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Functional medicine approach to cancer – Miles Price

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Cancer is a disease that impacts all of us, either directly or indirectly, and its incidence in Hong Kong and Asia is rising year on year. This can be partly attributed to the aging population of Hong Kong; however, the mainstay of diagnosis and treatments remains as they have been for many years.

Cancer screening today still involves the conventional approach of using specific cancer markers to determine the presence of disease. However, it is well known that cancer marker testing can elicit both false negatives and false positives. For example, as a screening tool for ovarian cancer, CA125 testing only picked up 20% of patients as truly identified as having ovarian cancer; other false-positive results were associated with benign reproductive disorders, like uterine fibroids 1, 2, 3. A patient presenting with Stage 1 of a cancer has only a 50% chance of being identified with screening with CA125.4

When looking at other markers like PSA screening for prostate cancer, this study identified overdiagnosis (false positives) in 20–50% of patients.5 Another study showed that up to 90% of male patients with an elevated PSA level didn’t have cancer.6 Looking at other common cancer screening markers, CEA (cancer embryonic antigen), which is used for colonic cancer screening, has shown in studies to have a ‘very low sensitivity’ to detecting colon cancer.7

So with this in mind, many cancer screening clinics now offer additional imaging screening services such as ultrasound, mammograms, and PAP smear testing, which try to give a more concrete indication of cancer presence. When investigating the success of screening using breast mammograms, its known to produce more false positives than false negatives, especially in women who have dense breasts, have had breast biopsies, or are taking estrogen. About half of women who have mammograms over a 10-year period will have a false positive.8

Should we be evaluating screening cancer in a different way? There are plenty of drivers of cellular change that cause cancer to develop, but are we investigating those changes early enough through our medical screening?

Should we be evaluating cellular changes in expression of immune system activity or nutrients that control immune system activation? We know there’s an environmental impact and influence on cancer development; should we not be evaluating the presence of toxins and stealth pathogens that impact the immune system? What about the role of hormones? Stress hormones like cortisol, which impact immunity, or too much insulin, which affects immunity? Surely a systemised approach to reviewing hormonal status seems warranted.

These influences take a more functional medicine approach to understanding the complexities at work in immune biology and how it is influenced. Looking at the range of nutrients that impact immune health, Vitamin D3 stands out as a clear example of its impact on cancer development.9 Then there’s retinol (Vitamin A), whereby a deficiency is related to a number of cancers. We are under the assumption that retinol is easily obtained from eating orange or yellow-colored vegetables, when in fact the conversion is poor for many people in a given population.11

Then there is the range of mineral deficiencies that are associated with an increased risk of cancer due to the modulating effects on the immune system and on pathogens; these include zinc, selenium, and iodine [14, 15]. “Surely you get these from foods, my daily diet?” Well, you’d be surprised our food supply is slowly being robbed of key nutrition because current farming practices adopted by farmers are not replenishing the nutrients in soils for plants or animals. Add to that, the digestive efficiency of humans gets weaker and poorer the older we become.16 With weaker digestive systems, we are prone to not absorbing the essential immune acids, which are critical to activating particular parts of the immune system, like lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and macrophages. Notably, those particular amino acids we need optimal levels of include lysine, threonine, and methionine.17

“All diseases begin in the gut,” a wise man once said; little did he know at the time that much of that is true and can be clinically referenced back to poor gut function and microbiome imbalance (dysbiosis).17,18. When gut dysbiosis occurs, certain pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria increase the expression of inflammatory messengers that cross the gut barrier and impact the immune system. This impairs the removal of mutant or senescent (old) cells, which increases systemic inflammation. Alterations to the gut microbiota can reduce inflammation and help rejuvenate the immune systems of affected cancer patients to improve outcomes.19 We have emerging evidence that particular strains of probiotic bacteria directly influence the immune system, stimulating NK activity and apoptosis of cancer cells; for example, Lactobacillus 20 is a prime example of a strain to optimize either through diet or supplementation.

When exploring the application of functional medicine to support cancer therapies or reduce the risk of cancer development, it clearly has a role to assist patients better understand their biology, their complex ecosystems within themselves, thereby providing better peace of mind of optimal long term health. Afterall we need an approach which addresses and individualizes the diverse health histories which each and every patient presents, to reduce cancer risk and optimize recovery. Thankfully Functional Medicine provides such an approach.

Functional medicine approach to treating cancer is patient-centric, holistic, and based on science to fix the root of the disease through personalized treatment plans. Advanced cancer testing providers like RGCC help practitioners with real-time insights and to tailor personalized treatment plans. The tests by RGCC provide needed and valuable information by looking at patient’s genetics, physiology, and immune profiles, which can be used to formulate effective personalized treatment plans. Their spectrum of advanced tests, from baseline to recurrence prevention, helps cancer patients in any condition in their journey to recovery. Research-backed approach, patient-centric care, and delivering clear, actionable information for consistent and cohesive care make practitioners recommend RGCC for cancer patients.

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