My first CyberKnife follow up

[jamie]

I just got back from my first CK follow up, 3 months after the procedure. I had the MRI done last Sunday and had my appt to go over the results today. My doctor (and myself) is very pleased with the response so far, it had a little bit of necrosis before the procedure, but now pretty much the whole thing is dead. He says they rarely see a positive response so soon, and no swelling. I've read that the glutamine in whey protein increases selectivity of abnormal cells to be destroyed by radiation, and since I'm a bodybuilder, I take in alot of whey protein. Here's the info I found:

"Animal studies suggest that glutamine may suppress the growth of cancers. (12) Moreover, it may render tumor cells more sensitive to radiation and chemotherapy by decreasing their intracellular glutathione levels, while it also restores depressed glutathione levels in normal tissues. (13) This latter effect suggests that glutamine supplementation may be superior in cancer therapy to treatment with other antioxidants as, unlike glutamine, they enhance glutathione nutriture in both normal and tumor cells. (14)"

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_264/ai_n14724221

"Glutamine--increases NK cell activity, decreases PGE2 synthesis, inhibits tumor growth, stabilizes weight loss, and reduces incidence of stomatitis and infection
Tumors typically have high concentrations of glutamine; thus, physicians have been reluctant to add supplemental glutamine to a cancer protocol. However, oral glutamine (1 gram per kg of body weight a day administered to rats) upregulated tissue glutathione (a powerful antioxidant) by 25% and increased natural killer cell activity 2.5-fold. PGE2 synthesis (a pro-inflammatory prostaglandin that fuels tumor growth) decreased and tumors were inhibited by 40% (Klimberg et al. 1996a).

When glutamine accompanied either chemotherapy or radiotherapy, it protected the host and actually increased the selectivity of therapy for the tumor. This was evidenced among a group of rats (receiving either methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, or cisplatin) whose tumor reduction nearly doubled with glutamine supplementation (Klimberg et al. 1992, 1996b)."

http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-027d.shtml

My next MRI isn't for six months, so far so good.

[debora]

congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so happy for you, now you can relax and Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
      Best Wishes,   Deb

[cookiesecond]

Jamie,
I am very happy for you and your good report.God is so good!
Take care,
Lynn

[shoegirl]

Jamie,

Way to go!  Congratulations!  I hope that you get another good report in six months!  Thanks for posting the info on Whey Protein.  I know nothing about body building - is there a supplement you can take? or is it through your diet?  And did you start taking it before or after your Cyberknife?

Another question for your regarding your Cyberknife treatment - did you have to take a steriod afterwards?  If so, did you have any side effects?

I have my next couple of consults with Barrow's the week after Thanksgiving and then hopefully I'll be all set to go. Thanks for sharing your results!  Glad the news was good! :) 

[jamie]

Thanks for the positive thoughts guys.

There are many whey protein supplements out there, any health food store will carry them. Usually just a scoop in some milk, they taste pretty good too. I've been taking it for a long time, way before I found out about the tumor.

I didn't take any steroids after my CK, I don't think Dr. Kresl usually prescribes them unless they're absolutely necessary. I had some minor headaches after, but one ibuprofen worked just fine.

Good luck with your appointments, they are great there. You will be in good hands.

[SuzeAN]

Great news Jamie!! Thanks for the nutrition info too!!  There seems to be little information on the subject of supplements and benign tumors, since they respond differently than malignant tumors I want to be careful about what I take. Would love to hear if anyone else has any nutritional info too.

Have a great holiday!

Suze

[jamie]

Hi Suze,

What I was told by Dr. Kresl was that diet or nutritional supplements aren't factors in the growth of these tumors, and the only data suggesting anything might contribute to growth is on hormones. Also there is conflicting info regarding taking antioxidants during radiation therapy, and up to three weeks after, some suggest the antioxidants may interfere with the radiaton, while others say antioxidants protect healthy tissue from radiation, but not abnormal cells. But they mean mega doses, so regular multivitamins are fine, although I didn't take any vitamins for the three days of my CK treatment, then resumed my regular multivitamin the following day. After three weeks though, the radiation has done it's work, and one can resume mega dosing if they wish.

[okiesandy]

Jammie,

I read somewhere that glutahione would inhibit radiation treatment. Have you read this? I have been taking a lot of antioxidents and now I hear that may contribute to the tumor growth. I think I read it on a brain tumor link.  How much research did you do on vit. and mineral supplements before CK? Do you know of any other links I could look on. I read the one about Glutamine. Interesting.

Sandy

[jamie]

Glutathione can be radioprotective, however only for normal cells, not tumor cells. Glutamine is changed to glutathione in the body.

It has been found that cancer cells and normal cells respond differently to nutrients and drugs that affect glutathione status. The concentration of glutathione in tumor cells is higher than that of the normal cells that surround them. This difference in glutathione status between normal cells and cancer cells is believed to be an important factor in the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy (Fojo et al. 2003; Townsend et al. 2003). Whey protein concentrate has been shown to selectively deplete cancer cells of their glutathione, thus making them more susceptible to cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.

Tumor cell glutathione concentration may be among the determinants of the cytotoxicity of radiation. Rapid glutathione synthesis in tumor cells is associated with high rates of cellular proliferation. Depletion of cancer cell glutathione in vivo decreases the rate of cellular proliferation and inhibits cancer growth (Kennedy et al. 1995).

It is difficult to reduce glutathione sufficiently in tumor cells without placing healthy tissue at risk. A compound that can selectively deplete the cancer cells of their glutathione, while increasing or at least maintaining the levels of glutathione in healthy cells, such as whey protein, is efficacious (Bounous 2000; Tsai et al. 2000).

Cancer cells treated with whey proteins are depleted of their glutathione and their growth is inhibited, while normal cells have an increase in glutathione and increased cellular growth. These effects were not seen with other proteins. Selective depletion of tumor cell glutathione may render cancer cells more vulnerable to the action of radiation (Bravard et al. 2002) and meanwhile protect normal tissue from the deleterious effects of radiation (Savarese et al. 2003; Kennedy et al. 1995).
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcls-txt/t-prtcl-025.html

From all the info I've read, and doctors I've talked to, the thing to avoid is mega doses of antioxidants. A one a day multivitamin is not sufficient to inhibit the effects of the radiation, however for my three days of treatment I did not take any vitamins, but I did take my whey protein. 

I would also like to add though, if you are unsure if what you are taking may hinder treatment, ask your doctor. Better safe than sorry.

[okiesandy]

Jamie,

I have ask three doctors and they all said why would I take anything. If I felt I must take anything a good multivitamin would be ok. One said not to take large dose of Vit. E. I don't anyway because it gives me nose bleeds. All have admitted they know very little about any kind of supplements.  Just thought I would ask you because you seem pretty up on things.

Sandy

[jamie]

Yeah, I guess you're right, a lot of docs seem pretty down on supplements all together. I concur with the vitamin E caution, that's the main antioxidant that can interfere with radiation therapy to my knowledge. My suggestion if you take high doses of vitamins, and if you choose CyberKnife, is to stop taking high doses of antioxidants a couple weeks before treatment, and start back up a month after if you wish. I didn't even take a regular multivitamin for the three days of treatment, then started taking it again the day after. I did take my whey protein though. As for supplements that are said to increase the effects of radiation on tumor cells, of course there's glutathione (or glutamine) found in whey protein, also, believe it or not, caffeine is said to increase radiosensitivity in tumor cells, while protecting healthy cells. Caffeine has even been known to cause tumor cell apoptosis (cell death) by itself. But caffeine can contribute to swelling and cause headaches, so I avoided it for a couple months after my treatment. Other things that can inhibit tumor growth are ginseng, and even beer (it has to do with the hops). My doctor has a PhD in tumor biology, he told me the only thing in your diet that can possibly contribute to the growth of these tumors, would be hormones, like birth control, anabolic steroids, etc. But there isn't even any hard data on that yet.

[jamie]

Almost forgot, and I hope I'm not violating any forum rules, but it's medically relevant, another unlikely anti-tumor agent, is cannabis. The government has known this since the 70's, yet continue to list marijuana as a class 1 narcotic, with no medicinal value, thanks to major drug companies, and the alcohol and tobacco industries. There is no money to be made in a medicine that is easily grown by the average joe. And they would actually lose money because there would be no need for many of their synthetic drugs, and tobacco and alcohol use would probably also decline.

Researchers in Spain have discovered that a cannabis extract makes brain tumors shrink by halting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumors with life. Cannabis has chemicals called cannabinoids, these are the chemicals that could effectively starve tumors to death, say the researchers.

The study was carried out at the Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.

The team used mice to demonstrate that the cannabinoids block vessel growth.

You can read about this latest research in the journal Cancer Research.

Apparently, the procedure is also effective in humans.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=12088

In 1974 researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. But the DEA quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated -- until now.

The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February, 2000 when researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.
http://www.alternet.org/story/9257/

This even works on glioblastoma multiforme tumors, the most deadly. Pretty nice how our government officials put campaign donations from large corporations before researching a potentially curative therapy for brain tumors.

[Windsong]

Jamie,

Thanks for the info on vit and whey protein and all the rest too. No wonder i keep hearing "eat protein" eat turkey, avoid antioxidants etc during treatment lol....

keep well
Windsong

[CC]

Hey Jamie

Great news at your three month check up.  I assume the headaches have gone?  My docs at Stanford don't want an MRI until 6 months. 

Just one question about the whey protein.  I'm gluten intolerant so can't take anything that's derived from wheath, barley or rye.  I've been taking an enzyme supplement - Vitalzym.  It's literally a heap of enzymes - Proteolytic enzymes - Protease, Serrapeptase, Nattokinase, Bromelain, Papain, Amia, Rutin, C0Q10, and Magnesium.  It's done wonders for the severe fatigue I've had since CK treatment - although didn't quite cure my overworking at a 3-day conference in NY.  I've also been eating heaps of blueberries and fish and only fresh unprocessed food.  Not sure if it will kill the tumor or make me recover quicker but it's certainly good for the rest of my health.  Is whey protein gluten free?

CC

[jamie]

Hi CC

I think the reason they wanted a three month MRI was maybe because it was 2.3 cm, also different docs have different follow up protocols. To answer your whey question, I found this info:

Q: Does whey protein contain gluten or wheat protein?

A: No, pure whey protein does not contain any gluten. However, protein bars and beverages often contain gluten so always check the product ingredient label prior to purchase if it is not allowed in your diet.

http://www.wheyoflife.org/faq.cfm

Oh yeah, the headaches are gone. Unless I drink too much caffeine of course, which doesn't really have anything to do with tumors or radiosurgery.