Book review: n of 1; cancer, lifestyle, integrative medicine, Glenn Sabin, FON Consulting/integrative medicine business development

Sabin picture in May 10 email

Pathways to Healing

Healing from Incurable Cancer Without Conventional Treatment

by Elaine Zablocki

Glenn Sabin has an unusual story to share. In 1991, he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He took a uniquely personal approach to his condition. Today, there is no trace of the disease in his body.

In his new book, n of 1, Sabin shares his experiences and his developing understanding of healing options. This is a remarkable book. Sabin has an unusual and inspiring story to tell – but he deliberately writes in a systematic, somewhat understated way.

His title is based on the way clinical research studies are generally reported. A clinical study with 100 subjects has an “n” of 100. In Sabin’s case, he considered his cancer diagnosis and treatment options as an individual, yet informal research study with an “n-of-1.” He praises his co-author, Dawn Lemanne, MD, MPH, a Stanford-trained medical oncologist, whose medical expertise contributes greatly to the measured, accurate style of this book.

The book does not advocate for ‘alternative’ cancer treatments to replace curative standard of care regimens. It describes one person’s specific story with two key results. First, twelve years after diagnosis, Sabin experienced reversal of leukemia-induced auto-immune hemolytic anemia without steroids or other agents. This was the first time such an occurrence had been recorded in medical literature. Second, twenty-one years after diagnosis, he had complete clearing of leukemic cells in the bone marrow, again without conventional interventions.

When Sabin was first diagnosed with chronic leukemia, he immediately got a second opinion from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center.

“I didn’t rush into making a decision about treatments,” he recalls. “I was offered various treatment options, and I didn’t let the system or an institution, or an individual provider rush my decision-making process.”

At this point, while conventional treatments were available, including a chemo cocktail or bone marrow transplant, none of them was able to cure the cancer. Sabin explored various lifestyle approaches to cancer treatment. Over time he completely changed his diet to something close to a Mediterranean diet, eating plant-based foods, with cold-water fish as his only source of animal protein. He also emphasized drinking lots of clean, filtered water, getting plenty of high-quality sleep, taking select dietary supplements, and rigorous daily exercise.

This was way before anyone had heard about “integrative oncology.” It was before the Internet! “I did a great deal of reading and traveling to meet with people to learn about these things that are now so accessible,” Sabin says. He made some changes immediately. Eventually, with the help of a clinical nutritionist who was also a pharmacist, he developed a new lifestyle that worked well for several years.

Coping with Cancer Flare

Twelve years after the diagnosis, his disease developed into a full-blown leukemia. At this point, there were various treatment options, but basically they would have just bought him some additional time. Maybe a year or two. It would have been a palliative approach.

Sabin considered chemotherapy and prednisone and a new monoclonal antibody, but he decided not to use them at that time. “I punted,” he says. “I didn’t say that I would never ever use the conventional treatment, but first I wanted to extend my experiment to see if there was something I might do to effect a positive change in my biology.”

He cut down on his workload and refocused many aspects of his pro-health lifestyle. Because he was running his own company, he was able to take a sabbatical and work a couple of hours a day, from home. He changed the nutraceuticals he was using. Even though he had anemia and a constant low grade fever, he continued to exercise. “It was the summer but I continued to exercise outdoors,” he says. “I went to my local oncologist twice a week to get complete blood counts. Eventually the disease stabilized and then reversed.” Sabin achieved a partial remission. Leukemia was still present in his bone marrow, but it was undetectable in his bloodstream.

From 2003 until 2009, Sabin continued in this state of partial remission. Then, while he was basically asymptomatic, an elevated white count and other test results showed the disease was resurfacing. For the first time, 18 years after his diagnosis, he began to work with an integrative medicine physician, Keith I Block, MD, of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment. “We worked closely with his research manager, Charlotte Gyllenhaal, PhD. Over time we developed a more scientific approach to nutraceuticals and dietary supplements, informed by a number of tests of biomarkers and nutrient levels,” Sabin says. “It evolved into a much more sophisticated approach.” Today, Sabin is in complete remission. There are no leukemic cells in his bone marrow.

While n of 1 offers a step-by-step personal story, Sabin’s clinical case has also been published in a peer-reviewed journal, under the title “A Case of Complete and Durable Molecular Remission of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Following Treatment with Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, an Extract of Green Tea.” See this article for specific clinical details about of the treatments he has used; see “Resources” for the link.

Sharing Lifestyle Approaches with Other Patients

Starting in 2004 various oncologists began sending Sabin occasional patients for information on his methods of coping with cancer. In 2012, he set up a formal “cancer coaching” service. At this point he has consulted with hundreds of people who are coping with cancer, from all over the world. He has developed a detailed intake process, to learn whether the person has

explored standard care options, and received a second opinion from an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. “I always start by exploring what type of person has the disease, not the type of disease the person has,” he says. “After core approaches and conventional treatment have been explored, we then start to discuss lifestyle medicine and integrative oncology.”

He lists the core tenets of lifestyle medicine, which have been effective for him, and whose effectiveness is supported by a growing body of medical literature.

1. Plant-strong ‘anticancer’ nutrition

2. Plentiful, rigorous exercise

3. Stress reduction

4. Sleep hygiene-restorative sleep

5. Plentiful, clean filtered water

6. Well-placed nutraceuticals

7. Awareness of everyday toxins

Sabin emphasizes that a cancer diagnosis is a major challenge for all of us. “People deal with this diagnosis in all sorts of ways,” he says. “The most critical thing to address at the onset is having a good psycho-social-support system. You want to create a psychological foundation of being ready and able to deal with this.”

Generally speaking, when someone learns they have cancer, they are offered conventional options such as surgical resection, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and/or targeted or hormonal therapies. “Some people choose to take time at this point to consider additional options,” Sabin says. “To do this, you need the mental fortitude and clarity to process a substantial amount of information, and make the best decisions for yourself. Intuition is also very important.

Ideally, you want to make key decisions when you’re cognitively at your best, when you can take in data with an unfettered mind. Of course, this is always best done with the help of a close friend or family member who can participate in clinical appointments by asking the right questions, and organizing information to help ensure the best decisions are made”

In 2011, Sabin launched FON Consulting, which focuses on areas of business development, marketing, and positioning for integrative health and medicine organizations. His clients cover a wide spectrum, ranging from clinics, centers or health systems, to manufacturers of dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals. “The unifying theme is that these are all organizations with an interest in integrative health and medicine, or organizations that are considering moving into this area,” Sabin says. “We do assessments and strategic planning related to business development and positioning.”

Townsend Letter readers include people who are coping with serious illnesses, as well as practitioners who are helping them. I asked Sabin for the most important thing he’d like to share with this audience.

“We are each unique,” he responded. “In life and in health we are each an n of 1, a sample of one, a trial of one. We need to understand that there is always hope. Each individual should obtain the best information available from modern science and research. At the same time, let’s remember that modern medicine focuses on treating the tumor, while in fact it is just as important to treat the host that contains the tumor. Each of us should empower ourselves

to find ways to control and diminish the tumor (or other illnesses) and to enhance our own natural powers of healing.”

Resources

Glenn Sabin website: https://glennsabin.com/

Free Guide: 10 Essential Steps to Take Control of Your Cancer Journey https://glennsabin.com/free-guide-10-essential-steps-to-take-control-of-your-cancer-journey/

or

http://bit.ly/2pVgopz

FON Consulting: https://fonconsulting.com/

To download an excerpt from n of 1, go to https://glennsabin.com/.

For the journal article, go to http://www.cureus.com/articles/3677-a-case-of-complete-and-durable-molecular-remission-of-chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia-following-treatment-with-epigallocatechin-3-gallate-an-extract-of-green-tea.

For an analysis of the decisions made while writing n of 1, go to https://glennsabin.com/behind-the-decisions-the-anatomy-of-n-of-1/.

Elaine Zablocki is the former editor of CHRF News Files.