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Part I - Cancer Industry Overview: 
Part II - Initial Diagnosis of Cancer:
Part III - Cancer Therapy Options: 
  a. If chemo is being considered, it's critical to have the chemosensitivity testing results or possibly MD Anderson recommendation for gene mutation analysis being performed. 
  b. Understanding the importance of building up and protecting the immune system prior to and during cancer treatment. 
  c. Understanding how cancer cells work (abnormal growth pattern, how they communicate, how they build up defenses against immune system, etc.) 
  d. Getting a Physicians Data Query (PDQ) for your type of cancer which discusses therapy options by stage based on clinical trial data. 
  e. Knowing your odds of survival and typical progression timeline. 
  f.  Determining measures of success versus failure for various therapy options (i.e. living with cancer in remission vs. cure). 
  g. Becoming informed on measures that will mitigate side effects of therapy option chosen. 
  h. If late stage cancer diagnosis, a review of clinical trials available.  Understanding the different types of clinical trials and the pros and cons of each.  The importance in many clinical trials of no previous therapy options used.

Part IV - Nutrition for Cancer:
Part V - More Cancer Resources:
Part VI - Cancer Medical Terms:
Part VII - Survivor Characteristics:
Part VIII - Self-help Approaches:
Part IX - Testimonials of Survivors:
Part X - Forum for Patients:
Part XI - What would I do: 
Part XII - Recent Developments:
Part XIII - Other Cancer Info: 

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Part III - Making Critical Decisions on Cancer Therapy Options
            c. Understanding how cancer cells survive

As mentioned in other parts of this website, medical oncologists are trained to diagnose and treat cancer patients.  It’s the microbiologists who understand what is taking place at the cellular level of cancer and can then design drugs to disrupt one or more of these keys to cancer cell survival.

Along these lines, there are a number of strategies for cancer inhibition that can be addressed:

  1.   Reduce genetic instability by reducing oxidative stress.

  2.   Inhibit abnormal expression of genes through modifying the activity of transcription factors which are proteins that act as switches in the nucleus to turn on gene expression.

  3.   Inhibit abnormal signal transduction by blocking the actions of several proteins including knase enzymes and ras proteins.  The intent is not to eliminate signal transduction but to bring it down to normal levels.

  4.   Encourage normal cell-to-cell communication by improving gap junction communication and by normalizing CAM activity.

  5.   Inhibit tumor angiogenesis (the development of new blood vessels) by use of antiangiogenesis statin drugs.

  6.   Inhibit invasion and metastasis by reducing the enzymes that digest healthy tissue surrounding the tumor allowing invasion and by reducing the ability of tumor cells to migrate.

  7.   Increase the immune response by stimulating the immune system and reducing the ability of cancer cells to evade immune attack.

There are both drugs and natural compounds that can be used to focus on one or more of the above to achieve a favorable response to cancer.  The detail   presented above is intended to allow cancer patients to communicate with medical providers, if there is a desire to better understand how the treatment option being considered is attempting to accomplish the task of cancer inhibition (reduction in cell growth) or apoptosis ( cell death).

The Life Extension Foundation has compiled a list of critical factors in treating cancer that reflect some of the items mentioned above.  These critical factors are shown and discussed at the website shown below:
Life Extension

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