index.htm

These pages are for information only, posted here out of concern for a friend, to be used or not as best suits her own judgement and needs. The risk of granting false hope is great here, so I publish this with the utmost humility and caution.

Here, first of all, is a private and personal note to that friend.

Also Please Note: There have been many studies involving what is described below and in these pages, on human pancreatic cancer cell lines, implanted cell lines in lab animals, lab animal models of pancreatic cancer, and epidemiological studies--all of these are promising, to my untrained eye. Studies of these alternative / complementary therapies directly on people with pancreatic cancer have been few (with the exception of Dr Gonzalez's private results on his enzyme therapy, which the NIH has taken a close enough look at to agree to further vetting with a federally-funded Phase III trial, now in progress).

My pages:

This page summarizes my own personal best feeling summarizing the most interesting and hopeful (to my inexpert eye) approaches. It is extremely concise, but is the result of encapsulating a lot of information listed below.

Supplements.htm is a much more detailed summary of what substances and what doses come out of the above approaches.

This is my most detailed, one document list of nearly every alternative protocol or therapy out there, with dosages and sources (including brands, vetted for cost and purity). I am adding to it daily. (I admit that this page includes brand names, but they are there for convenience).

This is a list of practitioners (mostly local) who are involved with both alternative conventional-style therapies (like thalidomide and insulin potentiation therapy) and general alternative methods (such as supplements and herbs). I have not found any yet who have told me that they are using COX-2 inhibition.

Other pages, comprehensive review articles:

A comprehensive review of the science of eicosanoids, including COX-2 and the various lipoxygenases, and their roles in pancreatic tumorigenesis (initiation), growth, and metastasis, with a brief discussion of the potential for treatment as a result of this science. The basic science is described in considerable detail. The article was published in a peer-reviewed journal.

An article written by an herbalist giving a slightly more holistic perspective on the same basic information, including herbs, supplements, and food-derived substances that inhibit prostanoid synthesis; there is plenty of hard science in this article; there is little if any on pancreatic cancer.

LEF ("Life Extension Foundation") has published a summary of information and alternative and complementary approaches against pancreatic cancer. LEF is a group of physicians, scientists, and laymen dedicated to using supplements to ameliorate and sometimes cure human disease. They have gotten into the business of selling those supplements as well, but every indication is that they still remain objective (with the exception of their magazine).

• Pages 1 and 2 contain clinical and epidemiological information probably well-known to you.
• Page 3: includes "Innovative Drug Strategies", with information about COX-2 inhibitors, including Celebrex and others drugs, as well as supplements curcumin and silymarin; statin drugs, including lovastatin; and others such as metformin.
• Page 4: includes "Adjuvant Treatments" by which they mean supplements, either with or without conventional treatments. Included is Nicholas Gonzalez' remarkable enzyme therapy (remarkable in that a federal study is being conducted on his methods).
• Page 5: includes more supplement-based therapies, a summary of LEF's recommendations, including more information on their recommendations on dosing.

LEF also has published a remarkable page on their research on catabolic wasting. (page 1, page 2). The information is very interesting and with a fair amount of supportive references. Unfortunately, they also include links on this page to LEF's products, their branded versions of supplements that are discussed on the page.

LEF's products do tend to be of high quality and potency, however. I have read some of the references cited at Pubmed / Medline (National Library of Medicine Online), however, and they tend to be good, though LEF occasionally (rarely) misquotes them.

There is one very remarkable reference, for fish oil, where pancreatic cancer patients on 12 g / day (just under a tablespoon a day) of fish oil gained weight, while those not taking fish oil lost weight over the same period.

LEF also makes the case for whey protein isolate for wasting syndrome (the best source of which, Biochem (brand), is not theirs ... although theirs is very good).

This page is under construction ... I will be adding to it every day, including a list of scientific references.