Breast CancerWe offer Edmonton advanced integrative therapies such as IV Therapy with Vitamin C, IV Lipoic Acid and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment.We recommend surgery in most cases where the disease is not yet disseminated however our Naturopathic Doctors support our patients to improve immune function and healing typically with IV Therapy and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment. Our Naturopaths often offer radiosensitizers to improve radiation outcomes. Furthermore, there are many well supported natural therapies that can be safely co-administered with common breast cancer chemotherapies such as docetaxel and xeloda such as Vitamin C IV Therapy. |
Our Naturopaths offer IV Therapy
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Do You Have Questions? Call Us 780-757-8378
General information
Breast cancer is classified based on the status of three receptors: the estrogen receptor (ER), the progesterone receptor (PR), and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2, also called ERBB2). Standard and Naturopathic treatments both change depending on receptor status. Triple negative tumors are often aggressive and have a poorer prognosis. Three percent to five percent of all women who have breast cancer have mutations in two genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2 – eg. 51% risk by age 50.
Screening
The USPSTF (United States Preventive Services Task Force) 2009 recommends biennial screening mammography for women aged 50 to 74 years. The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one
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Surgery |
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Surgery (mastectomy and lumpectomy) with adjuvant chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy is the mainstay of treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Our Naturopaths recommend surgery in most cases where the disease is not yet disseminated with distant metastases. This is often the best chance for cure; however, we support our patients through surgery with natural agents, such as the MCP mentioned previously – to reduce risk of spread, amongst other agents such as high dose green tea extract. Hyperbaric Oxygen may be of benefit postoperatively as it has been well studied in the context of tissue healing. |
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Radiation |
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Radiation is commonly used after surgery; usually to the breast and axilla (armpit) lymph nodes. Our Naturopaths often prepare our patients for radiation primarily by adding in natural radiosensitizers such as curcumin which can make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation while protecting normal cells. Curcumin orally can reduce radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients as evidenced in a 2013 human trial. Although the mechanism of action is potentially complimentary, we do not administer IV Therapy such as IV vitamin C concurrently with radiation treatments; we wait a minimum of two weeks until after radiation is over before IV Vitamin C administration. Hyperbaric Oxygen has been extensively studied for Delayed Radiation Injury. For instance, in a 2016 clinical trial 57 women treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen for late radiation-induced tissue toxicity. Before Hyperbaric Therapy, patients had severe complaints of pain in the arm/shoulder (46 %), swollen arm/hand (14 %), difficulty to raise arm or move it sideways (45 %), pain in the area of the affected breast (67 %), swollen area of the affected breast (45 %), oversensitivity of the affected breast (54 %). After Hyperbaric Treatment, severe complaints were reduced dramatically in the majority of patients. The authors concluded "HBOT for radiation-induced late tissue toxicity was valuable and revealed a significant improvement in the related complaints." Our Edmonton clinic has two Perry Hyperbaric Chambers. |
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Hormonal Therapy |
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Often times, in Estrogen positive cases (pre-menopausal) Tamoxifen is usually suggested. Tamoxifen use appears to have good efficacy: reductions in recurrence and mortality associated with 5 years of tamoxifen use is up to 47%. Our Naturopathic Doctors usually integrate therapies alongside Tamoxifen. We use natural estrogen modulating natural therapies. At our clinic our Naturopathic doctors always add high dose melatonin to tamoxifen as a 1995 clinical trial demonstrated synergy from this combination. We also take precautions to reduce tamoxifen side effects such as hot flushes, elevated cholesterol, altered liver function and elevated risk of blood clots. We also mix integrative IV therapies alongside tamoxifen (see below) - IV Therapy with IV Vitamin C or Lipoic Acid are considered non-competitive. We most commonly see Anastrazole (an aromatase inhibitor) suggested to our Edmonton patients to reduce estrogen levels in post menopausal patients. The Naturopathic approach is similar to that with tamoxifen: we further reduce estrogen load in the body and with Anastrazole, bone mineral density can become an issue which we support with added vitamin D, and calcium at a minimum. Once again, with both anastrazole and Heceptin IV Therapy such as IV Vitamin C and IV Lipoic Acid are considered non-competitive and complementary. |
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Chemotherapy |
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Doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide are commonly used starting chemotherapies in breast cancer. However, there are many other drugs and combinations of drugs used in breast cancer that are beyond the scope of this site. Our Naturopaths approach each integrative oncology patient on a case by case basis and recommend therapies with regards to your specific chemotherapy regimen. Paclitaxel (Taxol) and Docetaxel (Taxotere) are taxane class medications originally derived from Yew trees. Aside from breast cancer, these are also used in other cancers as well. Our Naturopaths are fairly careful with taxane medications as a some herbs can adversely interact with liver metabolism of these medications however there are a fair amount of natural therapies that can improve anti-cancer actions and reduce side effects of these medicines. Nerve damage and chemotherapy resistance are common issues with taxanes that we augment with integrative therapies. One of our favorite taxane additions is melatonin, which was previously mentioned for compatibility with tamoxifen. IV Therapy with IV Vitamin C can be apparently be co-administered with taxanes as it is judged to be compatible and synergistic as evidenced in a 1999 clinical trial where co-administration improved the efficacy of mitoxantrone, cyclophosphamide and paclitaxel. Xeloda (Capecitabine) is a popular medication because it is taken orally and its said to have less hairloss associated with its use. Again, as with the taxanes, there are numerous natural therapies that can be safely co-administered. For instance, our Naturopaths may suggest co-administration of melatonin and curcumin with xeloda to improve efficacy. We sometimes combine curcumin with 5FU (relative of xeloda) in colon cancer Vitamin B6 can be used to reduce nerve damage. One study looked at data from 125 breast cancer (stages IIa to IIIb) 53 of which treated with IV Therapy. 7.5g of IV Vitamin C in addition to standard therapy (chemo and radiation) was given for at least 4 weeks. IV Therapy with Vitamin C resulted in a significant reduction of complaints induced by the disease and chemo-/radiotherapy, in particular of nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue, depression, sleep disorders, dizziness and bleeding tendency. The authors concluded "i.v. vitamin C was shown to be a well tolerated optimization of standard tumour-destructive therapies, reducing quality of life-related side-effects." |
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Advanced Therapies: Mistletoe |
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In terms of improving immune function our Naturopathic doctors often work with injectable mistletoe which is given subcutaneously or as part of an IV Therapy treatment.
A 2006 journal article re-analyzed previously published data of randomized and non-randomized studies on mistletoe therapy with breast cancer. In the non-randomised studies: Patients that had already received mistletoe (Iscador brand) therapy were compared to controls with a greatly reduced risk of death across all the mistletoe groups.
Overall, the survival of patients receiving mistletoe treatment with Iscador is longer in these studies. |
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Advanced Therapies: IV vItamin c |
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A 2013 study by Anderson demonstrated improved survival rates with Alternative IV Therapy. IV Vitamin C was administered to Stage IV breast cancer patients alongside a wormwood derivative called Artesunate (see Artesunate page); we often work with the parent compound Artemesinin. Case reports from a group in Sinagpore describe four separate breast cancer cases with clear improvements from IV Vitamin C IV Therapy; all four cases were Estrogen and Progesterone positive. These reports indicate that IVC is a feasible option to be used as a standalone in breast cancer treatment however our preference is to co-administer with wormwood derivatives because of the results from BIORC described above. In two review studies by Takahashi (2012) and Bazzan (2018) IV Therapy with Vitamin C was administered to a group of cancer patients, with breast cancer representing the largest patient group with improved quality of life demonstrated in both studies. Data from Deblasi (2017) suggested strong synergy between IV Vitamin C and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
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Advanced Therapies: Metabolic approach |
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There is data to support the use of a metabolic approach in Breast Cancer. Coadministration of Coq10 to breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen resulted in decreased angiogenesis markers in the blood (new blood vessel growth in tumors) in a 2008 clinical trial18. In a study of CoQ10, alongside fatty acids and low dose antioxidants, in 32 breast cancer patients (where tumor spread to lymph nodes in the axilla), it was reported that: none of the patients died during the study period (the expected number was four.) None of the patients showed signs of further distant metastases. Quality of life was improved (no weight loss, reduced use of pain killers) and six patients showed apparent partial remission19. In a follow-up study, two patients who had breast cancer remaining after surgery were treated with high doses of coenzyme Q10 for 3 to 4 months. It was reported that after treatment with high-dose coenzyme Q10, the cancer was completely gone in both patients20. In a third study led by the same researchers, 3 breast cancer patients were given high-dose coenzyme Q10 and followed for 3 to 5 years. The study reported that one patient had complete remission of cancer that had spread to the liver, another had remission of cancer that had spread to the chest wall, and the third had no breast cancer metastasis found after surgery21 In "Paleolithic ketogenic diet (PKD) as a stand-alone therapy in cancer: Case studies", a 2019 publication, two case studies were looked at in detail that followed the PKD diet. One of which was a 46 year old female who was initially diagnosed with invasive ductal Breast cancer in 2013 who experienced a recurrence in 2018 despite hormonal therapy (liver and hip metastases). Using the PKD diet (an aggressive ancestrally based Ketogenic diet) alone for 5 months she experienced regression in the the size and metabolic activity of the metastases. The report also briefly describes a 43 year old female breast cancer patient stable on PKD for a total of 69 months with no chemotherapy, surgery or radiation used22. At our Edmonton clinic one of our favorite metabolic agents is IV Therapy with Alpha Lipoic Acid which has appreciable benefit in numerous cancers in conjunction with a Ketogenic diet and metabolic agents like CoQ10. Our Naturopathic doctors have a special interest in IV Therapy administration in Edmonton. Hyperbaric Oxygen is a strong synergist with the metabolic approach. |
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Call Us 780-757-8378 |
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