Here we look at Alternative Lung Cancer Therapies such as Photodynamic therapy, IVC, the vaccine CIMAvax, using off-label drugs or the new immunotherapy drugs, RadioFrequency Ablation, cannabis and CBD, and the implications of the gut-lung axis.
New causes demand new treatment considerations
Lung cancer is breaking away from the old stereotypes, both in terms of smoking being the cause and chemotherapy being the answer. As we discover new causes, so we realise that new treatments and even a new paradigm is necessary.
1. Oestrogen -
Lung cancer is no longer just about active and passive smoking. Many people are developing Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and they have never been near a cigarette - both men and women. The biggest rise has in fact been in young women and Canadian researchers have pointed the finger at environmental toxins like radon, whilst others have suggested that xenoestrogens (in nail polish, perfumes and personal care products) may be to blame. Certainly there are connections between EGFR and oestrogen. There is known cross talk between receptors for Epidermal Growth Factor, common in lung cancer, and estrogen receptors.
Cleaning the herbicides, pesticides, fungicides from your life, along with the toxic toiletries and personal care products might be a good place to start your treatment programme.
Go to: 10 ways to control estrogen levels naturally
2. The Lung microbiome
But another new factor is also emerging. That of the gut-lung axis.
Scientists are now showing that microRNA from microbes can cause epigenetic changes around your DNA. Of course, the traditional, but still unproven, theory of cancer was that it was caused by a mutation inside the double helix of the DNA.
We now know, in illnesses from asthma to cystic fibrosis, that the bacterial microbiome in the lungs has become imbalanced, and that affects the localised immune response. And pathogens in the lungs can reflect pathogens in the gut. And we now know that such pathogens can produce toxins and heighten inflammation; and pathogenic RNA can over-ride the host's own messaging system.
Here, a host of pathogen-killing natural compounds could be useful. One in particular, Artemisinin, is proving worthwhile in killing pathogens, yeasts and some parasites..
Go to: Heal your Gut - Heal your body
3. Traditional Chinese Medicine
Then there is Honokiol - a Traditional Chinese Medicine from the Magnolia bush, shown to reduce the risk of metastases from NSCLC.
Go to: Honokiol
Honokiol can attack cancer cells, cause apoptosis and stop new metastases. It can even cross the blood brain barrier. About 20 centres have been working on it with animals. Three are saying that it is time for human Clinical Trials.
4. Virotherapy, vaccines and lung cancer
A lung cancer vaccine - Then there are other treatments that are interesting like CIMAvax, from Cuba. You just have to get there, but clearly it can extend life considerably and that's why American Cancer Centres have been queuing up to work on clinical trials.. Then there are other options:
Go to CIMAvax works, you just have to get there
Virotherapy: CIMAvax is not the first virotherapy. In 1997 Dr Jack Roth of the MD Anderson Center, Texas pioneered work using a genetically engineered virus coupled with Radiotherapy. Two patients (Alfredo Gonzalvo, now78, and Bernis Testers, now 84) were given the adenovirus (the common cold virus) as a vector to take healthy copies of the p53 gene right into their lung cancer tumours. In all, to date, over 600 people have been treated and in half the cases the tumour has shrunk. The immune system does try to kick the cold virus out before it has reached the tumour, so Roth has found a way of encasing it in liposomes to get past the immune system into the tumour.
Dendritic Cell Therapy - This is where the Dendritic cells, which normally 'see' the rogue cells and take them off to the lymph nodes to have them measured up and specific attack cells produced, are taken out of the body and helped to recognise the bad guys by mixing with cancer cells to produce far more in number. Then these are injected back into the body. About a 12% success at the moment but improing all the time.
5. Immunotherapy and lung cancer
Immunotherapy attempts to power up your immune system so that it can deal with the cancer. It does this in two ways:
i) By helping your immune system work harder
ii) By helping it work more effectively in identifying the target
The immune system works at two rates - a slow rate so that it does not attack your healthy cells, and a faster rate for infection. Cancer Cells produce Checkpoints so they cause the immune system to work slowly. The immunotherapy drugs inhibit the check points. Nivolumab (Opdivo) and Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) are the drugs currently approved.
6. RadioFrequency Ablation -
or Microwave ablation is where a needle is inserted through the chest wall to pinpoint the tumour and 'quarterise it. RFA is covered extensively elsewhere on this Website. It is a safe and feasible alternative for those patients with NSCLC according to Professor S Batra of UCLA San Francisco. Where the tumour is solid/concentrated such as in prostate cancer, ultrasound is used to heat the tumour and literally melts the cancer away, with minimal side effects. The lung tumours need to be near the outer edge of the lungs. A local anaestheic is used.
Cryosurgery: Used with Non-small cell lung cancer tumours, it involves tissue being frozen to destroy abnormal cells. This is usually done with a special instrument that contains liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide.
7. Photodynamic therapy (PDT)
Increasingly popular in the USA for tumours, again near the surface. it is now making a mark to in the UK as better photosensitive agents and lasers are being developed. Increasingly this therapy is used to treat the cancer and some of the symptoms. The new agents have low side effects, but the treatment is more of a complementary therapy than an alternative therapy. The Mayo Clinic's page is entitled 'Photodynamic Therapy - an effective treatment for lung cancer'.
8. Intravenous Vitamin C and lung cancer
At the University of Iowa, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center they have been conducting Phase 1 and II Clinical Trials on IVC and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) both with and without chemotherapy. The patients were all grade 4. The researchers have shown in the studies that the IVC almost doubles survival times with nil side effects, and that the IVC works at the mitochondrial level.
Go to: The Truth about Intravenous Vitamin C (IVC) and cancer
9. Cannabis, cannabinoids and lung cancer
Cannabis and/or CBD - well, we do know of people who used this as part of their treatment package and beat their lung cancer. But, more research is needed. One study showed that THC could inhibit lung cancer cells in a dose-dependent way in mice. Another study showed THC and CBD jointly improved the success of radiotherapy. A third study showed that CBD oil could inhibit a protein ID-1 which causes cancers to become aggressive. There is much more research taking place right now.
10. Off-label drugs and lung cancer
Some Oncologists in London are using Metformin, the diabetes drug, to cut blood sugar and restrict the ability of Lung cancer to feed; another drug is Atorvastatin which is a lipophyllic statin that reduces blood fats and hinders the ability of lung cancer to spread. There is research that people with lung cancer and higher blood fat levels get more metastases.
But there are other drugs. Joe Tippens used Fenbendazome (you can buy it as Panacur from a Pet Supply website). He built a protocol of Fenbendazole, Vitamin D, Vitamin E succinate and CBD, are got rid of his stage 4, grade 4 Lung cancer inside three months when all previous treatments had failed.
Other 'repurposed' off-label drugs for lung cancer shown in research to help are Propranolol, Itraconozole, Celebrex and Cimetidine.
Go to: Build your own Off-label Drugs protocol for Lung Cancer
Alternative therapies for Lung Cancer - any more?
There is much you can do to help yourself; and much modern medicine can do, now the real causes are becoming clearer.
There's a lot more information in our overview on lung cancer:
Go to: Overview on Lung cancer - symptoms, causes and alternative treatments