THE ORIGINAL WAS ROUGH; PROOF AGAIN

16^th International Integrative Oncology Conference – “Cancer, Cannabis & Keto”

By Michael Gerber, MD, HMD

Practitioner of Homeopathic Medicine

Shade the first paragraph, please.

Annie Brandt, founder of the International Organization of Integrative Cancer Physicians (IOICP), the Best Answer for Cancer Foundation, and 18-year survivor of breast cancer, brought a great selection of speakers and exhibitors for her 16^th annual conference in Orlando, Florida, on May 17-19, 2018. A summary of Day 1 appeared in the August-September 2018 issue. This article covers Day 2.

The “Greek Test”

Dr. Ioannis Papasotiriou, MD, PhD, hails from Munich, Germany, and graduated from medical school in Greece with specialties in human genetics, hematology/oncology, and molecular biology. He is the founder of Arzt Genetik Zentrum in Thessaloniki. He is the medical director of RGCCSA, where the major field of expertise is molecular oncology and a main interest is the entity of cancer stem cells.

His presentation focused on the contribution of liquid biopsy in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment and included cancer physiology, diagnosis, treatment decisions, cancer tumor cells (CTCs), cancer stem cells (CSCs), Df (tumor)DNA, technical issues, utility, clinical application future perspectives.

Title for graphic: Cancer Hallmarks

Current dogma includes positions on DNA mutations, RNAi, RNA misfolding, proteins and reverse transcription and retro transposition. He reviewed steps in carcinogenesis such as initiation, promotion and progression of cancer and the Vogelstein Model of developing colon cancer. With the current cancer therapy plan, the rate of success for adjuvant chemotherapy for the five major types of malignancy varies from 2.1% to 2.3 % in five years.¹ For curative stage of disease, the success rate varies between 5 to 7.5% for the same five types of malignancies.

Dr. Papasotiriou presents a very detailed methodology for culturing CTCs with the many difficulties due to their instability and heterogenicity. In the end he gets multimodal data not only in a genomic level but also in epigenetic (gene expression), proteomics and glucoproteomics. One of the subpopulations he studies is the progenitor of a tumor and the generator of metastases. This population is known as cancer stem cell-like cells. He also deeply explores tumor physiology and several methods for isolating the tumor cells, microscopy and gradient based methods. Technical issues such as sample transportation and stability are addressed. Short tandem repeats verify accuracy of cell assessments. Flow cytometry with fluorescence is used to detect multiple antigens inside each cell.

Conclusion: Liquid biopsy offers the ability for prognosis, diagnosis and treatment decisions in the cancer patient: questions@rgcc-international.com ; www.rgcc-group.com.

Cannabis and Cancer: Practical Steps for Symptom Relief and Anti-Cancer Effects

Jessica McCain, MD, presented this session for Dustin Sulak, DO.

Cannabinoids (CB), treat cancer symptoms, ameliorate and prevent cancer treatment side effects, have antineoplastic properties, enhance efficacy of conventional cancer treatments, and provide palliation in end of life care.

Dr. McCain presented safety concerns, drug interactions, adverse effects and dosing delivery strategies. Health conditions influenced by cannabinoids include the following: ADD/ADHD, ALS, Alzheimer’s, anorexia, anxiety, asthma, ataxia, bipolar disorder, cachexia, cancer, chronic fatigue, chronic pain cramps, Crohn’s, diabetes, depression epilepsy, fever, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis, HIV, AIDS, incontinence, insomnia, migraine, MRSA, multiple sclerosis, nausea, neuralgia, neuropathy, Parkinson’s, PMS, PTSK, rheumatoid arthritis, seizure disorders, sickle cell anemia, spasms, spinal injury, stroke, Tourette’s and vomiting.

Endocannabinioid synthesis is an adaptive response to cellular stress, aimed at re-establishing cellular homeostasis. Pubmed search results for “endocannabinoid” found 10 citations in 1993 and 7,899 citations in 2016. CB receptors evolved 600 million years ago and are found in all species from the fruit fly up to man.

Two subsets of receptors exist in humans, CB1 found mostly in the human brain and CB2 found in the peripheral body including WBCs. Humans manufacture our own endogenous cannabinoid ligands: the endocannabinoids, anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG).

Cannabis can be a safe, effective treatment for cancer patients with nausea and vomiting, chronic pain, and insomnia; and it potentiates analgesia and prevent opioid tolerance and dose escalation. The FDA approved Dronabinol, a synthetic THC as a schedule II drug in 1986 and was moved to schedule III in 1999. Nabilone, a THC analog was approved by the FDA in 1985 but not marketed until 2006. Both are indicated for chemotherapy induced nausea/vomiting and as an appetite stimulant for AIDs patients.

Cannabis can help patients tolerate conventional cancer treatment, such a chemotherapy and radiation with a low likelihood of drug interactions. For terminal cancer patients, cannabis offers numerous benefits in palliative care at the end of life. Cannabinoids prevent and treat chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. Dr. McCain cited numerous positive clinical trials.

Dr McCain reviewed its antineoplastic effects and preclinical trials. Cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in multiple cell lines including biliary, breast, cervical, colorectal, gastric, glioma and other CNS tumors, hepatocellular, leukemia, lung, lymphoma, melanoma, oral cancer, pancreatic, prostate, skin, thyroid and uterine cancers. These effects are caused by inducing autophagy and apoptosis; cannabinoids suppress tumor angiogenesis, inhibit cancer adhesion and migration, and don’t injure healthy cells.

Phytocannabinoids include cannabidiol (CBD), delta-9-tetrahycrocannabinol (THC), cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabinol (CBN), CBDA, THCA (are unheated versions). Terpenoids and flavonoids also have therapeutic properties. CBD has a very low affinity for CB1 and CB2 receptors and antagonizes undesirable effects of THC such as intoxication, sedation and tachycardia. It enhances the analgesic anti-emetic and carcinogenic properties of THC.

Side effects include dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, sleepiness, euphoria, depression, vomiting diarrhea, disorientation, anxiety, confusion, impaired balance, hallucination and paranoia. Withdrawal symptoms include anger or aggression, decreased appetite or weight loss, irritability, nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, sleep difficulties including strange dreams. Symptoms appear one to two days after cessation and resolve in one to two weeks.

Oral dosing range effective in Dr. Sulak’s practice are 0.015mg/kg/day- 30 mg/kg/day. Always start with low-dose treatment 0.1-1mg/kg/day for cannabis-naïve patients. Gently build tolerance to common initial side effects. Use CBD dominant strain during the daytime to reduce psychoactivity, if aligned with patient preference, and use THC dominant in the evening. The goal is 5-25mg/kg/day total cannabinoids, titration phase 1-4 weeks followed by a maintenance phase.

Why the Story Matters: Discovering Emotional Roots in Brain Cancers

Michelle LaMasa-Schrader, PhD, MSc, MA, provided a brief explanation of Recall Healing (RH), illustrating the importance of uncovering the emotional underpinnings of all cancers in facilitation and supporting individuals on their health journey. She highlighted various forms of brain tumors and detail case studies, utilizing RH in working with individuals diagnosed with brain tumors.

Recall Healing is an adjunct therapy that can be supplemental to any healing modality including traditional allopathic medicine. It does not replace any intervention utilized to aid in healing, but rather, adds awareness, insight, and tools for dealing with life’s challenges and a means to recognize the mind-body connection.

Dr. LaMasa-Schrader reviewed Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer’s work of finding a “Hamer Focus” in the brain that relates to distance tumors and conflicts related to brain tumors. There is a notion of urgency, rush and necessity to perform quickly, desire to be recognized by the father, to meet his expectation and to perform intellectually above one’s capacity in these individuals.

The tumor results from a violent emotional shock, deep remorse, repressed emotions and past sufferings that the patient turns against themselves. Many of these shocks can occur when the child is in utero. She discussed the importance of genetic baggage and that our children carry our unfinished business. She gave many case studies. For more information, see www.recallhealing.com.

Poly-MVA Energy to Get the Job Done

The PowerPoint for this presentation by Al Sanchez is at doctors@polymva.com. NF-_kB influences about 24 different pro-inflammatory damage pathways in cancer initiation and progression. He reviews anaerobic metabolism of cancer cells and oxidative phosphorylation. Hypoxia is always associated with neoplastic disease and with the degree of anaplasia. The hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1) alters the cancer cell environment and upregulates genes for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), responsible for angiogenesis. Adaptive responses include glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) which facilitates anaerobic respiration, glycolytic enzymes, responsible for anaerobic respiration and carbonic anhydrase 9, which results in a pH disruption within the cell.

Title for graphic: Cellular Energy Metabolism

Lipoic acid and thiamine are involved with cellular energy production and act as co-factors for the oxidation of pyruvate to acetyl co-A. Bonding of electron donating mineral (palladium) to alpha-lipoic acid and thiamine (B1) resulted in the creation of a novel complex, LAMC. Poly MVA has a very high ORAC value about five-fold stronger than vitamin C.

POLY-MVA is a lipoic acid mineral complex with molybdenum, rhodium, ruthenium, vitamins B1, B2, B12, amino acids, n-acetyl cysteine and formyl methionine and is designed to support and promote cellular energy production. This preparation was designed and researched by Dr. Merrill Garnett at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

It is complementary with CoQ10, D-ribose, carnitine, magnesium, vitamins C, A, K and D. It is also complementary with Shikonin, metformin, DCA, Salicinium, artesunate, ketogenic diet, curcumin, Sono Photo Therapy, mistletoe, naltrexone (LDN), oxaloacetate, (NAD), vitamio C, glutathione and phosphatidylcholine.

Vitamin A works synergistically with Poly-MVA. Poly-PLUS adds vitamin A and increases its ability to potentiate oxygen delivery to the aerobic cascade. Vitamin A facilitates iron mobilization to form hemoglobin in red blood cells, reducing anemia and improving ATP production for aerobic respiration. It also enhances DNA repair, attenuated radiation-induced weight loss, repairs radiation-induced mitochondria, enhances chemotherapy, enhances the visual system, and benefits skin aging, acne, and dryness.

Cancer, Conflict, and Corruption

Negative emotions create negative results. Bad moods create bad foods, bad foods create bad bacteria, bad bacteria create bad chemicals, bad chemicals create inflammation and inflammation creates scar tissue.

This is the domino effect of unconscious living, according to Darrell Wolfe, Ac, PhD, DNM, DHS. Government, corporations, media, and the psycho elite attack and control the psyche through conflict, anxiety, and panic. Their corruption contaminates and manipulates the mind of the masses on a subconscious level and create emotional chaos and dysfunctional belief systems. Keep the people distracted and disrupted so that they only focus on the physical body. Adulterated doctors degrade and bully and employ toxic pills and treatments. Barbaric health care has nothing to do with love, life, integrity or humanity – money before people. Welcome to planet Earth, a fun-filled, life-threatening adventure if you know the name of the game.

He said functional beliefs include self-love, unconditional love, self-value, self-realization, self-actualization (Brave Heart Oath), at ease and at peace in the midst of chaos and alignment with heart/brain connection. Dysfunction beliefs include self-hate, conditional love, self-depreciation, self-denial, self-destruction, and chaos creating conflict, shock, panic, dis-ease, and premature death.

Wolfe’s Brave Heart Oath: “Today and every day I promise to trust, honor, respect, protect, forgive, and love myself, first and foremost, before anyone else or anything else on this planet, so help me God! Because I am. I Can.”

Exploiting Cancer Metabolism with Ketosis

Angela Poff, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, discussed cancer metabolism, the Warburg Effect, and the ketogenic diet.

Graphic title: Hallmarks of Cancer

Otto Warburg, MD, PhD, won the Noble Prize in 1925 for proving that cancer cells used only anaerobic, fermentation metabolism which relied on glucose to provide only 2 ATP per glucose molecule versus mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation which manufactures 36 ATP’s per glucose molecule.

The Warburg Effect is a common feature of cancers and serves as the basis for one of the most important diagnostic tools in cancer treatment. Radioactively-labeled glucose is quickly taken up by cancer cells and lights up tumors throughout the body. Dr. Poff reviewed studies that associated dietary glucose load, cancer risk, and poor clinical prognosis. In mice studies blood glucose level is directly correlated to tumor growth.

A diet of 75%-90% fat (coconut oil, butter, olive oil, nuts, fatty fish, medium chain triglycerides) with 5-15% protein (fatty animal meats and fish, cheese) and 5-10% carbohydrates, (green leafy plants, high fiber) induces a physiological state of ketosis. B-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate are water-soluble fat molecules that serve as alternate energy sources for tissues, including brain and replace glucose as a primary fuel for brain during fasting or starvation. The ketogenic diet has been used historically to inhibit seizures. Ketones appear to have direct anti-cancer effects in some models and inhibit cancer cell proliferation independently of glucose restriction in lymphoma, melanoma, brain, kidney cervical, colon, and breast cancer cell lines.

Poff offered a sizeable list of potential mechanisms and reviewed an enormous volume of medical literature including signaling molecules, lowering of blood glucose and insulin levels, inhibiting glycolytic enzymes, reducing basal oxidative stress, endogenous histone deacetylase inhibition, altered gene expression, inhibition of inflammation and peritumoral edema, enhanced anti-tumor immunity and muscle sparing.

The ketogenic diet is an effective adjuvant to radiation therapy for the treatment of malignant glioma in mice. It is synergistic with other metabolic therapies, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, prolonging survival in mice with systemic metastatic cancer.

Human trials are limited with slow mainstream acceptance, funding, compliance, and feasibility (more complicated than taking a pill). Currently, the human literature largely consists of case reports and small safety and feasibility trials. In a pilot study of 16 patients with advanced cancer it was concluded the KD was safe and feasible. Of the five patients that completed the whole 3-month treatment period, none experienced further tumor progression while on the diet. Side effects were temporary constipation, fatigue with no adverse effects of blood parameters or lipids. Quality of life assessments revealed improved emotional function with less insomnia.

Ten patients with advanced, incurable progressive metastatic disease, breast, fallopian tube, colorectal, lung, esophageal and ovarian cancers were treated with the KD. Six out of 10 had stable disease or partial remission by FDG-PET, and the outcome was strongly correlated to relative ketosis. Several human studies show mixed to limited results and a handful of pre-clinical studies showed the ketosis and the KD promote tumor growth need close attention.

Contradictions include the following: carnitine deficiency, carnitine palmitoyltransferase I or II deficiency, carnitine translocase deficiency, B-oxidation defects, medium chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency, long-chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency, short chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency, long chain 3-hydroxacyl-CoA deficiency, medium chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA deficiency, pyruvate carboxylase deficiency, and porphyria.

Relative contraindications include inability to maintain adequate nutrition, parent or caregiver noncompliance, liver disorder, including liver cancer, pancreatitis, gall bladder disease and kidney disorders. Other side effects of the ketogenic diet are constipation due to reduced bulk and fiber consumption; addition of fibrous vegetables or MCT oil and laxatives are helpful. Gastroesophageal reflux, changes in weight, and hunger typically go away after several weeks. Vitamin and mineral deficiency including calcium selenium, zinc, copper, vitamin D and others may occur. Potassium citrate reduces the risk of kidney stones. High cholesterol and other lipid abnormalities are typically transient. Carnitine deficiency may require supplementation, bone metabolism (especially in children) and growth retardation in children must be noted.

Ketosis targets nearly all hallmarks of cancer. The ketogenic diet has extremely encouraging preliminary results as a potential new cancer therapy. More animal work and human clinical trials are crucial to determine its place in the treatment of cancer. Her talk was extensively documented.

Anti-Cancer Plant Extracts, and Anticancer Green Teas

John Hall, PhD, Senior Scientific Advisor, The Beljanski Foundation, discussed Beljanski’s Theory of Cancer and two plant extracts with anti-cancer properties. Beljanski’s theory is that cancer DNA differs from normal DNA in its secondary structure, rather than only its primary structure and causes mutations in one or more nucleotides. Mirko Beljanski thought that if nature created carcinogens, nature had also created anti-carcinogenic molecules, that would prevent the duplication process of destabilized DNA.

Pao pereira and Rauwolfia vomitoria exhibited anti-cancer activity in a human thyroid carcinoma cell lines and human liver and human breast cell lines (ZR-75-1). They also suppressed growth in a mouse model of prostate cancer. In vitro studies of Pao pereira and Rauwolfia vomitoria inhibited ovarian cancer stem cells and pancreatic cancer stem cells. Tea extracts had a beneficial effect on breast cancer cells. (Contact john@beljanski.org.)

Kansas University Medical Center’s Dr. Jeanne Drisko, MD, Director, KU Integrative Medicine, Riordan Endowed Professor of Orthomolecular Medicine, and Dr. Qi Chen, assistant professor, noted that Rauwolfia significantly reduces ovarian cancers by inducing apoptosis. It was also synergistic with gemcitabine treatment and reduced tumor burden and metastatic potential in the gemcitabine non-responsive tumors. It was synergistic with multiple chemotherapy drugs.

Overcoming Myths and Pitfalls of Implementing the Ketogenic Diet

Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, LAc, Dipl.OM, FABNO, reviewed our human diet from the hunter/gatherer realm to Neolithic farming, modern human nutrition, and post-modern human nutrition. Three major factors have disrupted our internal and external environment over the last 50 years. They are the addition of large quantities of highly refined sugar to our diet, changes in methods of farming and raising animals, and exposure to a large number of chemical products that didn’t exist before 1940.

Food = Love. Our first taste is of sweet and releases endorphins and oxytocin. Dr. Winters reviews the cultural connection and the impact of sugar on dopamine release, opiates in gluten and dairy, food as reward and addiction.

Cancer stem cells result from mitochondrial toxins, sugar, stress and mitochondrial poisons. Restoring mitochondrial function includes intermittent fasting, CoQ10, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercise.

Measuring Ketones in Urine, Blood and Breath. Nutritional levels of blood ketones (BHB) are 0.5-3.0 mmol/L versus therapeutic levels of BHB are 3.0-7 mmol/L. The glucose ketone index necessitates a calculator. These are available for blood, urine, and breath.

This diet restores normal apoptosis in cancer cells and lowers angiogenesis, destabilizes tumor tissue DNA, reduces tumor size over time, is an HDAC inhibitor, enhances mitochondrial biogenesis, lowers inflammation via autophagy, reduces levels of insulin and IGF-1 and mTOR. It upregulates SIRT1 and AMPK and enhances action of standard treatments while reducing common side effects.

Dr. Winters has great, innovative Keto formulas for feeding tubes. Her first name rhymes with echinacea or Ignatia. Contact her at optimalterrainconsulting.com or info@optimalterrainconsulting.com.

References

1. Royal North Shore Hospital Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2005 Jun; 17 (4): 294