Posted by Caroline | Posted in Cancer | Posted on 25-12-2009
I know most cancer patients are told by their doctor that they should not be taking any vitamins particularly antioxidants during treatment. The following is a reply by Dr. Steve Chaney who does cancer research at UNC.
Taking Supplements with Chemotherapy?
by Dr. Steve Chaney
Many of you have asked me whether it is OK to continue
taking supplements during cancer treatment.
The answer may surprise you.
Despite all of the authoritative-sounding
pronouncements you may have heard on both sides of the
question, the truth is that nobody really knows.
It is much more difficult to get clear answers to that
question than you might think.
It is relatively easy to determine whether
supplementation decreases side effects or strengthens
the immune system.
That’s because most chemotherapy and radiation
treatments cause predictable side effects in a very
high percentage of the patients treated. Thus, you can
do those studies with relatively few subjects.
Even so, only a few clinical studies have been
conducted to see whether supplementation decreases the
side effects associated with cancer treatment. Most of
those studies have shown positive results, but much
more research needs to be done in this area.
You also don’t need many subjects to determine whether
supplementation has strengthened the immune system.
Consequently, there are a number of clinical studies
showing that appropriate supplementation can strengthen
the immune system.
However, it takes thousands of patients and millions of
dollars to accurately determine whether a particular treatment
protocol affects the survival of cancer patients.
Drug companies can afford to do those kind of studies
with drugs because they will earn billions of dollars
if their chemotherapeutic agent is approved by the FDA.
But nobody has the money to do those kind of studies to
determine whether nutritional supplementation affects
the outcome of cancer treatment – either positively or
negatively.
So almost everything that you’ve heard about
supplementation during chemotherapy is based on cell
culture and animal studies, and many of those studies
are flawed.
For example, my area of research expertise is platinum
anticancer agents. Some “experts” will tell you that
you can’t use antioxidants during platinum
chemotherapy.
That recommendation is based on cell culture studies
showing that antioxidants decrease the free radicals
produced when cells are exposed to platinum anticancer
agents.
The only problem with those studies is that platinum
drugs do not kill cells by creating free radicals. They
kill cells by damaging their DNA. The free radicals are
generated by the dying cells as they gasp their last
breath!
To say that the free radicals had anything to do with
the efficacy of the platinum compound is sort of like
looking at a corpse, ignoring the bullet wound, and
saying that the cause of death must have been hitting
their head on the floor when they fell.
Now that you understand that we don’t have any real
data on whether supplements either interfere with or
improve chemotherapy, let me make a few logical
observations.
Radiation therapy and certain chemotherapeutic agents
like bleomycin (Blenoxane) do kill cells by generating
free radicals, so antioxidants are likely to interfere
with them.
Methotrexate (Trexall) kills cells by depleting their
supply of folic acid, so folic acid is likely to
interfere with methotrexate therapy.
We really don’t know of any predictable interaction
between supplements and most other chemotherapeutic
agents.
But because there is so much that we don’t know about
the interaction of supplements and chemotherapeutic
agents I prefer to err on the side of caution.
My personal recommendation is go off your supplements a
day or two before chemotherapy and wait a day or two
after treatment to resume your supplements to minimize
the risk of interfering with the chemotherapy.
And if you are on a treatment protocol involving
chemotherapy or radiation on a daily basis you may need
to wait until the treatment regimen is over before
resuming supplementation.
Of course, that is only my personal recommendation. You
should always check with your doctor in determining
your best course of action.
To your health!
Dr. Stephen Chaney, PhD
Editor’s note: If a person is undergoing chemo it is best to understand the drug and also note that resveratrol a component of Shakee Vivix can actually enhance certain treatments. Do your research.
Related posts:
