Use of Chinese medicine by cancer patients: a review of surveys

Review Bridget Carmady and Caroline A Smith

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Chinese Medicine 2011, 6:22?doi:10.1186/1749-8546-6-22

Published: 9 June 2011

Chinese medicine has been used to treat a variety of cancer-related conditions. This study aims to examine the prevalence and patterns of Chinese medicine usage by cancer patients. We reviewed articles written in English and found only the Chinese medicine usage from the studies on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Seventy four (74) out of 81 articles reported rates of CAM usage ranging from 2.6 to 100%. Acupuncture was reported in 71 out of 81 studies. Other less commonly reported modalities included Qigong (n=17), Chinese herbal medicine (n=11), Taichi (n=10), acupressure (n=6), moxibustion (n=2), Chinese dietary therapy (n=1), Chinese massage (n=1), cupping (n=1) and other Chinese medicine modalities (n=19). This review also found important limitations of the English language articles on CAM usage in cancer patients. Our results show that Chinese medicine, in particular Chinese herbal medicine, is commonly used by cancer patients. Further research is warranted to include studies not written in English.

Adequate Vitamin D may stop cancer at outset

Browse > Home / cancer / Adequate Vitamin D may stop cancer at outset
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May 23, 2009 ?
Filed under cancer

UC San Diego study – In studying the preventive effects of vitamin D, researchers at the Moores Cancer Centre at the University of California, San Diego, have proposed a new model of cancer development that hinges on a loss of cancer cells’ ability to stick together. The model, dubbed DINOMIT, differs substantially from the current model of cancer development, which suggests genetic mutations as the earliest driving forces behind cancer.

“The first event in cancer is loss of communication among cells due to, among other things, low vitamin D and calcium levels,” said epidemiologist Cedric Garland, DrPH, professor of family and preventive medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, who led the work. “In this new model, we propose that this loss may play a key role in cancer by disrupting the communication between cells that is essential to healthy cell turnover, allowing more aggressive cancer cells to take over.”

Reporting online May 22, 2009 in the Annals of Epidemiology, Garland suggests that such cellular disruption could account for the earliest stages of many cancers. He said that previous theories linking vitamin D to certain cancers have been tested and confirmed in more than 200 epidemiological studies, and understanding of its physiological basis stems from more than 2,500 laboratory studies.

“Competition and natural selection among disjoined cells within a tissue compartment, such as might occur in the breast’s terminal ductal lobular unit, for example, are the engine of cancer,” Garland said. “The DINOMIT model provides new avenues for preventing and improving the success of cancer treatment.”

Garland went on to explain that each letter in DINOMIT stands for a different phase of cancer development. “D” stands for disjunction, or loss of intercellular communication; “I,” for initiation, where genetic mutations begin to play a role; “N” for natural selection of the fastest-reproducing cancer cells; “O” for overgrowth of cells; “M” for metastasis, when cancer cells migrate to other tissues, where cancer can kill; “I” refers to involution, and “T” for transition, both dormant states that may occur in cancer and potentially be driven by replacing vitamin D.

While there is not yet definitive scientific proof, Garland suggests that much of the evolutionary process in cancer could be arrested at the outset by maintaining vitamin D adequacy. “Vitamin D may halt the first stage of the cancer process by re-establishing intercellular junctions in malignancies having an intact vitamin D receptor,” he said.

According to Garland, other scientists have found that the cells adhere to one another in tissue with adequate vitamin D, acting as mature epithelial cells. Without enough vitamin D, they may lose this stickiness along with their identity as differentiated cells, and revert to a stem cell-like state.

Garland said that diet and supplements can restore appropriate vitamin D levels, and perhaps help in preventing cancer development. “Vitamin D levels can be increased by modest supplementation with vitamin D3 in the range of 2000 IU/day,” he noted.

The researchers noted that many studies show an apparent beneficial effect of vitamin D and calcium on cancer risk and survival of patients with breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. However, there are some studies that have not found such benefit, especially when taking smoking, alcohol and viruses into account. While more research needs to be done, Garland recommends that individuals should have their vitamin D level tested during an annual check up.

Garland and his colleagues have published epidemiological studies about the potential preventive effects of vitamin D for some two decades. Last year, his team showed an association between deficiency in sunlight exposure, low vitamin D and breast cancer. In previous work, they showed associations between increased levels of vitamin D3 or markers of vitamin D and a lower risk for breast, colon, ovarian and kidney cancers.

Roche appeals FDA move against cancer drug Avastin (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche on Tuesday begins a two-day appeal asking the US Food and Drug Administration to allow the top-selling drug Avastin to be used for breast cancer.

The FDA decided in December that Avastin was not an effective treatment for breast cancer and said it would take steps to revoke market approval and change the drug's label.

The US regulatory move followed the recommendation of an expert panel that said the drug, also known as bevacizumab, carries risks such as severe high blood pressure and hemorrhage and does not prolong overall survival in women suffering from breast cancer.

Avastin had been approved for treatment of advanced breast cancer under the FDA's accelerated approval program, which allows provisional approval of medicines for cancer or other life-threatening diseases.

The panel's recommendation did not affect the use of Avastin to treat other cancers, including colon and lung cancers.

Genentech, the Roche-owned US pharmaceutical company that makes Avastin, released a statement last month detailing its arguments on why Avastin should stay on the market, which would be presented at the FDA hearing.

"When used with traditional chemotherapies, Avastin delays cancer progression and improves response," said the statement, which also offered lengthy arguments about how the clinical data should be interpreted.

Avastin remains FDA-approved for use in combination with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel for first-line treatment of metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer until the hearing ends and FDA makes a final decision, the company said.

European medical experts have urged that the drug be restricted to use in combination with paclitaxel only instead of other forms of chemotherapy because benefits were uncertain.