As a naturopathic physician specializing in oncology, I get asked all the time, “What is naturopathic oncology, and can I incorporate it into my current treatment plan?” Naturopathic oncology is an integrative approach to cancer care that uses the evidence-informed practice of the safe and effective use of natural and supportive therapies when combined with conventional treatments as outlined by the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians. There is much research literature that describes the efficacy of natural substances for cancer and how they can work independently, synergistically, or in conjunction with traditional medical treatments such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.
Our goal in Naturopathic Oncology Care at Roots Medical Center is to create a healthy environment both inside and outside the body while using natural therapeutics, including modern and traditional methods of treatment. Through diet and nutrition, exercise, vitamin and mineral supplementation, botanical medicine, homeopathy, targeted nutrients, and additional therapies, naturopathic medicine can support the body’s own healing abilities. We strive to empower individuals to make lifestyle changes necessary for optimal health, offering most of the therapies in-house and, when needed, providing a local referral for additional services.
Therapies in naturopathic oncology care include high-dose IV vitamin C or ascorbic acid, hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy, acupuncture, infrared or IR sauna, colon hydrotherapy, and more.
Intravenous Vitamin C
When vitamin C is given intravenously, much higher doses can be administered than when taken orally, making IV vitamin C more effective. Intravenous vitamin C has been extensively studied and published in cancer research journals as well as the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Center of Complementary and Integrative Health for well over a decade.
IV vitamin C is shown to enhance chemosensitivity, reduce chemotherapy toxicity, and reduce inflammation and disease states in cancer patients. It has also been shown to improve quality of life for patients undergoing radiation therapy and chemotherapy; decrease chemotherapy-induced fatigue, nausea, insomnia, constipation, and depression; produce anti-tumor activity, and enhance reduction in tumor mass when used in combination with chemotherapy. Case reports also document several instances of tumor regression and long-term disease-free survival associated with the use of IV vitamin C.
In addition to being an effective adjunct to cancer therapy protocols, IV vitamin C has shown effectiveness in immune regulation, Parkinson’s disease, liver cirrhosis, and infectious processes, to name but a few. The following are research findings for IV vitamin C and other therapies used in naturopathic cancer care.
- “The combination of parenteral ascorbate with the conventional chemotherapeutic agents, carboplatin and paclitaxel synergistically inhibited ovarian cancer in mouse models and reduced chemotherapy-associated toxicity in patients with ovarian cancer.”
- “Ascorbic acid chemosensitizes colorectal cancer cells and synergistically inhibits tumor growth.”
- “It helps to prolong progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with late-stage triple-negative breast cancer.”
- “Complementary treatment of breast cancer patients with IV vitamin C was shown to be a well-tolerated optimization of standard tumor-destructive therapies, reducing quality of life-related side effects.”
- “Ascorbate treatment depleted ATP and induced autophagy in sensitive prostate cancer cells, resulting in cell death. Taken together with previous studies, high-dose ascorbate has the potential to be a novel treatment option to hormone-refractory prostate cancer.”
- “Pharmacological doses of ascorbic acid suppress tumor growth and metastases in hormone-refractory prostate cancer.”
There is ongoing clinical research to investigate the safe and effective use of IV vitamin C both in combination with chemotherapeutic agents and as a single-agent cancer therapy.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber
There is substantial research on the use of hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy (or HBOT, HBO2, or HBO) in combination with chemotherapy. Many complementary naturopathic treatment and supplement therapies are shown to have a synergistic effect or enhance the effects of chemotherapy and are safe to use while receiving cancer treatment. However, it is important to be closely monitored by a licensed naturopathic physician who can help determine compatibility with prescribed treatment protocols.
The following are research findings regarding HBOT and cancer support.
- “There was a significant decrease in large colony size in the HBO2 group during all periods of observation. The results indicate that HBO2 is not prometastatic for breast cancer cells; rather, it restricts the growth of large tumor cell colonies.”
- “We conclude that the administration of HBO can provide many clinical benefits in the treatment of tumors, including management of highly malignant gliomas. Applied immediately before irradiation, it is safe and well tolerated by patients, causing rare and limited side effects. The results obtained with a combination of HBO/radiotherapy protocol proved to be especially favorable compared to radiation treatment alone. HBO can also increase the cytostatic effect of certain drugs, which may render standard chemotherapy more effective. The currently available data support the legitimacy of conducting further research on the use of HBO in the treatment of malignancies.“
- “HBOT has gained great clinical recognition over the decade. It has been demonstrated that HBOT has considerable effects on carcinoma, especially on decreasing complications and improving mortality.”
Infrared Sauna
The benefit of inducing a fever to facilitate health and healing has been well-known for centuries. Hyperthermia treatments such as hydrotherapies, saunas, and fango have been studied extensively in the medical field. Specifically, infrared sauna, also known as IR sauna, is one of several forms of hyperthermic treatment shown in research to be effective in cancer care.
Infrared heat is a form of energy that warms muscles and tissue directly without heating the air. The body produces infrared energy to keep us warm and repair body tissue. Infrared energy is radiated through the skin to dilate blood vessels and capillaries, increase oxygenated blood flow to muscles and joints, reduce muscle spasms and promote healing of injured and sore muscle fibers, improve lymphatic flow to reduce swelling and inflammation, stimulate cellular and enzyme activity, and increase immune system activity while increasing white blood cell count.
IR sauna is also effective in that cancer cells are killed in the level of heat the sauna reaches compared to normal healthy cells that are not damaged in the heat, and helps mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
Acupuncture
Treatment with acupuncture has been extensively researched in over fifteen thousand studies. It has been shown to be beneficial in people dealing with not only cancer but also “in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain…other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma,” according to a statement from The National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference. Further research shows that acupuncture reduces pain and improves the quality of life in people living with cancer.
There are different forms of beneficial acupuncture, including magnetic acupuncture, which uses a pulsating electromagnetic field to balance energy deficiencies; electroacupuncture, which does not use a magnetic field; and auricular acupuncture. Each form of acupuncture has been shown to reduce pain intensity and duration.
Colon Hydrotherapy
A colonic treatment is a gentle, temperature-controlled, continuous flow of warm water in and out of the colon as it detoxifies the major organs of elimination (the colon and lymphatic system) while restoring normal bowel function. Studies have found that autoimmune and cardiac diseases are often the result of low-grade infections in the gut without producing any symptoms in the person. The low-grade infection causes inflammation, which then attacks other parts of the body that may be weakened.
There are many schools of thought regarding the causes of cancer and what prompts the DNA replication of one cell to mutate or miscopy and replicate into a tumor. It has been theorized to be due to an infectious process, toxin build-up in the body systems, environmental exposure, genetic inheritance, and progression of minor mutated cell replications over time, among others. Therefore, daily elimination of waste and detoxification is important when there is cancer in the body.
Colon hydrotherapy allows for the increased absorption of vitamin A, enhances the immune system, removes toxins that may be released by the breakdown of cancer cells, and is very hydrating to the colon and, therefore, to the entire body.
Diet and Targeted Nutrients
We can’t consider naturopathic cancer support without discussing diet and nutrition. Food is medicine, and what we eat tells our body how to function. Therefore, we can eat foods that enhance cancer cell growth, or we can eat foods that help create an internal environment that is hostile to cancer cell growth. An individualized nutrition plan is crucial to any cancer protocol because killing cancer cells is not enough—we must inhibit cancer cells from growing, which is in part due to what we eat.
Every human being is unique, and there is not one diet that is necessarily right for everyone. There are general guidelines, however, that can be practiced to decrease generalized inflammation and enhance immune system function, such as avoiding simple and refined sugars, processed foods, and artificial additives. Eat healthy, lean meats that are not prepared with hormones, steroids, or antibiotics.
With the basis of food influencing how our body responds to cancer, consider the decades of research that has been and is being done at the National Institute of Health on targeted nutrients and cancer cells. Here are just a couple out of dozens of studied targeted nutrients and how they affect cancer cells.
Curcumin
Many people are aware of the anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory role curcumin plays in cancer support. However, it has a much more intimate effect on certain cancer cell lines. Research findings include:
- “Our data provide the first evidence that the downregulation of Notch-1 by curcumin may be an effective approach for the treatment of osteosarcoma.”
- “Curcumin suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis in human biliary cancer cells through modulation of multiple cells signaling pathways.”
- “Curcumin inhibits JNK pathway and plays a role in epigenetic regulation of prostate cancer cells by repressing H3K4me3.”
- “Emerging evidence suggested that the dietary agent curcumin exerted its anti-cancer activities via targeting cancer stem cells of various origins such as those of colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer, and head and neck cancer…”
- “Our results showed that curcumin exhibited antitumor effects in breast cancer cells with an induction of apoptosis.”
Grape Seed Extract
There are many health benefits of grape seed extract, primarily targeting the circulatory system. It’s helpful in treating chronic venous insufficiency by increasing blood flow, edema, wound healing, cholesterol management, and cancer support. Here’s what the research says about grape seed extract:
- “High concentrations of GSE inhibited cell proliferation and apoptosis. Conversely, low GSE concentration decreased cell migration and invasion…. These results make GSE a powerful candidate for developing preventive agents against cancer metastasis.”
- “Grape seed proanthocyanidins induce apoptosis and inhibit metastasis of highly metastatic breast carcinoma cells.”
- “There is a high potential to use PE extracts clinically as an optional adjuvant therapeutic drug for therapeutic intervention strategies in cancer therapy or chemoprevention.”
- “Experimental studies have shown…antineoplastic effects…radiomodulatory, chemomodulatory, chemopreventive effects, free radical scavenging, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic and immunomodulatory activities, properties that are efficacious in the treatment and prevention of cancer.“
Creating a healthy environment both inside and outside the body and supplementing the body with the tools it needs to target cancer cells is the foundation of Naturopathic Oncology Care at Roots Natural Medical Center.
Dr. Korene Varano is a board certified and licensed Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and Registered Nurse (RN) in the state of Connecticut. She specializes in oncology and alternative cancer therapeutics. Her care focuses on building hope, strength, and courage with each patient and family member she encounters.
For more information, please contact Dr. Varano at Roots Natural Medical Center, 106 Rt 66, Columbia, CT 06237, call 860.471.1434, or visit us on our website at: www.rootsmedicalcenter.com.