juices. If not sure which, decrease one, then the other, to confirm which you actually need to reduce. Bear in mind that diarrhea may be due to radiation or chemotherapy treatments. Cheese tends to help stop simple diarrhea.  Chronic diarrhea requires medical attention. 

If you need to sweeten something, try a little honey, sweet molasses or pure maple syrup.

Give this protocol a full four months trial, with your 100% effort, before giving it your final evaluation.

Don't eat anything without reading the label. Don't eat anything unless you know what it is. If you cannot pronounce it, don't eat it.

If your medical doctor is not familiar with orthomolecular (megavitamin) nutrition, hand him or her books, with the bookmarks stuck throughout, and ask, "Have you read what we've read?" Let Dr. Pauling and Dr. Hoffer and Dr. Williams and Dr. Gerson and Dr. Cameron do the talking. When you go to battle, don’t go without your best soldiers. If you are still unfamiliar with these physicians and their work, you are not ready to fight.

No-No’s:

• Avoid sugar 
• Do not smoke. Stop, or at least cut down, immediately. 
• Avoid alcoholic beverages (However, organically-produced red wine in moderation is a reasonable compromise. It is best to dilute it with two parts water before drinking. Grape juice is good, too!) 
• Eat no artificial colorings. 
• Avoid any food with preservatives. 
• Do not consume aspartame (“NutraSweet”). 
• Never eat any product containing saccharine, which has been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals. 

    Who gets the credit (or blame?) for this therapy? Certainly not me, although I'd love to take the bow. But no, this is the collected, derivative work of many researchers.  I'm not smart enough to come up with all this. I am just barely smart enough to find out who is getting good results... and suggest you copy them.

 

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

http://www.doctoryourself.com/cancer.html

http://www.doctoryourself.com/cancer_2.html

Physicians and patients that are confused by conflicting reports on vitamin C and cancer need to refer to pages 163-180 (Chapter 19) in How To Live Longer and Feel Better, by Linus Pauling, Ph.D. (W. H. Freeman and Co., 1986) and the book Vitamin C and Cancer: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy by Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD (Quarry Press, Kingston, Ontario, 1999)  ISBN  1-55082-078-8  

A list of doctors that use or support the use of nutritional therapies for cancer is available from the CANCER CONTROL SOCIETY, 2043 North Berendo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90027 http://www.cancercontrolsociety.com

Information on the successful nutritional cancer therapy of Max Gerson, M.D. is available from the GERSON INSTITUTE, P. O. Box 430, Bonita, CA 91908  http://www.gerson.org

Copyright  C  2004 and prior years Andrew W. Saul. 

Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html ) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html )

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