For prostate cancer, anti-angiogenic foods make sense

In this blog-article, I will first clarify different aspects of malignant angiogenesis (Section A) and conclude with some evidence on how the simple tomato can be beneficial with regards to angiogenic modulation, in particuler concerning prostate cancer. (Section B)

Section A

Angiogenesis and Conventional Oncology’s Contribution

Being adaptively or evolutionarily intelligent, cancer cells send angiogenic biochemical signals that activate different pathways so that an abundance of blood vessels can feed their glutonous appetite.

As noted in the ACR Institute’s research blogs and workshops, conventional oncology (i.e., chemo, radiation and surgery, including biopies) often promote cancer’s angiogenesis process and mestastasis development. They do this by spurring cancer stem cells, activating dormant cancer cells, signaling pre-metastatic “niche” implantation, mobilizing the microenvironment’s resources, including non cancerous cells like the fibroblasts and then spreading malignancy via blood and lymph pathways to the four corners of the mammalian body, humans and animals alike, no discrimination. Among many other supporting sources, see this pubmed one.

This doesn’t mean that everything in conventional oncology is counter-indicated. But it does mean that it would be more reasonable to first use anti-angiogenic nutrients and holistic oncology to control and dissuade tumor growth, even if this approach doesn’t generate massive cash flow. It’s two of Hippocrates’ principles, first “primum non nocere” (first do no harm) and second, in Hippocratic medicine, greed is not ethical.

Section B

Is there compelling evidence that shows that Foods like tomatoes can be a safe, cost-friendly and an efficient alternative to cytotoxic chemotherapy ?

Among other medical foods, consider the tomato, one of the richest sources of lycopene.

“Dietary intake of lycopene was associated with reduced risk of lethal prostate cancer and with a lesser degree of angiogenesis in the tumor” (J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 Feb;106(2)) (1)

Furthermore, lycopene, tomatoes and holistic mediterranean diets (deprived of dairy) can also deregulate one of the key pathways that spurs the malignant growth of prostate cancer, the androgen pathway.

“Collectively, these studies demonstrate a profile of testosterone-regulated genes associated with early stages of prostate carcinogenesis that are potential mechanistic targets of dietary tomato components” (2) (Source)

Discussion

From this above-mentioned piece of evidence and from all of what current research has demonstrated, it can be asserted that Holistic oncology is generally much more cost friendly, efficient and safe than anti-angiogenic drugs like Avastin. Avastin can cost over one hundred thousands dollars a year and be laden with many side or toxic effets. Furthermore, the data shows that it is not a cure, at best, it gives the patient a few more months of life.

Likewise with androgen deprivation therapies that target testosterone. (3) In holistic oncology, testosterone is more of an ally than a foe. It’s much more endocrine disruptors and estrogenic overload that are co-factors to prostate cancer progression. ,

“The old concepts, taken as gospel, do not stand up to critical examination. I believe the best summary about the risk of prostate cancer from testosterone therapy, based on published evidence at the time this book is written, is as follows: Low blood levels of testosterone do not protect against prostate cancer and, indeed, may increase the risk. High blood levels of testosterone do not increase the risk of prostate cancer. Treatment with testosterone does not increase the risk of prostate cancer, even among men who are already at high risk for it.” (4) (Source)

At most it’s only a type of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone that nefariously binds to the androgen receptor that can spur the growth of prostate cancer. But this is usally caused by a man’s “estrogen dominance” load, a load that can be lessened by medical cannabis. (5).

However, in men who do have metastatic prostate cancer and who have been given treatment that drops their blood levels of testosterone to near zero, starting treatment with testosterone (or stopping treatment that has lowered their testosterone to near zero) might increase the risk that residual cancer will again start to grow. So the best holistic approach appears to be the least invasive one and to allow Nature to heal the attacked prostate by eating lots of tomatoes in combination with a holistic mediterranean diet (that excludes all dairy) (6) and the other holistic techniques that the Institute recommends. But what needs to be repeated is that this mainstream testosterone deprivation therapy or dogma needs to be better reviewed and even stopped, for the vast majority of cases.

“Previously considered an absolute contraindication, the use of testosterone therapy in men with prostate cancer has undergone an important paradigm shift. Recent data has changed the way we approach the treatment of testosterone deficiency in men with prostate cancer. (…) The importance of negative effects of testosterone deficiency on health and health-related quality of life measures has pushed urologists to re-evaluate the role testosterone plays in prostate cancer. This led to a paradigm shift that testosterone therapy might in fact be a viable option for a select group of men with testosterone deficiency and a concurrent diagnosis of prostate cancer.” (Source)

Tentative Conclusion

The Happiness Medicine and ACR Institutes thus recommend the use of advanced clinical nutrition, detoxification and holistic oncology’s other basic techniques before any surgery, cytotoxic chemotherapy, ionic radiation, drug combinational therapies and targeted synthetic drugs and hromones are employed, if only because these conventional mainstream interventions are usually irreversibly invasive and laden with toxic side effects. Even surgery.

While many conventional techniques do shrink tumors, they also promote “resistance”. Like in any other evolutionary “prey-predator” and “host-parasite” relationship, the attacked biological entity, in this case the cancer cell, like MRSA bacteria vis a vis the fire of antibiotics will defend itself by up regulating self-repair and metastatic genes. For example, fibronectin proteins (6) and cancer stem cells adapt to Conventional Oncology’s symptomic suppression and “military-style” aggressions. In the face of radiation’s fire and chemo’s poisons, cancer stem cells will “resist” and mutate, bypassing immune-surveillance, become stronger, “angrier” and come back “with a vengeance”, at which point the host-patient is often overwhelmed and dies from conventional medicine’s drug toxemia and the morphin drips.

Not everything is deleterious in conventional oncology, but the general “symptom-killing” paradigm is unreasonable, if only because the tumor-symptom is not the “enemy”, it is both a compensatory mechanism and a “S.O.S” warming sign that homeostasis is broken and that the patient needs to address the root causes proactively, calmly and lucidly.

Meanwhile a calming fresh organic green salade with lots of cucumbers, greens, black & red pepper, olives, onions, garlic, lemon, mustard, some soothing red organic wine and tons of ripe organic tomatoes and good company remain good Hypocratic-inspired medicine for the prostate and everything else that lives under human skin, including, but not limited to the trillions of prokaryotic and archae microbiota who are also major players in the art of living a long healthy and meaningful life span.

Christian Joubert (HOM director)

Exhibit A

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 Feb;106(2) Dietary lycopene, angiogenesis, and prostate cancer: a prospective study in the prostate-specific antigen era. Zu K1, Mucci L, Rosner BA, Clinton SK, Loda M, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci E.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

The role of lycopene in prostate cancer prevention remains controversial. We examined the associations between dietary lycopene intake and prostate cancer, paying particular attention to the influence of prostate-specific antigen screening, and evaluated tissue biomarkers in prostate cancers in relation to lycopene intake.

METHODS:

Among 49898 male health professionals, we obtained dietary information through questionnaires and ascertained total and lethal prostate cancer cases from 1986 through January 31, 2010. Cox regression was used to estimate multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Tissue microarrays and immunohistochemistry were used to assess tumor biomarker expression in a subset of men. Two-sided χ(2) tests were used to calculate the P values.

RESULTS:

Higher lycopene intake was inversely associated with total prostate cancer and more strongly with lethal prostate cancer (top vs bottom quintile: HR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.56 to 0.94; P(trend) = .04). In a restricted population of screened participants, the inverse associations became markedly stronger (for lethal prostate cancer: HR = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.29 to 0.75; P trend = .009). Comparing different measures of dietary lycopene, early intake, but not recent intake, was inversely associated with prostate cancer. Higher lycopene intake was associated with biomarkers in the cancer indicative of less angiogenic potential.

CONCLUSIONS:

Dietary intake of lycopene was associated with reduced risk of lethal prostate cancer and with a lesser degree of angiogenesis in the tumor. Because angiogenesis is a strong progression factor, an endpoint of lethal prostate cancer may be more relevant than an endpoint of indolent prostate cancer for lycopene in the era of highly prevalent prostate-specific antigen screening.

REFERENCE AND PRECISION NOTES

(1). J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 Feb;106(2) Dietary lycopene, angiogenesis, and prostate cancer: a prospective study in the prostate-specific antigen era. Zu K1, Mucci L, Rosner BA, Clinton SK, Loda M, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci E.

(2). Dietary tomato and lycopene impact androgen signaling and carcinogenesis-related gene expression during early TRAMP prostate carcinogenesis. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2014 Dec; 7(12): 1228–1239.

(3). Targeting testosterone in patients who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer has been a stubborn mistake for the last 60 years. The hormone testosterone is needed to definitely reverse cancer and prevent recurrence and metastasis. Testosterone is also needed to prevent accelerated aging and other non malignant diseases. There is a connection between hormones and prostate cancer growth. But it is not by inhibiting or destroying testosterone that progress can be made. What needs to be better addressed is testosterone’s excessive conversion into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone’s relationship with estrogen, in particular estrodial and progesterone. The evidence shows that all of this can usually be done holistically, without toxic and invasive interventions.

4. http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2008/12/Destroying-the-Myth-about-Testosterone-Replacement-Prostate-Cancer/Page-02

5. Endocrinology. 1980 Sep;107(3):848-50. Marihuana inhibits dihydrotestosterone binding to the androgen receptor. Purohit V, Ahluwahlia BS, Vigersky RA. “Marihuana and its constitutents delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) and cannabinol (CBN) were tested for their ability to interact with the androgen receptor in rat prostate cytosol. Smoked marihuana condensate, delta 9-THC, and CBN inhibit specific binding of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to the androgen receptor with a dissociatin constant of the inhibitors (Li) of 2.1-5.8 X 10(-7)M. In addition, other metabolites of delta 9-THC were also androgen antagonists. This data suggests that the anti-androgenic effects associated with marihuana use results, at least in part, from inhibition of androgen action at the receptor level”.

Furthermore, because prostate cancer cells possess enhanced expression of both cannabinoid 1 and 2 receptors, their stimulation increases apoptosis while simultaneiously decreasing androgen receptor expression and prostate-specific antigen excretion. (Indian J Urol. 2012 Jan-Mar; 28(1): 9–14). Cannabinoids can also be useful for their analgesic properties, notably for bone metastatic cancer pain.

(6). Cells at the site of the metastasis multiply and produce a protein called fibronectin, which acts like a glue to attract and trap the bone marrow cells to create a landing pad or nest for the cancer cells to land on and flourish. “These nests provide attachment factors for the tumor cells to implant and nurture them. It causes them not only to bind but to proliferate. Once that all takes place we have a fully formed metastatic site or secondary tumor,” said Lyden. “This is the first time anyone has discovered what we call the pre-metastatic niche.” (Source)

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