Power of Prayer

Interesting that since Jan's diagnosis we come across so many friends and contacts who also have cancer...one encouraged us that prayer has major effects.

A lady friend of Jan's had tumours in her neck, needing a nasty operation, to be followed by radiotherapy. The operation cut through the jaw bone to gain access, and a nerve graft to repair the damage. The surgeon planned for the work to take a whole day, and the lady needless to say was very afraid.

A a member of a local church she gathered a large team of folk praying to support her, probably amounting to something just under 200 folk. She assured the surgeon that she was a Christian, and would rest the matter in prayer. The operation was performed, and a week or so later on removing the bandages the surgeon was amazed by the rapid and good recovery. "It must be those 3500 people you have praying for you!" he exclaimed.

More evidence that diet is effective

I was encouraged to read today's news in our Daily Telegraph. It reports from Addenbrooks Hospital Cambridge that a study found that almost four in ten patients with aggressive prostate cancer did not need planned surgery or radiotherapy after making simple lifestyle changes.

Wow, good news for me as a man. and for Jan as breast and prostate cancers share a similar hormone dependency.

More veggies tonight!

All clear after 2 biopsies + scan

All clear was given again ..... we are thankful, but still unclear as to why Jan has a persistent skin rash. As it is not cancer she waits a longer time to see a dermatologist, none of the cancer fast track treatment for that!

To give the historical data, Jan had a biopsy on 6th October to check for endometrial cancer. We took a lovely break to southern Europe in early October, to return on 16 Oct to a letter saying the earlier biopsy looking for suspected Paget's disease had proven clear of cancer. This was followed by a full scan and examination again on 17th Oct looking for endometrial cancer. On 23rd October we saw the oncological registrar again to be told that this was clear, but we must still wait for a dermatologist's consultation...

So good news on the cancer front, and it seems we need to do self diagnosis and treatment for the skin complaint. We did joke to the appointment secretary that the doctors were adding maximum possible delay in the hope that the condition would clear itself rather than causing them any work. She agreed with us, maybe we were too close to the truth!

Gynaecologist

The frustration of dealing with our socialised NHS. If it wasn't that we were sure Jan was cured and further tests were purely a precaution we would be in panic. All the staff seen were charming, but the overall organisation was appalling.

Last Friday we had a phone call telling us to see a doctor at Hertford today, Monday at 10:00. We weren't told whether this would be the dermatologist on gynaecologist as we expect both. A quick Internet search showed the doctor's name was for a well respected gynaecologist.

On arrival at 10:00 the receptionist stated there was no appointment for Jan, we were completely unexpected. After an hours delay the story changed to she was expected at 11:00, but she couldn't be seen before 12:00 as the notes were still miles away at another hospital!

By 12:00 Jan saw the gynaecological registrar, who still had no notes, so Jan explained why she thought she was suffering from a reaction caused by a switch from Tamoxifen to Arimidex. They talked as an ex ward sister talking "shop" to a doctor. Tamoxifen pumps the body with "fake" female estrogens, whereas Arimidex provides none, and stops the body's production of estrogens. So the body has a shock as one goes from excess to very few estrogens, and some effects Jan has experienced tie in with what we could expect from that hormone swing.

He seemed to agree, and was unconcerned by Jan's symptoms, and did not think she had further cancers. He took a sample of the endometrium and wants an ultrasound scan as soon as we return from holiday as a precaution.

He did however state that women who had breast cancer were at higher risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer, hence he wanted to do these 2 tests......... When I look on Google I find no link at all between breast and endometrial cancer apart from that caused by Tamoxifen which is a carcinogen.

Harold Burstein, MD, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School says: "We know there are relations between breast and ovarian cancer. We also know that the BRCA genes account for this relationship." But Burstein also underlined the other side of the news. "Women who don't have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer and are older than 49 when they are diagnosed with breast cancer have a very low risk of getting ovarian cancer."

So why do the UK doctors claim a link? Is he over simplifying for thick people or dare he not admit the dangerous risk that Tamoxifen causes endometrial cancer? ?

This is the second time the hospital have denied all knowledge of pre-booked appointments, after also losing mammograms and test results. If that record keeping is so poor we question whether we can trust their results of these tests.

Tamoxifen allergy or Pagets?

Jan saw the oncology department again on 24th Sept. She saw yet another doctor, there has been no continuity at all in that department. This registrar seemed even less experienced and uncertain.

If Jan has an allergic reaction to Tamoxifen causing multiple skin eruptions it continues, though it is hardly any worse than at the last visit. Could the Tamoxifen or its allergic effects be taking over six weeks to purge from Jan's body? It seems to have the oncologists in panic. After the previous visit on August 13th she had to see three specialist doctors urgently within a week. This visit was no less dramatic.

The starting comment was “you should see the consultant surgeon urgently”. Jan replied, “we have a holiday booked to start in a week's time” which saw an urgent appointment to see him that same afternoon. He took a biopsy to look for the possibility of Paget’s disease, another unpleasant breast cancer. She was later phoned with an appointment to see a gynaecologist within 12 days and expects an appointment to follow to see a dermatologist and a return to the oncologist……..

So we find it alarming, certainly not re-assuring. When I use Google I find the chances are between 4 and 5 to 1 that it is a reaction to Tamoxifen rather than more cancers. The one concern I have is does the research on skin effects of Tamoxifen exaggerate those risks to make the more expensive Arimidex look safer?

In this period of doubt we plan to jet off to Portugal to relax on a warm beach! We won't know the results of the biopsy until after our return....the wonders of our NHS! Maybe it is a test of our faith in God for a full cure?

Ohio State rate Curcumin

Jan's mammogram results were all clear today....so we presume that her skin reaction is an allergy to tamoxifen that will die down, or do we have bedbugs? It got as far as a consultant surgeon with scalpel ready to do a biopsy, but he felt the skin was too clear for it to be cancer so held off, and wants to see Jan in 6 months time.

So we are back on diet as our main tool to limit recurrence of cancer....

I read this Ohio State University research report with interest, published in August 2008. We eat the Indian curry spice, tuneric, whose active ingredient of curcumin. So far we are part way through our second jar, which as a food costs less than a £1! Contrast that with possibly the less effective Arimidex at over £1000 p.a

It seems that the scientists are modifying the curcumin molecule, maybe paving the way for a patented drug, and big pharma moving in with funded research on what has to date been a cheap potential cure. Is that good news or bad? It makes me more certain that curcumin could be a life saver. I bet big pharma will charge more than an Indian curry!

Where do cows get calcium from?

Jan now takes Arimidex, known to cause osteoporosis. So I looked at Professor Jane Plant's book on osteoporosis. I like the discussion here, where a vested interest from the dairy industry challenged her hatred of dairy products. I like her response .. " Where do cows or hippopotamus get their calcium from?"

The doctors assume that extra calcium intake is necessary, have put Jan on calcium supplements and many seem worried if one stops taking dairy products. It is interesting that cows are vegetarians, yet have adequate calcium!

Jan still has itchy skin eruptions at what seem to be random areas of her body. We wonder if it is an allergic reaction to Tamoxifen? In the meantime Jan had mammograms of both breasts to check for cancer......results expected tomorrow.....can it be that efficient?

I read three papers on how the body metabolises Tamoxifen, two of the three reckon it takes 10 or 14 days before blood concentrations drop to half after one stops taking it. Jan stopped 2 weeks ago, so maybe it is reasonable the Tamoxifen is still causing a skin rash. Odd that the consultant worried that Jan had stopped for just 4 days earlier, as though she was unaware of how slowly it was excreted from the body.

Holiday plans / doctors appointments

Good news and bad news.

About a week ago Jan reckoned she had overcome the fatigue that started after radiotherapy. She gave me permission to book our first foreign holiday after her treatment. But her recent concerns over possible recurrence leaves us doubtful....so I will hang on whilst our pound devalues even further!

This is because the hospital wrote yesterday offering a bone density scan in 2 days time......such short notice, or is it speedy service? We will slip that back, as Jan has gone off to the Suffolk coast for a week, and we want to believe cancer cannot recur so fast and there is no need to panic. But yet again we plan our diary around doctor's consultations....the curse of cancer... the holiday will have to wait....

Cheap cancer cures in our diet

Thanks to Kelly's comments on my last post for two tips. I see she also had treatment in London....

1) We knew about resveratrol, but had been getting it from red wine at over £3 a bottle and red grapes at £5 a kilo. Seems the supplements are a far cheaper source. What a shame, we even visitited a vineyard last week and were getting into wine! This article claims the supplement may be not only cheaper but better

I know Nottingham University are looking at resveratrol as an arthritis and cancer cure, here is a UK based NHS trial of its use against cancer.

2) We were unaware of DCA. Seems it could be another wonder drug, but lacking big pharma support as it cannot be patented. It has a whole discussion forum here.

Its sale as a cancer cure was banned in the US by the FDA, but is now available again. I do note that it may cause liver cancers, so take care!

It is interesting that DCA may be only slowly developed as big pharma has no interest in a drug that cannot be patented. Rings true to me, which is also why we have taken so much info from University Professors, who do not have such a profit motive in their work and research.

Arimidex started

Not such good news.

It seems two cancer specialist doctors are mystified by Jan's symptoms. She has a rash and discharge that appears in parts of her face, arms and leg. Hopefully it is just an allergic reaction to Tamoxifen, so that was stopped and Jan started Arimedex yesterday. But it took 5 hours in the hospital, seeing two specialists, two visits to the pharmacy, and they want to see her again in 2 weeks time, plus take a mammogram, a bone scan and possibly a biopsy. This fills us with horror.

It seems one is walking on thin ice. OK so far but so easily on can see cancer recur, or fall through the ice.....

We have looked at the side effects of Arimidex, none too serious...The original plan had been to switch to a similar drug after 2 years of Tamoxifen, this just brings that date forward. But it means Jan has lost the use of a proven effective drug in the total armoury, and lives in fear of what is happening. The second doctor was none too re-assuring, and the talk of a possible biopsy means she is looking for a possible recurrence.

On a positive note we get away from the dangers of DVT and uterine cancer caused by Tamoxifen, instead we get the increased risk of osteoporosis. Time to order Professor Jane Plant's book on bone strength, she reckons the excretion of calcium is more important the the intake.

I read "research with 77,000 women found that those who got most of their calcium from cow’s milk had significantly more fractures than those who drank little or no cow ’s milk. The main cause of osteoporosis in Western countries is not lack of calcium - it is loss of calcium. Vegetarians have less than half the calcium losses than meat-eaters".

Our bible reading this morning was on perseverance........ so relevant

All clear given

Had first three month checkup this week. All well, great news!

It was a quick look and feel of both breasts by a surgical registrar, and the all clear was given. No use of ultrasound or mammography, so whilst grateful for the good news one has to question the thoroughness and accuracy of that diagnosis.

We were asked what the oncologist had said, to which we replied we had yet to see the oncological consultant, and had not seen that team in the last three months!

If it wasn't for our confidence that Jan was cured or in remission anyway one would despair at the inefficient organisation of our NHS.

Sickening refusal of co-payments

I am sickened by our governments management of the NHS.

Our news today covers the suicide of a man who had incurable cancer.

In spite of his GP and oncologist recommending a particular effective drug, our NHS management refused to fund it, or allow him to buy it himself without losing the right to any further NHS treatment.

His decision to commit suicide says it all....

Yet the same government force me to make co-payments for my NHS dental treatment. They bribe smokers in Dundee to quit, yet these folk have already disproportionately loaded the NHS by their smoking, now they suck my taxes for subsidised food.

I attach a few "political posts". I have already written in my blog 3 days earlier, and to the Times newspaper, please do your bit if you agree!

Moorewatch - news of our health service farce is covered in the American site

Times newspaper online

And "Doctors for Reform", a 1000 UK doctor group

Dismantling cancer - free e-book

Upon diagnosis of cancer we initially spent most time getting "right" with God, and praying for a miraculous cure.

None came, but by God's provision or what some might call co-incidence Jan has been supported by 2 Christian friends also going through NHS breast cancer treatment and she has felt upheld by the power of prayer.

An amazing provision was the lead to Professor Jane Plant's work on diet. She sat next to a friend during a university dinner and talked about her survival of breast cancer, not a normal dinner party conversation piece! This was reported to us whilst we were waiting for NHS treatment, we ordered her book the same day.

For further information on diet we need to give thanks to the information shared over the Internet by so many researchers, many of them being university professors.

I am humbled by this free downloadable book "Dismantling Cancer". It is written by Dr Francisco Contreras who runs the Oasis of Hope hospital in Mexico. I have briefly checked his credentials, they seem impeccable. He hosts visits from the US "Cancer Control Society" who seem to be a "watchdog" for alternative treatments. The hospital uses laetrile treatment just as does the "Dove Clinic", a leading UK cancer hospital on which I did "due diligence" on April 23rd. and posted in this blog. The book states that spiritual position is the most important factor in facing cancer, and they run a hospital where prayer in the name of Jesus is a regular daily occurence. Their free downloadable book has much good sense on beating cancer, including the use of humour.

Another breast cancer blogger found the need for faith in something that lives beyond death, her post is here.

Conclusion on diet

Most serious breast cancer authorities reckon diet and exercise play a major role in long term survival. Having studied many specialist diets and authorities we believe that probably at least half the world's vegetables and fruits have some cancer inhibiting effect. Maybe not surprising as we believe in a creator God who made vegetables for all in the world to eat in their season, so we need a broad range.

Jan has not gone overboard, but we have probably doubled our food bill as we eat more fruit smoothies, fresh vegetables and berries. Probably the major change over any other "5 a day" recommendation is that we see no major health benefits claimed by potatoes, french fries, iceberg lettuce or baked beans. But tinned tomatoes certanly offer benefits!

Interesting as I read most Americans mainly eat french fries, lettuce and tinned tomatoes, so they miss many cancer preventing benefits of veg. such as cabbage.

The helpful diets we have looked all come from universities:

• University of California San Francisco diet sheet - its hard to read but gives full details of how each food affects cancer.
  
• The Plant Program, by Professor Jane Plant of London University. We have not gone dairy free, but probably halved our dairy intake.
• Professor Richard Beliveau's advice, again Professor of cancer research University of Quebec at Montreal. Or by podcast here.
  
• Professor Bharat Aggarwal's ideas on curcumin / tumeric spice as used in Indian curry.
  

Oasis of Hope hospital in Mexico shares these views on the importance of diet. We dismissed our own UK authority The Royal Marsden Hospital's diet advice, as they reckon 2 units of any alcohol per day is OK, contrary to all other serious researchers who claim all alcohol exacerbates cancer with the exception of red wine.

To put this diet in perspective, it need not be onerous. Oily fish and curries are recommended, with almost any vegetables (particularly cruciferous), garlic, olive oil, brown rice, and fruits. Red wine and dark chocolate also feature, followed by green tea. In fact many of our meals have been more tasty than before Jan's cancer.

More strange diets that we considered but did not fully follow include:

• Gerson diet - dangerous coffee enemas, though the caffeine can certainly cut cancer, and the Oasis of Hope hospital used to house the Gerson clinic, and reported great results.
• Budwig diet - flaxseed - well known benefits, but too way out for Jan.
• A carrot juice diet, about 12 carrots a day recommended by a fellow sufferer - carrots are good, but that many?
• A red grape diet - again red grapes are wonderful, but ONLY grapes?

It is interesting that we found our help came from universities, they still have the helpful attitude of sharing knowledge that is so easily stopped by profit motives of big pharma. University professors gave some authority, rather than newsgroups and fora of fellow sufferers.

Experience with Cavilon - the politics

I need to be careful, as our NHS have recently refused to continue cancer treatment to patients who dare to supplement their inadequate NHS treatment with privately funded treatment. A government mantra - we must all be treated equally.....we cannot spend our "after tax" money to enhance our lives! Even worse, the government use my taxes to bribe Scottish folk to quit smoking!

It isn't as though the NHS treatment was perfect, these posts question whether radiotherapy and chemotherapy do more harm than good against cancers such as Jan's. So we need lateral thinking, and patient involvement in finding new cures be they medical or diet based. An NHS doctor's blog on this issue is here.

Jan is treated in Hertfordshire, one of the worst three counties in the UK for breast cancer survival. So life is not fair anyway. Scottish and English NHS treatments differ, is that fair? Will they insist all patients eat the same food? Can Jan please be enroled on the NHS free dark chocolate trial? One lady we know gets free dark chocolate that would cost me nearly £2 a day, why not us?

In Jan's case we are not funding a drug, just privately funding and trialling Cavilon, a fairly cheap plastic film. In my view we are providing the NHS and country a service, and should not be "condemned". We have openly shared this knowledge with the NHS hospital, they have had free access to the results of this one patient trial as Jan is treated by them. I have provided at no cost to the NHS and advice via this blog to any other cancer sufferer

• Google research to find the product and details of its use
  
• Purchased product at my expense
• Provided nursing support to apply and manage product
• Document results here
• Saved the NHS any cost in providing cream and nursing care for skin damage as none was needed, the Cavilon was effective in Jan's case.
  

It reduced the burden on the NHS. If the government continue to persecute those who supplement their treatment we risk those people merely doing such things in secret. We could have applied Cavilon in secret, it does not show at all if washed off and re-applied every third day, but the NHS would not have had the opportunity to see a trial of an effective product.

Further details are in earlier posts, please search "Cavilon" in the blog if needed. I have no vested interest or association with 3M, the manufacturers of Cavilon.

Experience with Cavilon - medical

This is technical, only of interest for those wanting to use such protection.

Pleass see my next post on the risks Jan and I face in the UK in daring to use a privately funded barrier film.

Cavilon is a 3M spray on plastic film that forms a very thin breathable protective skin over one's real skin. Developed to protect colostomies from irritation from leakages, we used it very successfully to protect skin from radiotherapy damage. Radiation "drys" the skin, the NHS try to protect skin by moisturising cream. Cavilon works in the opposite way, by slowing the skins "moisture" from escaping. It also acts as a barrier to abrasion damage from skin rubbing on skin, so often caused by the NHS recommendation that one does not wear a bra during treatment.

The idea is complementary to NHS best practice, but it replaces the use of moisturising cream. Moisturising cream is the standard NHS recommendation, known as Sorbolene in the documented trials. Cavilon cannot be used with moisturising cream, as that would stop Cavilon adhering to the skin.

It seems to be almost unheard of amongst Jan's breast cancer specialists, though obviously amongst staff with colostomy experience it is well known. Two specialists told us not to use it, most were ambivalent, one suggested it had been seen before at UCH.

It is available on ebay. Jan refused to use products from such a quack source, so I ordered it from the local pharmacist who got me a bottle within 6 hours. The pharmacist had not heard of Cavilon, and had to look it up in their catalogue. I told her it was for my colostomy! Over 7 weeks we will have used three 28 mil pump spray bottles, each cost about £11.50 retail. It is also known as "No sting barrier film".

We sprayed on a thin film every third day after washing. Jan washed every day, but tried to not wash off the film. Results were good, Jan got mild erythema after 18 days. This consists of two red patches looking like flea bites, and red soreness under the breast where it touches the abdomen, and would normally be protected by a bra. Jan had 15 days whole breast irradiation by "photons" followed by 5 days boost using using electrons. Cavilon is transparent to both.

We had no help from medical staff in how to use it, so we used common sense. I worried about protecting the breast, and gave no thought to how most Xrays (decribed by the NHS as photons) would travel straight through the body and exit, many in the armpit. So we applied no protection to the armpit, which therefore showed greater skin tanning than her breast! I was unaware how high up the neck the radiation would reach, so this was less protected and got the "flea bite" like patches. We let the layers of Cavilon build up over time, so eventually it looked like dirty pealing skin, and could be one reason why one nurse described Jan's breast as looking pink. But this was Cavilon, not a skin reaction.

A benefit for us is that it gave us something to jointly control in Jan's treatment.

In spite of our successful use I hesitate to recommend Cavilon for these reasons:

• difficult to apply, it needed a second person to spray Jan as her treated arm was extended over her head and her other hand held the breast skin taught during application.
• it took a long time to dry, even in our summer time. We started by leaving for 5 mins, but found Jan had to lie still for 15 mins, else the film on the breast stuck like superglue to her abdomen as she stood up.
• it was more difficult to physically see that one had covered the entire breast as the film is almost invisible immediately after application
• 3M now have a newer product named Cavilon moisturising cream, which seems more geared to breast protection. We had to use what we knew at the time.
• it is not a cure all, and in the Wollongong University trials only cut adverse skin reactions by 33%
  

Further details are in earlier posts, please search the blog if neeed.

A scream, why weren't we told?

I want to scream "Why didn't they tell us?" Just 2 weeks after completion of radiotherapy I found this article from a consultant working at a London hospital. He describes simple tricks to save the heart from potential damage from radiotherapy, but they didn't tell us. I found it using Google, but too late.....

I am annoyed that we were not warned.... we were already aware of difficulties in accurate aiming of the radiation as Jan breathed, and had joked should Jan stop breathing during the therapy. So we even asked about breathing, but NO help was offered along these lines. Is it that the NHS just cannot admit that radiotherapy has any associated danger?

He quotes the radiation levels that "leak" to the heart and arteries during radiotherapy for breast cancer. "Even with modern techniques a portion of the myocardium is still irradiated and receives a minimum of 50% of the dose prescribed to the primary target volume. At least part of the myocardium received at least 85–95% of the total radiation dose.

One study showed a significant reduction in cardiac irradiation achieved by simple respiratory manoeuvres during radiotherapy. In this study the volume of myocardium irradiated was measured during normal quiet inspiration and following deep inspiration. Patients who held their breath following deep inspiration removed a significant proportion of myocardium from the treated volume and in 47% the entire myocardium was excluded."

A Danish paper says: "Breath-hold was well accepted by the patients. The median heart volume receiving >50% of the prescription dose was reduced from 8% to 1% by patients using deep breathing and breath hold techniques. The median left anterior descending coronary artery volume that was irradiated by the same dose reduced from 54 to 5%.

And in New York hospitals they can automate irradiation pulses to the breathing!

So the risks of radiotherapy are well known, NHS dosctors in London know how to reduce this risk, but such information is NOT passed on to patients. What about the hippocratic oath?

We used curcumin and diet to enable the body to best repair what we thought was inevitable radiotherapy damage. It seems this risk could have been avoided by this simple technique which seems to simply get the heart out of the irradiated field. That sucks......

XZK red rice extract cuts deaths

Topical news from the Times this week on "Red yeast rice extract XZK". The researchers worry that food supplements are not fully regulated and standardised ... but to me it sounds very much like using Indian curry powder / tumeric, another natural food product. I welcome the news, again of a potential low cost cancer treatment found from traditional oriental medicine just like tumeric. We will stick with tumeric, it has 100 times the number of Google hits as a cancer preventative over XZK.

The serious scientific trial of 5000 Chinese heart patients showed that taking XZK gave a dramatic drop in the number of cancer deaths — 29 cancer deaths in those on placebo, 13 in those on XZK.

Red yeast rice has been used in China for thousands of years as a food preservative, colorant and seasoning and herbal medicine. It is the ingredient that gives Peking duck its red colour.

Dr Capuzzi led the study together with Dr Zonliang Lu, from the Chinese Academy of Medical Science in Beijing.

Treatment complete

Jan finished radiotherapy 13 days ago, and probably hit her lowest point from fatigue yesterday. From now on she should be officially cured, and get better each day. The truth of course is that late effects of radiotherapy are documented up to 20 years later, so we will both always live in slight fear. She also has regular inspection / examination as follow up.

Her skin today was the worst I have seen, probably abrasion caused to weak skin from excessive exercise. I would rate it as mild grade 1 erythema, showing Jan could be described as a moderately radioresistant patient. Not as bad as many shoppers in Sainsbury after a sunny day at the beach! See this table for more detail. We continue with Cavilon for at least another week to continue protection.

Professor Jane Plant's book was possibly our breakthrough....she confirmed my ideas of looking at cancer rates in other countries and then their lifestyle. I looked a Poland, she looked in greater detail at China. We haven't followed all of her ideas, but it has made us convinced that cancer is better controlled by diet than any NHS treatment apart from surgery. This led us to Professor Richard Beliveau's books, and from Richard's ideas on curcumin onto Professor Bharat Aggwhal's work on Indian curry. There is a freely downloadable audio MP3 by Richard Beliveau here, I listened in detail at least three times, it has a wealth of ideas.

We also had two 68 day delays in Jan's treatment that forced me to Google for ideas....I have even been reading patent info on new cancer drugs. I reckon Jan has been in the best 40% of patients with minimal reaction / damage caused by the therapies, rated as grade 1 skin erythema.

The diet ideas are equally effective in preventing prostate cancer, so any husbands out there should have a curry and red wine at my suggestion, followed by strawberries, dark chocolate and green tea!

I will publish a few posts to finalise my thoughts on radiotherapy. I still rate it as a con trick. I found a Lancet report that states "on average after year 2, radiotherapy reduced annual mortality rates from breast cancer by 13·2% but increased those from other causes by 21·2%." Thanks, we seem to merely swap one risk for another which may be even more deadly, most often heart damage caused by the radiotherapy.

Another report in the "Journal of National Cancer Institute" dated 2005 on radiotherapy suggests it does more harm than good after 10 years. I quote:

"Early trials clearly demonstrated that radiotherapy reduced local relapse, with a relative risk reduction that is now known to be about 70%. However, the reduction in relapse rates did not translate to a reduction in mortality. Many theories were suggested to explain this disparity, including a detrimental effect of radiotherapy on immune function. These mortality concerns were crystallized in the first individual patient data overview of cancer trials which showed that radiotherapy had little effect on mortality in the first 10 years of follow-up but was potentially detrimental in the longer term".

WHY DON'T THE NHS WARN OF THIS???? It is published by Oxford University Press, not exactly an unrecognised source!. They offer free podcasts for those who want to keep up to date whilst on the move.

I will document our experience with Cavilon - but in a few days time.

Radiotherapy so far so good.

Yesterday I reported one nurse said Jan's breast was pink, suggesting the normal bad skin reaction to radiotherapy. At yesterday's appointment another nurse could not believe how little reaction there had been to 15 days of radiotherapy. Jan is getting the UK hypofractionation treatment of fewer bigger doses which would give even more reaction after 15 days...

So apart from the fatigue we need to give thanks to one or more of:

• an answer to prayer
• chance statistics, just under 1 in 6 folk do as well as Jan anyway
• use of Cavilon, a spray on plastic film as a skin protection
• use of curcumin as a radioprotection agent - there are 4600 Google hits on curcumin and radioprotection
• use of garlic as a radioprotection agent - this has 13,700 Google hits
• green tea- this has 11,700 Google hits as a radioprotectant
  
• other dietary effects of which we are so far unaware...

So in a trial of just one patient to date (Jan) these tricks seem to help. These tricks are the result of hours of determined book reading and research on Google.. In contrast I looked at the NHS best practice manual that makes no mention of any of these ideas.

The danger is that I am mislead by research in labs that is not replicated by Jan eating tumeric / curcumin. But these Indian ideas have been known to heal for thousands of years. Why is diet research so often based in India and China? Is it their economic necessity to break free from the profits of big pharma? The research reviewed by the national Cancer Institute of America on tea seems pretty conclusive to me, and even gives benefit from ordinary tea, but no pharma companies profit from tea!

One "colleague" undergoing radiotherapy has already developed cellulitis, a complication in around 5% of the patients. The link is 18+ only, it has ghastly photos! So it is still early days to say how well Jan will do...we keep praying.

Fatigue from radiotherapy

Fatigue seems to be hitting, a common effect, but I am reassured it should not be permanent

This interesting post suggests resilience is a factor, so psychology does affect outcome. Also taking exercise minimises fatigue, so Jan is still walking quite a bit, such as taking the train to the radiotherapy hospital, no taxis or cars!

We read that patients who take charge of their treatment do better than those who are more "docile", so again psychology seems important. I encourage Jan to not be too docile!

Jan has had 75% of the radiotherapy. She refused to use "emulsifying ointment" as recommended by the NHS, but used Cavilon as trialled at Wollongong. She is known as "the lady who is using Cavilon", so it must be a talking point at the hospital. So far her skin reaction is minor...great news, but it has yet to peak 7 - 10 days after therapy is completed.... One nurse suggested her breast was pink, I suspect a lie to discourage others from refusing their emulsifying ointment!

Jan is also taking tumeric capsules, which also claim to minimise skin damage. Jan insisted on bouncing this idea off two pharmacists before taking them, in spite of me saying would you ask them if you could eat brown bread during radiotherapy? I see tumeric as just another food. Fortunately the hospital has many Indian staff, so they were not the least concerned by the use of tumeric, making comments such as "its just a spice"

UK professor backs curcumin

Great, local stuff, and a University Professor to boot. He directs 4 researchers at Leicester, looking at curry and red wine as aids against cancer. To get funding of course he calls them curcumin and resveratrol. I doubt politicians understand such long words, otherwise how would he get taxpayers to fund his evenings out for a wine and curry and call it work?

Is it any surprise that research into curry is based in Leicester, a town with 140 curry houses?

I like his emphasis on fun. He says "Success in treating established cancer by chemotherapy, surgery or radiotherapy remains limited, making chemoprevention by diet an important and promising alternative. To date curcumin, a component of turmeric, has progressed as a potential agent for prevention of colon cancer."

It is of course much easier to get curcumin into contact with a colon cancer than a breast cancer, so I may be over optimistic. This is emphasised by his clinical trials which shows curcumin gets into the faeces but not the blood.

But it re-assures me that we may be on the right track. Jan is irradiated today, this guy cautions one to wait five years! He says:

"Even though many putative chemopreventive agents are dietary constituents, which may have been consumed for hundreds of years, there is uncertainty regarding the potential for toxicity when administered as a purified product or clearly defined mixture. Agents such as curcumin, resveratrol, genistein, indole-3-carbinol (I3C) or the brown rice constituent tricin also possess antiproliferative activity in tumour model systems, so that dose-defining studies can be performed in patients with cancer. Within the next five years, the diet-derived substances, curcumin, resveratrol and perhaps tricin will be thoroughly investigated in this way."

Thats the first I had neard of brown rice as a cancer preventative.

Kitchen sink radiotherapy protection

To review our method in complementing radiotherapy. I hope it makes radiotherapy more effective at killing cancer cells, whilst protecting healthy cells from radiotherapy:

1) We believe NHS advice may not always be right.......easy after yesterday's news on beta blockers killing 800,000.

2) We choose a french book based on an attractive cover photo of an orange. It has now been translated!

3) We listen to an mp3 of the author, he has a delightful french accent so must be honest and correct. Another mp3 based on his ideas is here

4) Page 177 of his book shows curcumin and green tea enhancing the effect of radiotherapy.

5) Research shows curcumin is the active ingredient of tumeric, an Indian spice.

6) Knowing nothing of Indian cooking, we scramble an egg with tumeric, and wonder why we get unpalatable yellow molten blobs on the egg. Jan eats two such eggs anyway, we are desperate.

7) We read that curcumin is oil soluble, so our second attempt is to dissolve tumeric in olive oil, and scramble egg in that. Better results.

8) We read that tumeric is not absorbed easily in the body, it needs piperine, the ingredient of black pepper to aid absorption.

9) I buy Holland and Barrett tumeric capsules, open them up over the sink, throw away 20% of the tumeric, replace it with black pepper and reseal the capsule.

Jan refuses this concoction.....and the kitchen worktop is stained yellow.....

BUT in looking at recent US patents I find that that is almost exactly what a US guy has just patented as a potential cancer drug. He uses sunflower oil instead of my olive oil, and adds an antioxidant. But otherwise we are on the same lines.....Another similar patent is dated 2007.

So after long days and nights of research I think I may have stumbled upon a lead........the patent applications prove that, and in the meantime I created the best tasting sea food curry I have ever had.......shame Jan does not like curry. The links above are the popularist ones, I also used learned university papers.

On reading the patent applications I have two emotions, I feel physically sick that rats can be paralysed by 25 Gy radiation, when Jan will receive about twice that dose. The NHS do not warn one so explicitly, they merely mention the slight risk of neuropathy, and one patient lost sight. They don't dare to say some get paralysed, and one went blind! It strengthens my views on animal experimentation. Should we deny animal rights activists any drug developed by this means?

We also use other protective measures such as sunlight (natural vitamin D), exercise, balanced healthy diet of veg rather than meat, green tea, organic eggs, carrots, grapes, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, seaweed as mentioned in the Guardian, garlic which seems to be powerful and plenty of fluids as further protection. I guess from the research and patent application that this diet is most important now and for say a month after radiotherapy, as it controls the inflamation.

I wish I had more time to look at NASA research, I suspect they will be good on radio-protection, as it is a risk they encounter during space travel. But Jan's radiotherapy started 10 days ago, we go with what we know already. The one NASA hit I found was from an oncologist with a sense of humour. He summarised his work as "World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100%. No matter how hard we work, there are some things we simply can't fix."

Concern over curcumin / tumeric

I still hope curcumin, tea and garlic may be our wonder cure. In summary curcumin is believed to be the active ingredient in Indian curry powder known as Tumeric or Turmeric.

But I had doubts last night. I am happy it is safe, Indians typically take up to 2 grams of tumeric a day, and human tests show 8 grams a day is quite safe. It seems the dosage needed may be far higher than Jan takes, as she hates the taste. She takes less than half a gram a day. It also seems it is hard to get it from the digestive system to the cancer, bio-availability and metabolism issues.....

I understand the issues in trying to guess at the possible outcome of research. Professor Aggarwal takes a cancer cell on a glass plate, adds curcumin, irradiates and watches. This is a long step away from Jan eating a pill or curry and getting the same effect on a living cancer cell in her breast.

I should also explain why a ten fold increase in effectiveness of radiotherapy as produced by curcumin and green tea claimed in my earlier post may be different in a real life situation. The ten fold effect was seen in a single treatment of 5 Gy radiation. Jan will receive 15 treatments, each something over 2 Gy. So if say each treatment only killed half the cancer cells, by the end of 15 treatments all but 0.003% of the cancer cells will have been killed by radiotherapy anyway, curcumin just mops up the remaining 0.003%...... but I believe this well worthwhile, as the more one eradicates cancer from Jan's body the better, and one trusts the immune system will pick off the remainder.

I also read research on getting curcumin into the blood stream, how one may need to add black pepper (piperine) to get a 20 fold increase in blood absorption of curcumin. One doctor recommended 2 grams tumeric and half a gram of pepper a day, but Jan refuses that much pepper.

Similarly she hardly touches garlic. I bought quite a bit, and left it in the kitchen whilst a Polish lady visited last Sunday. In one day the Polish lady eat 3 times as much garlic as we eat between us in a week. And the Poles have a third of our breast cancer rate....

But five positive notes:

• I listened to David Hathaway on the radio this morning. He emphasised that God is in control, having seen God heal him from throat cancer 44 years ago, been imprisoned in Czeckoslovakia, yet now preaching in Russia and the Ukrain.
• I read Dr. Steve Martin who says blood absorption is irrelevant, curcumin is carried in the lymphatic system anyway.
• This Japanese report shows eating curcumin reducing lymph node metastasis, a traditional route for cancer spread.
  
• This report suggests curcumin enhances the bodies immune system without the need for large concentrations of curcumin in the blood.
  
• And I read that Indians have less than a third of our breast cancer rate, they just cook a curry and don't worry about these issues!

Ah, the joys of self medication and DIY cures....but the self help folk are the ones who live longest.

Alternative / complementary medicine

I found this tremendous Christian link.

People seem to differ widely on their view of such medicine. Jan and I started as skeptical for 2 good reasons:

• Our background - traditional English tax payers who believe the government and NHS will look after us! Probably my life was saved by the NHS and penicillin when I was six years old.
  
• Our work. Jan has worked at University College Hospital for 20 years, I considered taking a job in their department of medical physics,. They manage CT scanners and radiotherapy equipment.

So we are not against the NHS, and still have trust in them.....

But we are open......God gave us a daughter who had an allergy to dairy products. Dairy could have killed her, yet our GP referred to it as though it was a childish dislike. Her school failed to provide suitable meals, so each day we had to bring her home for lunch. It cost us a fortune in goats milk, soya and other health products...when she accidently had an asthma attack on a school trip she needed emergency treatment, but she has developed into an adult who has dabbled in food research for our largest supermarket chain. So we are open to any questioning that dairy may not be best for us as suggested by Professor Jane Plant's research into Chinese diet.

I looked again at Jane's book, though we have yet to cut dairy. Jan likes her ice creams too much. I read Professor Dr. T. Colin Campbell comments. He is Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, project director of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project, joint chairman of the Diet and Cancer Project of the American Institute for Cancer Research, and co-chairman of the World Cancer Research Fund. " He says "Professor Plant courageously tells a compelling and very personal story on breast cancer that is a must-read, not only for women interested in this disease but also for the scientific and medical communities, who should sit up and take notice. It is time that the long-alleged nutritional worthiness of dairy be brought up for discussion."

I see a contrast between complementary and alternative, though both may be valid. Alternative suggests that conventional treatment is wrong, one refuses it and takes something else, typically a natural product as an alternative. Professor Jane Plant has a touch of this, though most of her work is complementary. She refused Tamoxifen, had four recurrences of her cancer (maybe proving Tamoxifen has some benefits) and developed her diet to overcome cancer in what she claims is a far safer and more effective manner.

This view has some merit, for example the two treatments that Jan is receiving in radiotherapy and Tamoxifen are both known to be strong carcinogens. It could be said one merely swaps one cancer for the fairly high risk of another, maybe that is why radiotherapy offers no long term survival benefit when measured over 15 years.

Complementary is less confrontational, and looks to diet or lifestyle to complement and enhance the traditional medical treatment. As you would expect, we favour that route until we are convinced that conventional treatment does excessive harm.....maybe that will become our position as treatment progresses!

Professor Dr. Bharat Aggwhal works on complemetary. Maybe he has to as an employee of one of America's top cancer hospitals, who has also worked for a $9billion pharma supplier. His ideas on curcumin (found in Indian curry powder), garlic and tea claim to enhance the effect of conventional drugs such as Tamoxifen, make radiotherapy more effective in killing cancer cells, whilst protecting the body from radiotherapy damage. So they may a winning adjunct to the therapy Jan is now receiving... a win win situation.

I see other alternatives such as aromatherapy and herbalism as less effective, though I have just bought three aromatherapy kits, packs of herbal teas, and a humour CD. After all Readers Digest claim "Laughter is the best medicine". Jane Plant reckons aromatherapy releases dangerous carcinogens from the hot oil, but obviously has soothing effect.

Some of the more spiritual ideas are positively dangerous, hence our current concentration on ideas that have a provable scientific basis backed by qualified scientists such as university professors.

Mixing faith, science and health

Wow, I am disappointed by an apparently Christian site. But maybe I should expect that? After all I heard over the weekend that Billy Graham got held up by an armed gunman in a hotel recently. The gunman had rushed into the lobby of a hotel, holding up all guests present at the time, and rifling their pockets for valuables. He came to Billy Graham and instantly recognised the famous preacher/ evangelist. "Its OK, you are Bill Graham, you can keep your wallet" he said. "After all, we Baptists had better stick together!". So not all Christians get it right all the time!

A a Christian who attends a Baptist church I would love to get the best advice from them. I found what appears to be an excellent hospital in the USA with a Baptist foundation. Their cancer care seems excellent, but it is in the USA!

On the converse I found this site that initially looks authoritative, yet is the opposite to most of Professor Jane Plant's ideas. It rates red meat as good, and suggests cutting vegetables. It rates vegetables as bad foods... and quotes references as though they prove this point. BUT IT IS WRONG, the quoted references prove vegetables are good, The specific reference I looked at was entitled "Dietary influences on bone mass and bone metabolism: further evidence of a positive link between fruit and vegetable consumption and bone health?" It is taken from the authoritative American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2000;71:142-151."

So I find a serious error in what claims to be a Christian site......sad

So where is the truth? What is the best source for a cure? When it becomes a matter of life and untimely death I think I will bow to science. I believe we have seen God's grace in this cancer situation. The delays in getting NHS treatment have left us time to read and research in depth.

Before surgery we probably spent 90% of research time in prayer, 10% in internet based research. We prayed for a miraculous cure, but did not receive such a gift. Instead Jan has joined the mass of others receiving successful surgery but followed by what I would describe as questionable and often ineffective treatment. The delays in receiving this treatment has given us 10 weeks to study how to best use and prepare for radiotherapy. It took us nine weeks to even grasp that complementary medicine was indeed complementary, and could dramatically enhance the benefits whilst cutting risks of radiotherapy. Much of this latest information has come from Chinese and Indian medical ideas. As these may seem strange to some I will cover complementary / alternative in detail in the next post.

We are not taking on the spiritual concepts behind traditional Chinese medicine. As soon as I read "Yin and Yang" in a paper or book I stop reading it. Shame as our NHS cancer booklet mentions Yin and Yang, so I missed any further help from it for at least 4 weeks! But importantly the East and West differ in their rates of cancer, with the lowest rates of cancer in Japan, southeast Asia, North Africa and China. So much fruitful research asks "why the difference in cancer rates?" It questions eating, lifestyle, traditional drugs etc. These questions stand genuine scientific scrutiny, and are tested in labs in Texas by Dr. Bharat Aggwhal. and others. The sort of differences coming out as worthy of investigation and appealing to us are:

• Increased vegetable reliance rather than meat - surely Hindus eat no meat?
• Restricted dairy - Chinese eat almost no dairy produce
• Ginger, Garlic, Tumneric and spices - traditional Indian remedies.
• Use of tea, Japanese drink much green tea

We started by discounting Chinese medicine, mainly because of its questionable diagnosis techniques. But God led us to a Chinese nurse with impeccable CV and training who whilst being a Christian opened our eyes to the far simpler Chinese medical practices coupled with prayer. Since then we have been led to read Professor Jane Plant and Professor Richard Beliveau's books, and from Richard's ideas on curcumin onto Professor Bharat Aggwhal's work. As far as I can see he is an Indian looking to simple Indian spices for safe low cost remedies, Yet on reading last night his curcumin at less than a pound a bottle is as effective as Tamoxifen at £10 per month, and far safer and tastier! If one wants one can combine the two to get even more reduction is cancer cell growth, a win win situation.... great.

So our priority will be good science in evaluating a cure rather than the faith or world view of the person discovering it. This is not to discount God's leading, he has led by amazing coincidences. But I believe God has a universal grace to all mankind, and gives knowledge and healing to all. So we welcome good Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Polish ideas.

Politician's potty statistics

A dangerous post, what do I know about pot? Or at least what can I admit to knowing about pot! I read in today's news that our government state pot can be lethal? To who, when and where? According to which US Government authority you want to believe, the lethal dose of marijuana is either about one-third your body weight, or about 1,500 pounds, consumed all at once". If our government claim that can be lethal how can they direct the NHS?

They say that pot causes psychosis. As I understand the risk, it is a 1 in 5,000 chance for men, and a 1 in 20,000 chance for women. Compare that to a 1 in 2 chance of a breast cancer sufferer dying from that cancer within 15 years, when the government claim they have a cure.....

Again I despair of politicians. I liked this blog post.

The importance of this post is not to discuss pot, but to show why I question government statements. They would have one believe that our NHS have cancer all in hand, Jan is cured, there is no need to look for better cures or treatment. If one does not look one will not find. Without something better there is a 50:50 chance Jan will be dead in 15 years from her cancer....I believe God has led us to better than that.

The £1 cancer cure?

I feel amazed and humbled.

Amazed as I look at curry power from curry powder. Specifically tumeric, or the active ingredient which is curcumin. I bought a jar at Sainsbury's last night for less than a pound. My reading suggests that mixed with black pepper and green tea this could make radiotherapy at least ten times as effective in killing cancer cells, with continuing benefits for life.

Humbled as I read the CV of one of the researchers into curcumin, Dr. Bharat Aggwhal. He is a professor searching for cancer cures at a mainstream Texan University Cancer Centre, so not a health food crank, though maybe pre-disposed to look to India for low cost traditional remedies. His CV states "our cancer journey started almost 25 years ago continues with the focus of discovering novel molecules that are safe, efficacious, and yet inexpensive for the treatment of cancer."

He worked for Genentech, strange as they are a $9 billion company yet he freely publishes research results on the web, unlike so may quacks picked up by Google ads who demand money for bogus cures. The use of curcumin (found in curry) is not the dream of a madman, a Google search on "curcumin radiosensitization" finds almost 10,000 hits. The first hit is here, a 2008 report on cervical cancer, so its brand new fresh off the press. Radiosensitization means making tumours more sensitive to radiotherapy, or making radiotherapy better able to kill cancer. Another report suggests curcumin doubles the effectiveness of radiotherapy. Add pepper and green tea to get my ten fold gain! A third report from India is specific to breast cancer and claims less gain, but still substantial.

Green tea and radiosensitization gets mention in 2400 Google hits, I include a fourth and fifth report. Another details benefits of green tea whilst receiving radiotherapy for breast cancer!

The NHS claim they have removed all cancer by surgery, and radiotherapy is to "mop up" any left over! What an over-simplification. Is that why they do not mention curcumin, it would cast doubt on the effectiveness of radiotherapy? Why do the statistics show Jan has a six fold increased risk of getting another cancer over the general public, has lost ten years of life expectancy, and has a 50% chance of death related to this breast cancer within 15 years?

Her doctors disagree between themselves over the use of Tamoxifen whilst receiving radiotherapy. Jan takes it, but it protects cancer cells from radiotherapy damage, so we need all the help we can get to resensitise them.

The use of diet for radiosensitisation is new research that has yet to be proven outside animal and lab trials, so it has no NHS guarantee. But we have to eat something, and at less than a £1 a jar why not try curry, black pepper and green tea? Jan took an eighth of a teaspoon as curried egg last night followed by two cups of tea, none of the profit or foil wrapped accuracy to a milligram that big pharma gives us!

The pepper, tea and tumeric act synergistically. This paper says tea acts in unison with Tamoxifen. I quote "there is now mounting evidence that the active compounds in tea are an effective adjuvant therapy for the treatment of cancer, particularly when combined with other natural anti-cancer agents such as curcumin, or with conventional drugs such as tamoxifen or chemotherapy. Finally, tea and green tea extract can also be used for prevention of recurrence and metastasis." Metastasis is the the deadly spread of cancer that can be kicked off by radiotherapy as it stimulates blood flow to the inflamed breast tumour. Another paper explains the synergy: "Curcumin arrests the growth of cancer cells in the G2 stage. Green tea arrests cancer cell growth at the G1 phase. Combining tea with curcumin increases the odds of killing more cells."

Obviously I exaggerate to suggest this is a £1 cure. But I exaggerate less than Professor Sir Richard Peto who claims with chemotherapy we are close to a cure, yet only delivers a 3% benefit, or radiotherapy where only one report in 12 claims any long term benefit?

Radiotherapy started

Scares me silly.... and probably scares Jan also. A high stress time. Thanks to the couple who ran Jan to the station, and her friend who accompanied her to make it a "shopping trip".

Jan and I argue over how much to follow medical advice, and how much to do our own thing based on Internet research. I believe God can guide us through use of our brain, and has led us by chance to three leads that look promising. Note we are NOT AGAINST the NHS, at least not yet! We want to enhance their and our chances by sensible diet alongside their treatment. We are taking diet advice from university professors and or cancer research professionals, not health food quacks.

1) We used Cavilon this morning with no medical guidance. It is a new use of a protective spray designed for colostomies. In trials it reduces skin burns from radiation, but almost superglued Jan's breast to her stomach!

2) We are using Jane Plant's ideas on eating during radiotherapy. This is at variance from the NHS who say eat well, drink full fat milk, eat protein such as beef etc. during radiotherapy. Jane suggests the beef and milk could be killing one, so we eat garlic, organic eggs, seaweed, vegetables, and have limited meat intake.

3) We are using Richard Beliveau's ideas on diet, and taking green tea. He suggests it is synergistic with radiotherapy and in his lab trial has shown it doubling of effectiveness of radiation.

Why do we need to enhance effectiveness of radiotherapy? Here is an Oxford University presentation which shows the pathetic gains from radiotherapy which the author who works in the field describes as moderate. It claims the risk of Jan's death within 15 years drops from 50% to 45% with radiotherapy, but the ongoing risk of other cancers caused by radiotherapy continues even after that. So she could lose 15% lung capacity, lose heart strength or even die from radiation induced cancers for a small benefit. If we could double that benefit merely by taking green tea 3 times a day during a 4 week course of radiotherapy what a win for such a low cost! £3 for the accountants! As prostate cancer is a similar hormone related cancer to breast cancer this research shows why we think green tea is promising.

The only thing I have yet to get Jan to eat is curry powder... shame as curcumin, its active ingredient appears to be really helpful in protecting the body against radiotherapy whilst combining with radiotherapy to kill cancer cells. She hates the taste of strong curry, but our argument on this continues!

Why we take radiotherapy

I had said it was the con of the century, yet after hours of research I will agree with Jan taking it. There is no question that it reduces the risk of local cancer recurrence in the same breast, but I was dubious because the first eleven learned papers I read all said it made no difference to long term survival over say 5, 10 or 15 years. I think my measure of success would be long term survival.

The NHS must know this weakness, the consent form Jan signed said the purpose was to reduce the risk of local recurrence, nothing about a possible longer life. I discussed my concern over the ineffectiveness of radiotherapy and the PRIME trial suggesting it was useless with the oncologist. She was unaware of the NHS run PRIME trial, all she could say was all hospitals do it.....in fact my research suggests 70% of breast cancer patients receive radiotherapy.

We are taking radiotherapy because the surgeon performed his work expecting radiotherapy to follow. I guess it's a bit like my decorator could either not protect my furnishings and paint carefully, or use dust sheets and paint more rapidly.

Jan had three biopsies, and her WGL procedure had three mistakes, twice when the wire went straight through the tumour and out the other side, and once she had a hook pull back from the tumour, something we were assured was impossible. I suspect Jan's records were lost at that point to destroy evidence. So Jan has had six instances where preparation for surgery will have pushed parts of the tumour into the clear breast, and probably bloodstream and lymphatic system. A google search on seeding cancer along biopsy wire tracks illustrates my concern. So we probably need radiotherapy to clear up this mess.

Cancer authority, Ralph Moss, comments in his February 6th, 2005 Moss Reports Newsletter:

"Imagine the outrage these patients will feel when they learn that many metastases were caused not by the natural progression of their disease but directly by the actions of well-intentioned (but ill informed) doctors. Imagine, further, what will happen when patients find out that questions have been raised about the safety and advisability of needle biopsies for a number of years by some of the finest minds in oncology. Imagine the disruption of the smooth functioning of the "cancer industry" when patients start demanding less invasive ways of diagnosing tumors. And
imagine the class action lawsuits."

On the twelfth learned paper I read by a consultant surgeon in Cambridge dated 2007 I find a claim that radiotherapy increases chances of long term survival by 5%, so we go for it! I have emailed him to question his statistics!

A century of radiotherapy, and we still find the best it can do is increases mortality chances by 5%.... unbelievable, particularly when this is in only one learned paper, the other eleven say it makes no difference. Yet one hears so much about medical advances and the need for radiotherapy! Hence my description of the process as a con trick. Is it that patients need to see something being done, however ineffective, just like taking a placebo?

Foods that fight cancer free download

Wow,

I have read some more of Richard's book. Initially it enthuses me as much as Jane Plant's book, though it emphasises American eating rather than the UK. He claims one can cut 70% of US cancers by lifestyle changes. This does assume stopping smoking, it drops to 40% for idle, or 30% for fit non smokers. But these figures are still ten times the effectiveness of chemotherapy against simple breast cancer. He has authority as a university professor / medical researcher with MD and PhD.

There is a freely downloadable audio MP3 of him talking here that runs to 49 mins. Sorry, it has many commercials, but it is free! And I love Professor Richard Beliveau's french accent.

He disagrees with the NHS. They state Jan's cancer will be cured by their treatment and taking a pill for 5 years. Richard suggests it is an incurable chronic disease that needs lifetime eating and lifestyle changes. Being french he makes this sound like enjoyable drinking small amounts of red wine, and eating well cooked mediterranean quality foods, garlic and chocolate.

This work contrasts to our NHS. I checked again at the NHS sites today, and see that they are running a trial starting this year to look at effects of diet after breast cancer. I quote "f you are in group 2 you will not take part in the exercise programme or have any dietary advice from the researchers during the first 24 weeks of the study. They will give you a booklet about healthy eating, produced by the British Nutrition Foundation. And they will ask you to live your life as normal. After 24 weeks, they will offer you some advice about diet and exercise sessions."

How can a Canadian professor and Jane Plant have proven to my satisfaction the link to diet, yet the NHS are still trialling it? How can we call this research? Why not just read Richard and Jane's books? How can anyone who has had breast cancer be so unaware as to live for 24 weeks without changing their diet?

Richard's site is here, in French or English!

One thing that struck me maybe as God's amazing provision was the delivery of this book just 6 days before Jan starts radiotherapy. On page 177 he suggests that eating curry whilst taking green tea may significantly increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy in killing cancer cells. What timing! I will suggest she stops deodorant, and eats curry and garlic during radiotherapy! Pity the fellow passengers on the train.

Richard's link to curcumin, the spice in indian curries led me to this site. Amazing that there are proven techniques to increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy against cancer whilst minimising the damage done to the body. Why do our NHS not mention it?????

Complexities of a cancer beating diet

Professor Richard Beliveau's book "Foods that fight cancer" arrived today. Shame I used eBay rather than Amazon to get it cheaper, waited 10 days instead of Amazon''s typical two or three days.

On initial inspection it seems too trivial for me......probably a quarter of the pages are full colour pictures, such as a lemon, an orange and a fish, typical Dorling Kindersley. The chapter on green tea suggests it is good for the soul! The back cover claims it is "the one book you shouldn't be without". Give me university papers any day!

I will read with interest, it gives the chemical formulae of many vegetable phytochemicals, and on inspection it matches other sensible research I have read from major universities. I looks in some detail at Eastern diets and their lower cancer rates which matches Jane Plant. Definitely not one for quackwatch so far! It also has recipes and says red wine has anti cancer properties which should make it popular!

But on reflection it is a popularist book as one would expect from Dorling Kindersley, it will not upset anyone in contrast to Jane Plant. I read newsgroup hatred of Jane's ideas yesterday. She says cut dairy, processed foods and alcohol. This book demands no sacrifices, recommends alcohol in moderation, makes no mention of dairy or IGF, and recommends chocolate. But I suspect it will be more use to many readers than Jane's more complex arguments.

I am sure a change to well balanced vegetable based diet cutting red and particularly burnt or processed meat will help. Smoking and alcohol are out for us. I said yesterday Jan could lose 15% lung capacity after radiotherapy, obviously if lungs have been damaged already by smoking that loss would be far more serious.

On alcohol, we have American research suggesting 2 units of alcohol a day increases risk of breast cancer by 32%, whereas our booklet from Europe's biggest cancer hospital, the Royal Marsden says up to 2 units is OK. So at a stroke they have given away the total benefit from a course of the dangerous drug Tamoxifen that Jan is starting, and which would cost the NHS £3000 over 5 years!

The complexities of a cancer beating diet strike us. A University professor from UCSF rates fibre as important, whereas a similarly qualified professor in the UK says cut dairy. But on more careful study one is pre and the other post menopausal. I believe the fibre is more important for pre-menopause, it shows the complexity of the issues.

Jane Plant looks at reduced cancer rates in China, and says more soy and cutting dairy are the cause, I look at Poland which has similarly lower cancer rates, have yet to do research, but have a hunch their dietary effect is from lightly cooked or raw cruciferous vegetables and exercise. The Polish gene pool is probably closer to ours in the UK, so I still favour my ideas!

I read conflicting results as to whether soy helps or hinders. Some suggest it could be that Chinese soy is different from the processed and potentially GM modified soy we eat. I believe it could depend upon cancer type because more scientific data shows that phytoestrogens enhance T47D cell cancer growth rates in post menopausal women by blocking the effects of Tamoxifen, yet reduce growth of MCF-7 cancer. All we know is Jan's cancer is ER+, and both MCF-7 and T47D are typical ER+ cancers. So we don't know whether the phytoestrogens Jan had been eating in red clover and has now stopped helped or hindered.

I read in March 2008 US research that cruciferous vegetables have more or less benefit dependent upon ones genetic makeup. Yet the UCSF professor and this new book rave about the benefits of cruciferous veggies such as cabbage.

Wow, one starts to see the oomplexity of these issues. A friend suggested yesterday I might like to take a trip to China to help run a 2 week course to help them learn English. Maybe I should go to see how easily the Chinese lifestyle cuts breast cancer without any need for understanding, one just lives in China!

God is sovereign

This picture is a colour enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a breast cancer cell. Shows that even though we hate cancer it has a certain beauty.....It is also to show I do read scientific research, not quack health food fads. One can see it is invasive cancer, like Jan's...

Even worse, I read that one needs a clump of about a million such cells before they are visible to a CT scanner, or even more to be seen by mammogram or ultrasound. Hence some of the uncertainty in Jan's prognosis and treatment, she could have a 1 to 500,000 cell tumour remaining yet be pronounced clear.

I am still thinking about scams and quackery so read with interest the NHS online site that gives Jan the well publicised 80% chance of 5 year survival, but this drops to 70% if one looks for 10 years, and I know the 15 year prognosis of 50% that the NHS do not publicise. Yet the NHS talk of this as a cure, and have not mentioned the cancer risk from radiotherapy which typically occurs 12 years afterwards, nor that Jan could lose 15% lung capacity.

I also read about Tamoxifen, the hormone drug that Jan is on and the NHS say is stopping Jan's cancer recurring! From CNN: "the effects of hormone therapy may be limited. Most advanced hormone-sensitive cancers eventually become resistant to hormone treatment and find ways to thrive". Or Swedish research that states "These treatments are effective but patients inevitably develop hormone-resistant, invasive tumors."

Where is the quackery, in alternative medicine where Jane Plant has already survived for 20 years, or in the NHS? To be fair I do not accuse the NHS of quackery, but their statistics are in my opinion less accurate than those of sensible diet advocates such as Jane Plant.

I re read Michael Baughen's book on prayer, "Getting through to God", and got my perspective back on the sovereignty of God, how he is in control of our lives, and that death is not necessarily a failure.

He makes an interesting summary in his first chapter comparing similar incidents, and the different results:

• Paul escapes an ambush (Acts chapter 23) yet Stephen is stoned to death (Act chapter 7)
• Peter escapes from prison (Acts chapter 12) yet John the Baptist is beheaded in prison (Mark 6)
• The lame are healed by Peter (Acts chapter 3) yet Epaphroditus nearly dies from illness (Philippians chapter 2 verse 26)
• Paul raises the dead to life (Acts chapter 20) yet leaves Trophimus behind at Miletus as he is too sick to travel (2 Tomothy chapter 4 verse 20)
• James chapter 5 says "prayer of faith will save the sick" whereas Timothy is told to take a little wine for his frequent stomach ailments (1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 23)
• Jesus stills a storm (Mark chapter 4) yet Paul is shipwrecked (Acts chapter 27)

So we need ot trust in God's love, over riding compassion and goodness no matter how he answers our prayers.

An RAF chaplain once asked a pilot who was walking across the runway "Do you pray?" Yes, of course. he replied. Well Ive never seen you at my chapel services. No, Padre. I only pray when I'm flying. When I am on the ground I can cope.

Like the RAF pilot cancer has forced us back onto God

Quacks and quackery

I am still trying to work out whether the diet and lifestyle ideas of Professor Jane Plant are correct. It is a source of friction between Jan and me. I think we are both slowly coming round towards Jane's views, our shopping bill has doubled as we eat more fresh fruit and veg, I've cut milk from tea, and there are two packs of green tea in the larder.

Jan has taken a week away to the coast as we await radiotherapy whilst I supervise building work. To start her holiday she had fish and chips followed by ice cream, and a beef joint the next day. So she still has some way to go before she becomes a full veggie, and neither of us know what a vegan is! But our fish and chips was three times our normal price, as we went for double the fish and a third the chips!

Today the Guardian newspaper carried a warning against DIY cancer cures.... I read with care, but I find it makes me mad. The government want to present that "they know best", yet my comment yesterday on Cavilon hopefully shows that even when presented with reputable evidence from trials funded by an NHS approved major health supplier (3M) and performed in the USA and Australia our team dismiss their findings in favour of what they have always done. I think it proves they do not always know best if they ignore peer reviewed scientific trials of superior treatment.

The latest news yesterday warned that cancer sufferers are at increased risk from websites selling unproven cures that could wreck the remaining months of their life. The controversy centres on a drug called DCA (dichloroacetate), a chemical being promoted and hyped across the world as a cure for cancer after news of preliminary laboratory tests on rats.

Dr Ian Gibson, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on cancer, warned that increasing numbers of British people were purchasing such products, and urged the government to do all it could to highlight the problem and block sales from the websites. Their arrogance.

So I looked at Quackwatch, its name sounded helpful, but the doctor running the site is a retired psychiatrist, so I rate the site as useless. It rates diet as questionable. To quote:

"Today's questionable methods include plant products, special diets and "dietary supplements". The dangers of using questionable treatments include delay in getting appropriate treatment, decreased quality of life, direct physical harm, interference with proven treatment, waste of valuable time, financial harm, and psychological damage."

It makes me mad......it states "The dangers of using questionable treatments include delay in getting appropriate treatment." Yet our NHS botched Jan's WGL surgery, lost Jan's test results for 68 days, inserted someone else's mammogram in Jan's records, refused to tell us how many lymph nodes they had removed, lost records that Jan was a patient on their booking system, then have a 10 week delay for radiotherapy when their guidelines suggest it should be four weeks maximum. Just who causes delay and psychological harm in Jan's case?

And from an American site:

"The prevalence of use of questionable cancer methods was nine percent overall. An increase in use was directly proportional to increased income and education. Prolonged illness and certain types of cancer were more commonly associated with use.

Important discrepancies were found between patients' and physicians' perceptions of questionable therapies. CONCLUSIONS: While some questionable therapies are harmless or inexpensive, others have toxic effects and may be costly, and none have scientifically proven efficacy."

So why is it that use was directly proportional to education? Could it just possibly be that bright people understand statistics and real science, and can see through unscientific government hype? I do read the scientific papers looking at long term mortality over 5, 10, and 15 years, not just local recurrence. I wrote earlier that the government website to allow patients to choose between hospitals details car parking and disabled access, but ignores cure and death rates...whereas the alternative clinics freely publish their auditable data of cures, follow up and deaths.

Jane Plant who advocates diet is a Professor with a PhD in science from London University, more scientifically qualified than most politicians trying to block our access to DCA. It's not that I want DCA, its just I hate government arrogance and stupidity in denying benefits from diet