Hi Tomcat:
Read your article. See that you have taken Tarceva. I too had to go back on chemo this April as a small tumor appeared on inside skin of abdomen. Tarceva made me so sick that I landed in hospital-- After had to recoup for over a month to go back on my chemo Gemzar. I’m on low dose 850mg. once a week for 2 wks then 1 week off. Am talking to reg surgeon and my oncologist at USC in LA for better options.
mother
Hi There!! I like the way your message ended - that you will look and see for other options. They do exist - we sometimes just need to find the ones that suit us. I do alot of mind/body relaxation and techniques for myself and I believe they are so worthwhile. The Mind is a powerful weapon - be sure to use it in the positive sense!! I know it is hard and I do slip very often into the neg… but I force myself to get back, maybe go shopping, see or call a friend that makes me feel good and voila I am back on track. Keep me posted and I feel very fortunate to have found this site!! Tomcat
Hi Mother
I am sorry you had to get on Chemo again. The Tarceva does not seem to have very bad effects for my wife Laine, other than thinning her hair.
She has been on the Tarceva since February. She has a tumor on her kidney, and 2 on her stomach lining. They just recently did a scan and found a spot on her lung which they say is to small to identify as cancer.
I hope you are doing well and look forward to hearing from you.
Slowhand
----- Original Message -----
From: “slowhand1843” pancreatic-cancer-cpt5176@lists.careplace.com
To: virginiadef@cox.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: [pancreatic-cancer] tomcat
Hi Mother,
There are a number of neutriceuticals that when used long with 'approved’
allopathic chemotherapeutic agents can substantially increase their
effectiveness.
One of these neuticeuticals is gensitein.
Gemcitabine (Gemzar), (as well as other chemotherapeutic agents, such as
docetaxel and cisplatin) has an initially favorable effect against
pancreatic cancer
but has been known to induce ‘nuclear factor kB (NF-kB)’ and Akt
activity in
tumor cells, resulting in lower cell killing and the development of drug
resistance.
‘overexpression’ of a metabolic pathway that stimulates the growth of the
cancer and ultimately produces not only a resistance to the gemcitabine but
also enhances the aggressiveness of the cancer.
Genistein, a soy isoflavone, has been shown in research to down-regulate
NK-kB
and Akt pathways that promote drug resistance development to gemcitabine
and
other drugs that induce NF-kB. Research has shown that in vitro
"pretreatment
of cancer cells with genistein for 24 hours resulted in 60 to 80% growth
inhibition
compared with 25 to 30% when gemcitabine was used alone. The overall
growth inhibition was directly correlated with apoptotic cell death
irrespective
of the metatstatic potential of cells." In vivo activity was also
confirmed in this
2005 research project.
2006 research: "Genistein significantly incrased erlotinib-induced
growth inhibition
and apoptosis in BxPC-3, CAPAN-2, and AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cell lines.
In the BxPC-3 cell line, significant down-regulation of EGFR,
phosphorylated Akt,
NF-kB activation and survivin was observed in the cells treated with the
combination
compared with the erlotinib-treated cells." This potentiation did not
occur in two
other cancer cell lines. It is therefore, very important to have your
cancer tissue
tested with gene and protein microarray technology to know what pathways are
upregulated in your specific cancer.
2003 research: Genistein inhibits hypoxic activation of the hypoxia
inducible
factor-1 (HIF-1), thereby reducing the production of vascular
endothelial growth
factor (VEGF) and inhibiting tumor angiogensis, in vitro and in vivo
2007 research: Genistein augments the effectiveness of cisplatin in
pancreatic
cancer.
2006 research: Cross-talk between the Notch-1 and NF-kB pathways was
suspected. This research demonstrated that growth inhibition of the BxPC-3
pancreati cell line was partly due to inhibition of Notch-1 activity.
National Cancer Institute: “Genistein binds to and inhibits
protein-tyrosine kinase,
thereby disrupting signal transduction and inducing cell
differentiation. This agent
aslo inhibits topoisomerase-II, leading to DNA fragmentation and
apoptosis, and
induces G2/M cell cycle arrest. Genistein exhibits antioxidant,
antiangiogenic
and immunosuppressive activities.”
There is currently a phase-II study underway regarding the combined use of
genistein, gemcitabine and erlotinib in locally advanced or metatstatic
pancreatic
cancer.
1999 research: Genistein promoted apoptosis in a certain breast cancer
cell.
This research found that up-regulation of Bax and p21WAF-1 expressions and
down-regulation of Bcl-2 and p53 expression in genistein-treated cells
suggesting
this may be the molecular mechanisms by which genistein induces
apoptosis, but
also suggesting further definitive studies need to be done.
2003 research: In vivo, genistein significantly improved survival,
almost completely
inhibited metastasis and increased apoptosis in an orthotopic nude mouse
model of
pancreatic cancer. In vitro, genistein treatment resulted in apoptosis
in all pancreatic
cancer cell lines tested and this appeared to be mediated by activation
of caspase-3.
Genistein, a naturally occurring isoflavanoid is considered non-toxic to
normal
cells.
Note:
Some of the research used 656mg per day of genistein. A company called
Vital
Nutrients sells a genistein product that contains 125mg per capsule. I
would
suggest taking 250mg (2 capsules) three times a day (the naturopathic
physician
who works at the cancer clinic my wife goes to concurred with this
treatment
selection). There may be other companies with similar products but I
did not
find any at the time I searched that had the strength and reliability
that this
company has). I would be cautious about Chinese source companies until
the reliability factor is improved (or you can confirm their reliability).
Kyle
====================
mother wrote: