Fulda 2013 conference #5: Oxidative stress and the EDIM (tumour-marker) test (Dr Michael Schoenberg)

(This talk was given in Fulda in Dec 2013, and delivered in German, with a simultaneous English translation, so apologies if I misunderstood any of the translation, and for the sparseness of my notes)

The Christmas market at Fulda

Dr Schoneberg studied Roman Catholic Theology and philosophy in Halle and Erfurt, and was a Catholic Priest in Erfurt.  He subsequently studied medicine at Martin-Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg.  He is a medical specialist in surgery in Frankfurt, and holds a doctorate in medicine.  He is medical director for emergency medical services, and also senior emergency physician.  He runs a private medical clinic for alternative medicine.

http://www.dr-schoneberg.de

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The aim of the talk was to show the relationship between a set of diagnostic tumour-marker tests, the EDIM, and oxidative stress in the human body.  These tests are not the usual conventional markers.  They enable the practitioner to track whether or not treatments are successful in reducing oxidative stress in the body.

What is the EDIM tumour-marker test?

EDIM is an acronym for Epitope Detection In Monocytes.  It is a set of two diagnostic tests that are alternatives to conventional tumour markers.  These two EDIM tests are the TKTL1 and Apo10 blood tests.  Research conducted into these tests seem to indicate that they can show early signs of metastasis even when established tumour markers and clinical signs and imaging (like Pet Scans) do not do so.

image credit: tarvarlin.com

Apo10 is a specific tumour protein that is not normally detectable in normal cells.  TKTL1 stands for Transketolase-like 1 enzyme.  Cancer cells display high levels of glycolysis (rapid fermentation of glucose) a process which is also known as the Warburg effect – it’s what enables cancer cells to survive in the absence of oxygen.  Lactic acid is also produced by cancer cells, even in the presence of oxygen.  The lactic acid also protects the cancer cell from the body’s immune system.  The TKTL1 enzyme is responsible for this effect.

http://www.tktl1.de/?Introduction

http://www.tavarlin.com/downloads/2009PosterFIGO.pdf

http://www.tavarlin.com/downloads/FutureOncology.pdf

What is oxidative stress and its relation to redox reactions? (adapted from wikipedia)

A Redox reaction is an amalgamation of two processes:  a reduction and oxidation.  Substances that have the ability to reduce other substances (cause them to gain electrons) are said to be reductive or reducing and are known as reducing agents, reductants, or reducers..  Substances that have the ability to oxidize other substances (cause them to lose electrons) are said to be oxidative or oxidizing.

An example of oxidisation is rusting (oxygen causes the iron to rust).

An example of a redox process is photosynthesis in plants which involves the reduction of carbon dioxide into sugars and the oxidation of water into molecular oxygen.

Free radical reactions are redox reactions that occur as a part of homeostasis and killing microorganisms, where an electron detaches from a molecule and then reattaches almost instantaneously. Free radicals are a part of redox molecules and can become harmful to the human body if they do not reattach to the redox molecule or an antioxidant. Unsatisfied free radicals can spur the mutation of cells they encounter and are, thus, causes of cancer.

What is the relationship between oxidative stress and redox reactions?

Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between a system’s ability to manage redox and any resulting damage. Disturbances in the normal redox state of cells can cause toxic effects through the production of peroxides and free radicals that damage all components of the cell, including proteins, lipids, and DNA. Thus, oxidative stress can cause disruptions in normal mechanisms of cellular signaling.

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According to Dr Schoneberg, therapies to correct oxidative stress include:

• High dose Vitamin C and Alpha-Lipoic Acid
• Polyphenols
• Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation

There is a special type of oxidative stress called Nitrosativer Stress involving free radical nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite derived product.

The Coy protocol uses the EDIM tests to monitor the effectiveness of treatments.  The Coy diet includes:

• Tocotrienol (natural Vitamin E)
• Carbohydrate reduction in the diet (1g/kg of bodyweight)
• Omega 3 (10g/kg)
• MCT oil
• Lactate (to dissolve the coat around the tumour)
• Polyphenols

Best of Breast: news for week ending 28 March 2014

Updated March 2016 – For more information on GcMAF, please join the GcMAF and GcMAF Cancer forums on Facebook – they are closed groups, so you have to wait for your membership to be confirmed.  They contain up-to-date information on sources of GcMAF, and also feedback and contributions  by people who are using GcMAF.

The news round-up from Google Alerts for Breast Cancer and Cancer, for the week ending 28 March 2014.

It’s an exciting week if you are a fan of peaches.

Yes, peaches are the latest drum roll in cancer-busting foods!  If we are to believe the research, eating peaches could help inhibit breast cancer.  Of course the study was conducted using (as usual) mice, and peach extract (i.e. more concentrated than the whole fruit itself), but the scientists claim the equivalent for a human would be a mere 3 peaches a day.  I’m not convinced that the high sugar content of peaches is good for cancer patients, but if you’re already eating peaches, this is a good reason not to stop.  It’s cheap, and you can find it in your supermarket aisle.

I had a hunt round for peach extract, and the only sources were peach powder and peach flavouring – I wonder which is the right one?

I’ve also discovered a study on peaches and breast cancer:  “Polyphenolics from peach (Prunus persica var. Rich Lady) inhibit tumor growth and metastasis of MDA-MB-435 breast cancer cellsin vivo” 

The other piece of news that caught my eye was about altering gut bacteria to minimise the side-effects of abdominal radiotherapy.  Scientists suggest that faecal transplants might be one way of doing this.  My interest in probiotics and gut flora, and in particular, Bravo Probiotic (which contains GcMAF) suggests that there are other less icky ways, and I think it’s a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.  Please read my posts on Bravo Probiotic (Maf314) and find out how it can maintain levels of immune cells CD4 and CD8 even through chemotherapy.

Other news of significance – two more pieces of research on triple-negative breast cancer, unfortunately still at the trial/mouse testing stage.

Rich Lady Peaches. This peach variety has a very firm interior compared to other peaches. This allows them to be harvested at near tree ripe maturity and still maintain good storage quality. Rich Lady Peaches are very juicy with a superlative natural sweetness. Image credit: http://www.fallfruitbasket.com/

1.  Could eating 3 peaches a day help you beat cancer?

Best of Breast: news for week ending 28 February 2014

I am now fundraising for treatments at:  GoFundMe http://www.gofundme.com/78jh2w  and https://www.justgiving.com/goBananasforRona

A summary of Google Alerts for Breast Cancer and Cancer for the week ending 28 February 2014.

Damned if you do … damned if you don’t. image credit: usatoday.com

Monday 3 March was Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Day.  While significant progress has been made in breast cancer research, there is little known about triple negative cancers, even though they impact up to 1 in 5 women diagnosed with breast cancer. TNBC does not have any of the known treatment receptors — meaning that many of the advances in breast cancer treatment don’t work for women diagnosed with TNBC.  For more information: http://www.tnbcfoundation.org/tnbcday2014/learnabout.htm and http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertypes/Breast/Aboutbreastcancer/Typesandrelatedconditions/Triplenegativebreastcancer.aspx 

This week’s lead article wades straight into the debate about soy isoflavones as it shows that they cause estrogen-positive breast cancer cells to become more aggressive.  [Bear in mind that the experiments were done on rats and not on humans and some of the signalling pathways in mice/rats are different.]

It has been posited that increased intake of phytoestrogens (which are contained in soy) may be associated with a lower risk of cancer in the breast, although there is controversy surrounding this activity.  Do soy isoflavones increase breast cancer risk?  Should women with breast cancer avoid soy isoflavones: genistein, dadzein, glycitein?

It’s not clear if soy isoflavones affect breast cancer, especially hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. Isoflavones may affect hormonal therapy’s ability to do its job if both of these molecules compete to get into the same estrogen receptors. If isoflavones deliver a weaker estrogen signal to the receptor compared to tamoxifen (and your body’s estrogen), then the isoflavones might be able to decrease breast cell growth that’s estrogen-dependent. But if the isoflavones give breast cells a stronger estrogen signal than tamoxifen, that’s a problem. [taken from http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/reduce_risk/foods/soy]

I’ve just gone into Pubmed and typed in “soy isoflavones breast cancer” and the search has thrown up 510 articles both for and against soy isoflavones.  It will take me awhile to plough through them.

If you have any comments on this controversy, please post them below.

1.  Soy supplements with isoflavones ‘reprogram’ breast cancer cells to become more aggressive

Best of Breast: news for week ending 21 February 2014

A summary of this news highlights for week ending 21 February 2014 for Breast Cancer and Cancer, from Google Alerts. [Please note:  If you are using Google Chrome for your browser, you may experience issues with viewing the images]

Sorry this is so late – I’ve been away and then caught a cold, so keeping a-breast of the news was a challenge!

All the news developments deserve to share the podium, but I give top-billing to a food substance that has the ability to attack breast cancer cells.  That’s because I’m fed up of research which goes along the lines of “substance BX795 can inhibit the action of signalling pathway xxx” and it turns out that substance BX795 isn’t something that’s found in the aisle at your local supermarket  At least with figs and celery, people who don’t wear white coats and talk in code have a chance!

Image credit: ittybitsofbalance.com

1.  Natural compound in figs and celery attacks HER2 positive breast cancer cells

Best of Breast: news for week ending 14 February 2014

I am now fundraising for treatments at:  GoFundMe http://www.gofundme.com/78jh2w  and https://www.justgiving.com/goBananasforRona

Here is the weekly summary of news alerts from Google Breast Cancer and Cancer for week ending 14 February.

We love you! We’re helping to cure cancer!

I was spoiled for choice this week – all my favourite topics came up (and not a single tedious cohort study):  curcumin (wow!), intravenous Vitamin C (double-wow!), more mouse trials (see Valentine’s Day card they sent us), cancer vaccine, new drugs (wow-wow-and-wow) and tamoxifen.

Curcumin:  One of my most popular posts is on curcumin.  Scientists have now discovered that putting an implant of curcumin into mice halted tumour growth vs ingesting it orally.  Before we all rush out and get one … remember, it’s only been tested on mice, and only available in mice-size implants.  However, the good news is that intravenous curcumin is available.  The bad news, it’s in Germany and only six clinics at the moment have access to it.  The good news, it’s available from the reputable PraxisKlinik Siebenhuner integrative clinic in Frankfurt (costs about Euro1,600 for six infusions).

Intravenous Vitamin C:  There’s a study from the University of Kansas on the efficacy of intravenous Vitamin C in ameliorating chemotherapy symptoms – I’m not sure why it’s “new” news – this has been part of the protocol at the University of Kentucky for awhile.  If you’ve followed my blog, you know I tried IV C and it didn’t work i.e. shrink the tumour.  Having said that, in the two years I was on IV C, I never got any metastasis, so maybe something was working.

Tamoxifen:  In Best of Breast (w/e 31 Jan) I mentioned that bodybuilders were taking tamoxifen, i.e. going out and buying it.  Well, this week it’s revealed that bodybuilders may be unwittingly taking tamoxifen in bodybuilding supplements – it’s not even listed on the label.  In case you were wondering … they take tamoxifen because they want to stop their man boobs from growing from steroid use.

This week’s headline:  Finally … with all the juicy topics lined up, I chose to lead with a computer game that you can download to your iPhone or Smartphone and play and help scientists analyse real genetic data for cancer faster.  Wouldn’t it be great to help beat cancer and have some fun too?  Game on!

1.  Video game to help find cure for cancer

Best of Breast: news for week ending 31 January 2014

A summary of the Google news alerts for breast cancer and cancer, for the week ending 31 January 2014.

The latest tool in cancer detection …

In previous weeks, we’ve had mice and rats, naked mole rats and even sloths as vectors for cancer cures – they make for cute photos.  I tried hard this week but the only creature that turned up to save the world from cancer was a fruit fly.  As the eeurgh factor of the fruit fly is 100% there is no photo – sorry!

The lead item is a drug that supposedly stops breast cancer metastasis.  It’s not the only drug in the pipeline that is supposed to do this, and unfortunately, it’s still at the mice-and-rat-testing stage.  I hate getting all excited and then disappointed.

Another study this week shows how stem cells and the daughters of stem cells live for a long time, often leading to recurrences.  What the study doesn’t mention is the unfortunate fact that stem cells are not killed by chemotherapy.  It’s something that a lot of cancer patients who are in remission haven’t been told – they think chemotherapy is the be-all-and-end-all (or in the words of my breast surgeon:  “disinfectant”), and it isn’t (disinfectant implies total cleansing) there are still stem cells there.  That’s why we need more research needs to be done in how to deal with these Frankenstein cells, and take away this uncertainty and fear in the cancer journey.

Fruit and veg feature this week.  Tomatoes:  scientists have genetically-modified tomatoes to contain more anthocyanins, substances that can fight cancer.  There’s a trial using olive oil for breast density to see if it can prevent breast cancer.

Two more must read articles:  one on melatonin, showing it has the potential to slow down the growth of tumours in triple-negative breast cancer.  That’s great news for this very challenging type of breast cancer.  Another on how some chemotherapy can be toxic to the heart – hmm … isn’t this stating the obvious?

Another use for tamoxifen [Nolvadex] and it’s not breast cancer

Finally, there’s some bizarre news (not new, apparently it’s been around for some time) – bodybuilders are using Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and Arimidex to suppress estrogen in their body and negate the effects of steroids in their bodies.  Why, God, why?

Some macrophages can encourage cancer growth – so is GcMAF safe? (Prof. Ruggiero replies)

Updated March 2016 – For more information on GcMAF, please join the GcMAF and GcMAF Cancer forums on Facebook – they are closed groups, so you have to wait for your membership to be confirmed.  They contain up-to-date information on sources of GcMAF, and also feedback and contributions  by people who are using GcMAF.

Revised 9 Jan – sorry I had to take out the full reply as I did not have permission to publish it

GcMAF can be obtained from Sansei-Mirai or ImmuneBiotech.

For more information on Bravo Probiotic:  http://www.bravoprobiotic.com/

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I came across two recent pieces of research which showed that macrophages could encourage the growth of cancer cells.

A macrophage stretching its arms. Image credit: wikipedia

The research:

1.  Cancer cells fused with macrophages play a key role in metastasis

2.  Macrophage Phenotype in the Mammary Gland Fluctuates over the Course of the Estrous Cycle and Is Regulated by Ovarian Steroid Hormones

They made me question the safety of GcMAF yoghurt which stimulates the production of macrophages.

So, is GcMAF yoghurt safe?

Best of Breast: news for week ending 15 November 2013

A summary of the latest medical developments in breast cancer from Google Alerts, for the week ending 15 November 2013.

1.  Breast cancer breakthrough: Queensland scientists identify molecule linked to disease’s spread

MiR-139-5P sounds like a Space Station.  If they renamed it “Rogue Breast Cancer Molecule” I think it could sell more T-shirts.

•  Scientists in Queensland have identified a pivotal molecule, the miR-139-5P, that shows whether a woman’s breast cancer will spread and how quickly.
• miR-139-5P acts a cellular brake to inhibit breast cancer cells from proliferating
• The discovery will help provide a clearer prognosis for breast cancer patients and could lead to treatments that are more personalised, i.e. treatments for aggressive cancers vs less aggressive cancers.

For more information:

RNA Journal, “miR-139-5p is a regulator of metastatic pathways in breast cancer”

Best of Breast: news for week ending 8 November 2013

A summary of the latest medical developments in breast cancer from Google Alerts, for the week ending 8 November 2013.

It’s a strange mix this week, with the usual search for the causes of cancer in DNA and food and cholesterol, and drug therapy mixed with robots!

photo credit: 123rf.com

1.  Diet rich in bread after the menopause can raise risk of breast cancer

OK, I know this is not the most earth-shaking news, but I’ve always been interested in nutrition and cancer.  When I was first diagnosed I was told to avoid anything with gluten.  Fortunately, I don’t need bread to survive, so I was able to tolerate the diet.  But it was just one of these blanket dietary bans, with no rationale behind it except that it caused inflammation in the body and gummed up the digestive system.  As for pasta – well, that was carbohydrate which would convert to sugar and fuel the cancer cells.

If we’re going to use GI to measure whether or not a food is appropriate, surely pasta (which is refined carbohydrates) is as bad as bread?

Infection causes cancer to spread

Canadian researchers have discovered that there is a relationship between infection and cancer spreading.

When the body experiences an infection (for e.g. pneumonia after surgery), white blood cells are produced by the body to fight this infection.  This results in inflammation.  The white blood cells have a web-like net that captures bacteria.  However, this web has been shown to capture circulating tumour cells, and a protein in this web activates cancer cells.

“Over and over again, surgeons the world over were noticing that cancer recurred sooner if patients developed infectious complications such as pneumonia after surgery. “We were seeing this with many different cancers — head and neck cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer, esophagus and lung cancer …”