(for general information about cancer, how it develops and its biology)

Miscellaneous Websites for Nutritional herbs, products recipes and healthy eating for cancer patients 

Cancer Recipes (from Cancer Treatment Centers of America)

See also the American Cancer Institute

Nutritional or dietary factors are attracting a great deal of interest because of their perceived ability to act as highly effective chemopreventive agents. They are perceived as being generally safe and may have efficacy as chemopreventive agents by preventing or reversing premalignant lesions and or reducing second primary tumor incidence. Many of these compounds appear to act on multiple tumor promoter-stimulated cellular pathways. Some of the most interesting products are resveratrol and , theafavins and even caffeine. Other potentially effective dietary compounds include perillyl alcohol, PEITC, giner and CAPE. Many of these compounds act by effecting multiple target signaling pathways including inducing apoptosis and/or suppressing ,  and/or XOX-2 expression.

The search for natural products with anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory or antineoplatic potential is an important issue in drug discovery. There is great interest in drugs involving new targets to treat inflammatory, autoimmune, or cancer-related diseases. It has been surmised that the search for compounds that inhibit transcription factors, such as  or , should be a good approach for finding new lead compounds with anti-inflammatory potential. Among the products shown to inhibit NF-?B are the following:

Garlic: Garlic has been shown to be effective in treating human prostate and bladder cancers (US Patent 6,465,020).

Hypericine from St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) has been studied extensively for its use in the treatment of depression. Hypericin is also known to induce apoptosis in different neoplastic cell lines. 

Capsaicin which is a major  from chili pepper (Capsicum annum L.). This compound has been shown to induce apoptosis in vitro and inhibit phorbol ester-induced NF-?B and AP-1 activation in human HL-60 leukemia cells. Capsaicin is a widespread phenolic natural product with recognized antioxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity. 

US Patent No. 6,235,788 discloses a method for treating pre-malignant basal and squamous cell lesions of the epithelium by applying an effective amount of Capsaicin in a base of aloe veral topically on an area of the lesion.

Dimethylglycine: is an intermediary metabolite amino acid found in low levels in many foods and is produced in the body from choline. DMG is an endogenous compound and an enzyme system in the body effectively converts the substance into metabolites that are either used by the body or are safely excreted. U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,068 discloses treating irradiated animals with a derivative of this compound to alleviate the effects of excess radiation on the immune system. The literature is replete with articles using the termin vitamin “B-15” to refer to DMG although this may not be completely accurate. U.S. Patent Publication 20060183801 discloses using NN-dimethyglycine or a salt thereof to inhibit certical, breast or prostate cancer.

ellagic-acid. Blue-black berries called “Blackcaps” have been reported to have anti-cancer effects due to their reported antioxidant effects (ellagic-acid). 

Some natural compounds have reported to exhibit anti-cancer effect, due to their modulation of cytokines important in anti-cancer activity. Such compounds include:

AHCC (Activated hemiCellulose Compound): which is a biologically active substance obtained by enzyme treatment of plant fiber existing in the cell wall of fungal mycelia. See US Patent No. 6,403,083 AHCC reportedly augments IL-12 production in tumor bearing patients. IL-12 is well known for its anti-tumor activities but is toxic when administered on its own.

The catechin, EGCG is well known for its antitumorigenic/pro-apoptotic properties, at least at high concentrations (50 uM) in vitro. Increased consumption of relatively high concentrations of tea polyphenols has also been found to correlate with reduced incidence of certain cancers and to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. EGCG has been reported to induce apoptosis of neck squamous cell carcinoma cells and to cause a decrease in phosphorylated ERK1/2, Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL proteins, an increase in Bax and activation of caspase 9. 

However, at low concentrations, EGCG may have the reverse effect on aptosis. EGCG was reported to prevent an increase in espression of proapoptotic genes  in a neuroblastoma cell line caused by treatement with 6-OHDA at low concentrations (1 uM). 

EGCG has also been reported to be a powerful antioxidant protecting skin cells against photodamage. Thus use of eGCG in commercial skin products may be beneficial. Green tea polyphenols supplemented supplemented with moisturizing creams, skin care lotions, facial and depilatory creams and sunscreen may prevent a variety of solar UV light-induced human skin disorders. However, extensive clinical trails are still required to test the long-term treatment effects of polyphenols from green tea, their half-life period and optimum dose for beneficial effects.

Selenium: Participants treated with a supranutritional dose of selenium in the form of selenized sbewer’s yeast for 4.5 years (200 ug of selenium daily, with the average daily intake of Se in the US at about 100 ug) had substantial reductions in the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer. The mechanism may be related to inhibition of Nf-kB pathway (sodium selenite pentahydrate from J.T. Baker, Inc., Phillipsburg, NJ).

Vasoactive intestinal peptide analogs US 2003/0158110A1

Rosy Periwinkle: Rosy Periwinkle originally was used in its natural form in Madagascar to treat diabetes. Its derivitive drugs, vincristine and vinblastine, are used to treat Hodgkin’s disease and childhoold leukemai.