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According to recent research, traditional cancer treatments
may actually invite the growth of cancer stem cells. These stem cells, just one
type of cell found throughout cancerous tumors, promote tumor growth as well as
the spread of cancer within the body.
Cancer stem cells have also shown the ability to be
resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
"So radiation and chemotherapy not only might create
cancer stem cells, any pre-existing cancer stem cells in a tumor were very
resistant to radiation and chemotherapy, so they remain as well," says Dr.
Chiang Li of Harvard Medical School. "This could help explain why these
therapies are sometimes not as effective as we might hope."
These common cancer treatments have shown the ability to
reduce overall tumor mass, but have not successfully reduced the number of
cancer stem cells. This increases the ratio of stem cells to non-stem cells. As
a result, tumors can actually become more malignant as treatment progresses.
Even if a tumor's size is greatly reduced, the remaining
presence of stem cells can trigger a later, more deadly cancerous growth.
"If we are thinking about a way to get rid of the tumor
forever, it's important to make sure that not only the bulk of the tumor
disappears, but also the cancer stem cells," said María Vivanco of the
Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences in Bilbao, Spain. Vivanco and
her colleagues studied the effects of estrogen on the development of breast
cancer.
Cancer stem cells are also responsible for tumor
progression, as they generate new cancer cells. Such progression increases risk
of death. This process has been shown to occur despite chemotherapy treatment.
On the bright side, recent research on prostate cancer has
described the discovery of cancer stem cells as the "Achilles' heel"
of cancer.
"By targeting these newly identified cancer 'stem'
cells, we are attacking the foundation of tumor growth, rather than treating
the symptoms of it," said Dr. Josep Domingo-Domenech, MD, PhD, Assistant
Professor of Pathology at Mount Sinai. By identifying cancer stem cells as the
cause of cancer's spread and growth, researchers can now focus efforts on a way
to inhibit their function in patients who've already been diagnosed with the
deadly disease.
Fitness test versus
cancer test
One of the challenges in health care is that patients wait
until they are sick to take corrective steps.
Cancer is a prime example. Thank
goodness for the tests and research to treat cancer but we must not look past
the importance of not getting it in the first place.
Instead of testing for cancer solely, perhaps we should be
testing fitness, toxicity and nutrition.
Only 5-10 percent of all cancer
diagnoses are hereditary or genetic. The remaining 90-95 percent of people can
drastically reduce their risk of cancer by simply maintaining an active
lifestyle, eating a plants-first diet and limiting their intake of toxic
substances.
The body has a natural healing ability. Cells in the body have a limited life cycle –
they die and are created. This is a key
concept as the food that we eat, the activities that we do and the stress that
we experience will impact the health of the future cells.
A healthier lifestyle equals healthier cells and a reduced
risk of developing cancer and other lifestyle-caused conditions such as heart
disease and diabetes.
Dr. Cory Couillard is an international healthcare speaker
and columnist for numerous newspapers, magazines, websites and publications
throughout the world. He works in collaboration with the World Health
Organization's goals of disease prevention and global healthcare education.
Views do not necessarily reflect endorsement.
Email: drcorycouillard@gmail.com
Facebook: Dr Cory Couillard
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