High Impact Anti-Cancer Strategies
Learn about cancer risk reduction techniques from leading cancer research scientists
Anti-Cancer Strategies:
Stronger as a group than individually.
Anti-cancer strategies are stronger when applied together or layered. Since 1965, when researchers first tried combinations of chemo drugs, the medical community has found that using multiple drugs together is more effective than using one drug at a time. The same is true when adding additional anti-cancer strategies on top of your standard care treatments.
In fact, a multi-pronged approach is essential to beat cancer because cancer uses lots of different metabolic pathways to grow. Like driving to a destination, there is usually more than one way to get there. It’s the same with cancer. We need multiple roadblocks if we are going to completely cut off its growth. To beat this disease, it’s going to take a full-body effort and I’m going to create as many roadblocks as I can.
You want the “healthiest” cancer cells possible.
Waiting until there is a new problem, means there are more problems to treat.
Cancer cells are not all the same. Sicker or more abnormal cancer cells usually have a worse prognosis. And, cancer cells tend to get sicker, or more mutated, over time as they try to find new ways to avoid anti-cancer treatments. The time to strike is early and hard.
Fewer mutations usually equates to less aggressive behavior
Less hypoxia frequently leads to a better prognosis
Less distance travelled (less metastasis) is often tied to less mutations and better outcomes
Fewer mutations usually respond better to treatment
(Note: Immunotherapies now work very well against highly-mutated cancers, but in general, you don’t want a lot of mutations.)
Four Pillars of Health
Before you delve into specific strategies, make sure you’re adhering to the basic pillars of health. I’m assuming that if you are on my site, you’re already engaged in these practices and you’re looking for more strategies, but please make sure you’re getting the basics right.
MEDITERRANEAN DIET
I like the simple advice of Michael Pollen, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
SLEEP
Sleep deprivation causes stress hormone release (cortisol/norepinephrine) and insulin spikes. Both of which you want to avoid as part of a basic anti-cancer strategy. So, get in your 7-8 hours.
EXERCISE
Get your heart pumping. Some days it might be walking up a mountain and others it might be walking up the stairs. Use weight-bearing activities for lean muscle mass — it’s positively associated with overall survival.
DE-STRESS
When we are stressed our bodies are flooded with chemicals for “fight-flight”. It’s imperative to relax to attain a “rest-digest” state because that’s when our bodies heal.
Integrate multiple anti-cancer strategies at once
I’ve been working hard to identify ways to cut off more cancer pathways and outperform the statistics.
When cancer returns or spreads, it usually means that it has mutated further. Highly mutated cancers are often more aggressive and harder to treat. So, we need to eliminate cancer at the earliest stage possible. Waiting to do something until cancer returns or spreads means we are working at a bigger disadvantage.