A Small Detail You Need To Know About Chemotherapy

Seeing a family member, friend or loved one battle with cancer is tough… What makes it even worse is knowing that the mainstream’s gold standard treatment – chemotherapy and radiation – can sometimes cause a secondary cancer.

For many people – even survivors who have been through it all – this is shocking and unsettling news.

It’s a waiting game… some cancer survivors are lucky. Once they get the all-clear, that’s it. They’ve fully recovered and continue with life as normal.

Others, like a friend of mine, battle through chemo and radiation, get the all-clear at last… and then a few months later, they get another call from their oncologist saying something like ‘We are sorry, your cancer is back’ or ‘The original cancer we found is still gone, but now we’ve discovered another tumour.’

Things couldn’t get any worse, right?

Tragically, they can.

Fuel for the fire

We can now add this new evidence about chemo to the list of things your oncologist may not have warned you about (or even known about himself!) ?¦

In some cases, chemo might actually fuel the very cancer it’s supposed to kill.

The primary danger with chemo is DNA damage. Researchers were studying this threat when they made an alarming discovery.

They found that DNA in healthy cells, damaged by chemotherapy, caused a massive secretion of proteins. And one of these proteins was doing the unthinkable. It was essentially feeding the cancer cells, helping them grow.

Researchers discovered high levels of the protein in healthy cells surrounding various types of tumours in chemo-treated patients.

In the past, cancer patients might endure the harshest chemo side effects in the hopes that the misery would all be worth it; that when it was over, they would be healthier and stronger.

But in some patients, that misery is compounded by actually increasing the cancerous load.

This research highlights why it’s so important that cancer patients discuss ALL their treatment options – including alternative therapies like intravenous vitamin C therapy – with their doctors.

It’s all fair and well to go with a ‘gold standard treatment’ if there really aren’t any other options available, but when it comes to cancer all the available facts, risks and treatments should be laid on the table from the onset.

---

Disclaimer: Bear in mind the material contained in this article is provided for information purposes only. We are not addressing anyone’s personal situation. Please consult with your own physician before acting on any recommendations contained herein.

---

Sources:

“Chemotherapy May Co-opt Healthy Cells to Support Tumors” Bridget M. Kuehn, News at JAMA, newsatjama.jama.com

“The Problem With Labeling: Too Many Side Effects” Ed Silverman, Pharmalot, pharmalot.com