“Dilaw na Luya” Shows promise Vs Breast Cancer

By: Tessa R. Salazar

(Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Among the many super plant foods humanity was gifted with, curcumin (dilaw na luya in the vernacular) typically standsout –so much so that scientist have dubbed it “curecumin”.

This plant, previously associated only with its yellow spice called curry, has been undergoing clinical trials in prestigious scientific institutions across the world (12 active clinical trials of curcumin are ongoing in the United States, Israel and Hong Kong). Some of these trials are studying the effects of curcumin on colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, psoriasis,epilepsy, gall bladder cancer and cervical cancer, among others.

The only downside the curcumin, it seems, its poor bioavailability (absorption) into the human body. Other  than that, however the benefits of curcumin are tantalizing the medical community. These benefits include depleting cells of Her2/neu protein (responsible for a certain types of breast cancer) in short treatments in cellular experiments.

The Her2/neu type of cancer, which affects 30 percent of breast cancer patients, has poor prognosis.

Dr. Bharat Aggarwal, professor of Cancer Medicine (Biochemistry) and chief of Cytokine Research Lab at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, whom this writer was able to interview over the phone a few months ago, sent a copy of his commentary (coauthored by Ajay Goel, Ajaikumar B. Kunnumakkara) published by Elsevier Inc. in Science Direct in 2007.

Accumulating Evidence

The commentary cited accumulating evidence showing curcumin's molecular targets as transcription factor's, growth factors and their receptors, cytokines, enzymes and genes regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis (cancer cell death).

One example showed that most human cancer cells over express epidermal growth factor receptor (EFGR) and Her2/neu, which ultimately stimulates the proliferation of cancer cells. "Cellular experiments in vitro have shown that short-term treatment with curcumin inhibits EFGR kinase activity cells and depletes Her2/neu protein," Aggarwal said.

A previous clinical trial by Aggarwal and his colleagues has also shown that curcumin is safe even at high doses (as much as 12g/ day) in humans.

"Despite the lower bio availability, the therapeutic efficacy of curcumin against various human diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and Crohn's disease, has been documented. The enhanced bio availability of curcumin in the near future is likely to bring this promising natural product to the forefront of the therapeutic agents for the treatment of human disease, "Aggarwal concluded. 

Nutrition and Healthy Foods During Cancer Treatment

Now, more than ever, you need good nutrition.

By R. Morgan Griffin
WebMD Feature                                                                                             Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

When you're getting treatment for cancer, your body is under assault -- both from the cancer and the treatment itself. So it's more important than ever to make sure that you're getting the nutrition, vitamins, and minerals you need to stay strong.

But sometimes during cancer treatment, eating anything is tough. While chemotherapy is notorious for causing nausea, other cancer treatments -- from surgery to radiation -- can also affect how you eat. Just the psychological stress alone is enough to interfere with a person's appetite.

What's more, the whole notion of "good nutrition" may be turned on its head when you're in cancer treatment. "Eating healthy can mean something quite differentduring cancer treatment than it does before or after," says Rachel Zinaman, MPA, RD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Evelyn Lauder Breast Center.

So what is good cancer nutrition? And how can you eat well when eating is the last thing you feel like doing? Here are some tips from the experts.

Cancer Nutrition: Maintaining Strength and Energy

When it comes to fighting cancer fatigue and boosting strength with good cancer nutrition, you have to pay attention to protein.  "The radiation, the surgery, the chemo, and the cancer itself can all increase the body's need for protein," says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.  Protein makes you heal faster.  How can you get enough protein?

"Meats, poultry and fish are great sources of protein," says Sheri Knecht, RD, a dietitian at the South-Atlantic Division of the American Cancer Society.  "But some people have trouble tolerating them during cancer treatment."  So she also recommends easy-to-digest foods such as:

• Eggs
• Dairy products such as milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt
• Beans, soy, and nuts -- including peanut butter or almond butter

As with any nutrient, dietitians recommend getting protein from natural food sources.  But if that isn't working for you, try adding protein powders -- like whey or soy -- or powdered milk to your diet.  If you have trouble chewing or swallowing because of your treatment, try mixing them in with soft foods such as mashed potatoes or fruit smoothies.

Don't wait until after you're already in treatment to beef up on protein for cancer nutrition.  "We want people to be as healthy as possible before going into surgery, because their bodies will be under a lot of stress," Zinaman tells WebMD.  "It's important to go into treatment with adequate stores of protein."

Cancer Nutrition: Avoiding Weight Loss

Unwanted weight loss can be a serious problem for some people in cancer treatment.  As your body fights the cancer, and undergoes the stress of treatment, your metabolism may kick into high gear.  But while your body might need more food, you're feeling too sick to eat it.  Losing too much weight can affect your treatment or even force your doctor to stop it altogether.

Cancer Nutrition: Avoiding Weight Loss continued...

What should you do if you're at risk for weight loss?

• Dietitians suggest you eat foods that are calorically dense -- packing a lot of calories per ounce.  Again, protein is ideal.
• If treatment is making your food taste bland, try spicing it up with curry, oregano, or cinnamon, says Zinaman. 
• And -- odd as it may sound -- you may need more fat in your diet.  Remember that the risks of weight loss are serious. Many dietitians say you can indulge in high-fat pizza or ice cream if that's the only way you can get enough calories.

However, not all cancers and cancer treatments lead to weight loss.  For instance, breast cancer treatment often results in weight gain, says Zinaman.  So don't assume that good cancer nutrition always means lots of high-calorie and high-fat foods.  Ask your doctor or dietitian whether weight loss is something you actually need to worry about.

Cancer Nutrition: Fighting Nausea

Thanks to new drugs, debilitating nausea during chemotherapy isn't inevitable like it once was.  But 70% to 80% of people on chemotherapy still have at least some nausea or vomiting.  What foods will help?

Ginger is one old remedy for nausea. Experts say ginger does help some people, although by no means all.  Other standards, like dry toast, may work too.  "Many of the starchy foods often work with nausea," like crackers, pretzels, dry cereals, potatoes, and white rice, says Knecht.

On the whole, it's hard to make blanket suggestions about foods that fight nausea.  The specifics vary from person to person. 

"I had one person who said that fast-food fried chicken was the only thing that calmed his stomach," says Knecht.  "Obviously, that's the exact opposite of what we usually recommend, but I told him if it worked, he should go with it."

Other techniques may help.  Since it's hard to sit down to a full meal, eat frequent small snacks instead.  Knowing you have to eat can be stressful when you're sick, says Zinaman, and that stress in turn makes it harder to eat.  So she recommends breaking your usual dining habits -- try eating by candlelight, or with music on, or outside.  Anything that avoids the normal associations may help.

Cancer Nutrition: Staying Hydrated

Drinking enough fluid is a key part of cancer nutrition.  According to the American Cancer Society, many symptoms associated with cancer and its treatment -- fatigue, light-headedness, and nausea -- can actually result from dehydration. 

People getting chemotherapy need to be especially careful about drinking enough -- usually eight to ten glasses a day.  Some chemotherapy drugs can be tough on the kidneys, and lots of liquid can help protect your kidneys.  If you're having diarrhea or vomiting, you're probably losing a lot of fluid that you need to replace.

"Just about any kind of liquid that the person can tolerate is OK," says Knecht, as long as the doctor doesn't say otherwise.  Water, juices, and sports drinks are all fine.  However, if your cancer treatment puts you at risk of gaining weight -- or for that matter, losing it -- pay attention to how many calories are in your drinks.

Are caffeinated drinks okay? Generally yes, although your doctor may not want you to count them among your eight to ten glasses a day.  Ask your doctor if you should completely cut out alcohol.  The answer depends on the type of cancer and the treatment.

Cancer Nutrition: What Foods Should I Avoid?

The short answer is simple: during treatment, avoid the foods that you can't tolerate.  Just about anything else is OK, unless your doctor tells you something different. 

Should you aim for a typical well-balanced diet, high in fruits and vegetables and low in sugars and unhealthy fats? Of course.  That's always the ideal goal.

But if some of those foods aren't sitting well with you, don't worry about cutting them out right now.  People with mouth sores may find that some fruits are too painful to eat.  People who have nausea and diarrhea may find that they just can't tolerate the high-fiber breads and cereals.  That's OK.  Remember that treatment won't last forever.  Once it's over, you can go back to healthier eating habits.  The goal right now is to get through treatment however you can.

Of course, always follow your doctor's advice about cancer nutrition.  Depending on your situation and any other health conditions, he or she might have specific recommendations. 

Cancer Nutrition: Supplements and Risky Diets

While we hear a lot about using food as medicine these days, experts say that it's not a great idea when you're in cancer treatment.  Don't adopt an extreme diet or start taking mega-doses of specific foods, supplements, or vitamins.  Doing so could have real risks. 

For instance, experts worry that eating excessive amounts of soy products -- such as tofu -- could theoretically encourage the growth of breast cancer.  Even antioxidants -- thought by many to prevent cancer -- could have dangers during treatment, Zinaman says.

"Antioxidants help protect cells," Zinaman says.  "So if someone were taking lots of antioxidants, they could theoretically be protecting the cancer cells we're trying to kill with treatment."

Never start taking any supplements -- or eating large quantities of specific foods -- without checking with your doctor first.

Getting Help With Cancer Nutrition

Dietitians are unanimous about one thing: there's no single cancer diet.  The best approach to cancer nutrition depends on the type of cancer you have, the type of treatment you're getting, and perhaps most of all -- what you want.  The diet that gets one person through cancer treatment won't work for someone else. 

So don't fret over checklists of "good" and "bad" foods for cancer nutrition.  Instead, talk to your doctor or schedule an appointment with a dietitian. 

"The advantage of working with a dietitian is that you'll get more than vague, general statements about what to eat," says Zinaman.  "A dietitian can come up with a targeted plan for you as an individual."

PAYING IT FORWARD: LIFE AFTER CANCER

by Wendy Wegner

Maybe you’ve noticed a small group of women in New York’s Manhattan, recognized mainly by their limitless palette of wig colors, shapes, and sizes. But chances are, you couldn’t tell who was celebrating her triumph over cancer, and whose battle against the disease had just begun.

With her wedding just seven weeks away, the last thing 32-year-old Jennifer Finkelstein expected was to be dragged into the bathroom in the middle of the night, inspected under harsh fluorescent lights. Her fiancée Robert, a physician, was concerned about a lump he detected in her breast.

Engaged to a doctor and raised by one (her father), Jennifer was no stranger to medicine, but had never experienced anything serious on a personal level. The next day, she visited a surgeon, Dr. Nancy Elliott. “I’ll never forget the look on her face when she was doing the sonogram,” Jennifer recalls. “Right away, I was whisked into the next room for a mammogram and a biopsy.”

When pathology results arrived, she heard something she never expected: cancer.

“Until I heard those words, there was no way that was going to happen to me. I immediately thought I was going to die,” says Jennifer. “To me, cancer was a terminal illness, not a chronic disease. I had never seen anyone turn the corner.”

But Jennifer was determined to do just that. Despite having to undergo a mastectomy five weeks before her wedding, she did everything she could to maintain normalcy in her life. “Even though cancer took my breast, took my hair, and temporarily took my spirit, it was not going to take my wedding,” she says. One week after the ceremony, Jennifer began chemotherapy during the time she was supposed to be honeymooning with her new husband.

The first time Jennifer remembers feeling relaxed after her diagnosis was the moment she met Ellen Lowey. Referred by a close friend, Jennifer walked through the door of this then stranger’s home and was greeted with a tight hug and a few memorable words: “We are going to get through this.”

Ellen gave Jennifer the names and phone numbers of local doctors, surgeons, oncologists, health food stores, and the best wig shops in town. An attorney and mother of three children with three dogs, it was impressive that Ellen was so well-known – especially because she was not personally a cancer survivor. “She’s never gone through it herself,” says Jennifer. “She’s this angel… I knew that when I was on the other side of this and when I came out of this, if I could be half as good a person as she was, that would make a big difference. I wanted to be a better person.”

Soon after their introduction, Ellen set Jennifer up on a lunch date with a young woman she had helped through treatment the year before.

“I watched her walk into this restaurant,” Jennifer says. “Seeing her had the most profound effect on me.” During treatment, Jennifer’s doctor had shown her a photograph of a breast cancer survivor who was now cancer-free and living a healthy life. While the idea of life after cancer was comforting, she did not see herself in the face of the older woman in the photo. But meeting Ellen’s friend made her realize that younger women were also fighting this disease… and they were winning.

The new friend took Jennifer under her wing and quickly gave her an important gift – a collection of headscarves she no longer needed. “Something happened there, it was like the passing of a torch,” says Jennifer. “It was like she was saying, ‘It’s your turn, you’re going to do this.’”

Next, Ellen accompanied Jennifer to have her head shaved in an effort to avoid the trauma many women feel watching their hair fall out on their pillows or in the shower. For a long time, though, Jennifer couldn’t look at herself in the mirror, fearful of the unrecognizable person staring back.

Instead of allowing the transition to cause her further despair, Jennifer decided to be proactive. During treatment, she reached out to others and quickly met six women living half a mile from her home in Manhattan who had also been diagnosed with breast cancer – all under the age of 40. An unofficial mentor, she offered treatment advice much the same way Ellen had for her – suggesting doctors, health food stores, ginger candies and “all the little things the medical professionals forget to tell you about,” she says.

Jennifer accompanied the women to their chemotherapy appointments and simply gave comfort and offered company to many of them whose families lived far away, often in other countries.

This was how a tradition began. Two weeks after one of the women in Jennifer’s group completes chemotherapy, they celebrate with a special, extravagant, cancer-left-behind night out. Red wigs, purple wigs, black wigs – every color, shape, and length imaginable – all in an effort to unite these women in different stages of treatment and survival. 

"When everyone’s wearing a wig, no one can tell who the cancer victim is,” says Jennifer. “At the end of the day, it’s really just hair.” These outings not only offer a time for the women to bond and share stories, but it gives them the chance to feel normal during a very unusual time in their life.

This past May 28 not only marked Jennifer’s five-year wedding anniversary, it marked five years since her life was changed by cancer. Jennifer has no family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and she does not carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene. She has always eaten healthy, walked regularly, and she prides herself on never having smoked or done drugs.

“I used to be concerned about gaining five pounds. Now that doesn’t matter at all,” says Jennifer. “You can’t measure yourself by the number on a scale, by what size dress you wear, or your job title at work. People should measure themselves by how they have made a contribution to the world.”

And that’s exactly how she’s lived her life after surviving cancer. By giving back to the community of women around her, she hopes her experience has served a purpose.

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and one in six will not be fortunate enough to call themselves a “survivor” like Jennifer.

“The most important thing you can do after this diagnosis – the best thing you can do by far – is to grab a pen and paper,” says Jennifer. “Because you’re about to learn a whole lot about yourself.”

Jennifer feels fortunate that she comes from a medical family, but knows that most women are not that lucky. She welcomes anyone newly diagnosed with breast cancer to reach out to her with questions or comments at: 5underforty@gmail.com.

Wendy Wegner is editor of SU2C Mag