Pancreatic cancer is a complex disorder requiring medical intervention that could cure or relieve symptoms. Additionally, effective symptom management and supportive (palliative) care improve outcomes when implemented early and throughout treatment.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) includes practices like acupuncture, exercise, mindfulness techniques, dietitian-guided nutrition support, herbs and natural products as a form of complementary or alternative therapy that may supplement traditional therapies or be used alone as stand-in treatments. CAM treatments may be combined with or used instead of standard therapies to provide complete healthcare solutions.
Natural Products
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, limiting treatment options and often leading to debilitating symptoms. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices may offer some patients relief.
CAM encompasses an array of therapies used alongside conventional medical care to alleviate pain, nausea, fatigue and anxiety. This may include natural products, dietary supplements, probiotics, whole medical systems and body-based practices. Some CAM techniques are included within integrative oncology – an approach that includes both palliative care as well as chemotherapy/radiation treatment – making up part of its model of care.
There is an increasing interest in including complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into cancer patient treatments plans, particularly after diagnosis. It’s essential that people who utilize CAM do so only under medical advice as some forms may pose real risks; “natural” does not always mean safe when applied to cancer therapy treatments; and taking unproven treatments in addition to or as replacements for standard medical care could have serious repercussions or even death.
Some complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) interventions have been tested in clinical trials among people living with pancreatic cancer, including mistletoe extract (Viscum album L) and curcumin. Studies are limited, however; more research should be conducted to evaluate these interventions among a wider patient population using different combinations of standard therapies.
Acupuncture involves inserting needles at specific points on the body to stimulate nerve pathways. Acupuncture can help relieve nausea, pain and fatigue while improving quality of life in patients living with pancreatic cancer. Certified practitioners experienced in working with oncology patients should be sought out when seeking acupuncture treatment.
Paclitaxel, camptothecin and podophyllotoxin have been extracted from plants and have demonstrated anti-cancer activity in preclinical models. Triptolide and curcumin have also shown promise as potential treatments for pancreatic cancer; although these substances are intriguing none has ever been demonstrated to successfully cure pancreatic cancer; surgery, chemotherapy and radiation remain the only treatments proven effective against it in clinical trials.
Dietary Supplements
An effective pancreas releases pancreatic juice into the duodenum to aid digestion. This fluid contains protease and lipase enzymes which aid in breaking down fats, proteins and carbohydrates for efficient breakdown. Pancreatic cancer may deplete these essential enzymes, leading to digestive difficulties; doctors often prescribe pills containing pancreatic enzyme supplements in order to improve digestion and make up for these deficiencies.
Researchers have recently revealed that pancreatic cancer cells can survive by switching their primary fuel source – glucose – with another fuel source like uridine when glucose becomes scarce. Cancer cells do this by creating dense nest-like structures around themselves and being surrounded by damaged blood vessels that restrict oxygen supply – this robs them of glucose supply forcing them to turn instead to alternative energy sources, like uridine molecule.
Glucose provides energy for normal cells to divide, grow and repair themselves; cancer cells rely heavily on it for survival; without it they quickly die out and die off quickly if their primary source is cut off. By preventing tumor access to glucose researchers hope to prevent pancreatic cancer cells from using it as a strategy of survival.
People at risk of pancreatic cancer can lower their chances by maintaining a healthy weight, eating a nutritious diet and following recommended lifestyle habits. Dietary supplements may also be effective at helping reduce risks by supporting immune function and decreasing inflammation.
Supplements can be found in grocery stores, health food shops and online. Before taking any supplement it’s wise to consult a medical provider as some supplements may interfere with medications or cause unwanted side effects.
Chemotherapy drugs often work by interfering with cancer cells’ metabolism. Experimental treatments for pancreatic cancer also utilize this principle; some experimental approaches aim to target cancer cell metabolism in different ways; this research could eventually lead to new treatment options; until such time as these become available, experts advise consulting your healthcare provider before trying any supplements, including diet or herbal treatments.
Probiotics
Probiotics are living microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and fungi that are administered to individuals for health-related benefits. Probiotics typically help keep the gut healthy, boost immunity function, reduce symptoms of diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and lessen symptoms associated with illnesses like Crohn’s Disease. Probiotics may be taken orally via capsules, powders drinks or food sources.
Addition of probiotics to standard pancreatic cancer therapy can increase survival for some patients. Probiotics tend to be most effective for localized or borderline resectable tumors with lower-stage disease and with gut microbiomes well suited for positive modulation (high Firmicutes, low Proteobacteria and diverse bacteria populations). Furthermore, specific strains, doses and delivery methods may reduce side effects like immune suppression or diarrhea that might occur as side effects of treatment.
One promising approach involves the use of bacteriophages, viral particles that infiltrate and kill pathogenic bacteria while leaving normal microbiota unharmed. Unfortunately, developing phage therapy is complicated by its high cost and complexity; making widespread adoption impossible in low-income countries. Prior to delivery as probiotics or supplements for pancreatic cancer treatment purposes, isolated, tested and packaged phages must first survive gastric transit and be packaged to survive as probiotics; more research must be performed before this form of therapy be considered an effective adjunct or add-on treatment option alongside standard treatments like chemotherapy or radiation.
Preclinical studies have demonstrated that pairing NK cells with probiotics can produce lasting boosts to NK cell activity, helping slow tumor growth and block metastasis. However, their duration largely depends on type of therapy chosen as well as probiotic composition and patient individuality; moreover, resistance to antibiotics must also be carefully monitored.
Probiotics have also been shown to mitigate chemotherapy-related diarrhea, prevent cognitive impairment due to chemotherapy treatment in breast cancer patients, and decrease severity of radiation-induced oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients. While these findings are encouraging, large clinical trials must be conducted in order to validate them as potential probiotic treatments that extend progression-free survival in pancreatic cancer patients. PanCAN provides this information solely to support its mission of helping families affected by pancreatic cancer – it does not endorse or recommend any particular doctors, products, services or clinical trials.
Whole Medical Systems
Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive form of malignancy with only an approximate five-year survival rate of approximately 9%. As more and more individuals diagnosed with pancreatic cancer seek alternative therapies such as diet changes and herbal supplements to alleviate symptoms and enhance quality of life during treatment and beyond, more are turning to alternative solutions like these such as dietary modifications and herbal remedies as a means of relieving discomfort while improving quality of life while receiving conventional medical interventions such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. But when considering these alternative remedies it’s essential that patients approach this path carefully as interference may hinder conventional medical interventions such as chemotherapy radiation or surgery which may otherwise work effectively compared with these options as they could interfere with conventional medical interventions like these and could impede any conventional medical procedures or surgery undertaken as necessary by these options such as conventionally.
Some alternative treatments are more scientifically sound than others, like acupuncture for relieving cancer-related pain and nausea; yoga incorporates movement and deep breathing techniques which can reduce stress levels and boost mood, and so forth. Furthermore, these practices often supplement traditional treatments and help the patient’s body adjust to the toxins involved in care more quickly.
Researchers have also discovered that mebendazole, an antibiotic typically prescribed to treat parasitic worm infections, could potentially disrupt metabolic pathways that enable pancreatic cancer cells to proliferate and therefore potentially help stop them becoming resistant to chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Studies are necessary to ascertain the efficacy of combining complementary and alternative medicine with current pancreatic cancer therapies. Furthermore, it’s vitally important to realize that not all supplements and herbal remedies are suitable for all patients as some could interfere with chemotherapy medications or surgical drugs and cause dangerous side effects; others could trigger allergic reactions; therefore it’s crucial that any such use be discussed with your healthcare team beforehand.
Whole-medicine approaches offer promising new strategies for combatting pancreatic cancer. A UCLA team has engineered an immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptors as “living antibodies” to target and destroy tumors – this may offer new hope to treat this persistently difficult to treat form of cancer; other advances may someday make treatment without chemotherapy or radiation possible in future; though prognosis for pancreatic cancer remains grim, researchers continue their efforts in finding better approaches.
