3 Integrative Oncology – The How and Why.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix
3 Integrative Oncology – The How and Why.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Speaker1:
Welcome to the Cancer Secrets podcast. Changing the Cancer Paradigm. Hosted by Dr. Jonathan Steagall, a medical doctor and cancer specialist practicing in Atlanta, Georgia, deeply affected by his grandmother's death from stomach cancer, as well as patients he cared for in medical training, he realized there has to be a better way to treat cancer. Dr. Stegall has a unique and innovative approach to treating cancer called integrative oncology, combining modern medicine with alternative therapies personalized to each patient. This podcast is designed to educate, support and give you a positive voice you can trust. We invite you to join us on this journey as we seek to change the cancer paradigm.
Speaker2:
Welcome to today's episode. Episode three. If you're new to the show, please go back and listen to my introductory episode to learn more about me and my vision for this podcast, as well as episode two, where I provide my advice for dealing with a cancer diagnosis and what to look for in an oncologist. In today's episode, we're going to talk about the various types of cancer treatment available, including conventional alternative and an innovative approach known as integrative oncology. Then we'll discuss integrative oncology more specifically define the treatment path and give you a sneak peek into my particular protocols. I invite you to grab a family member or friend so that you can listen together. Today's show is foundational to this entire podcast and can provide real game changing advice for your cancer journey. So let's begin by discussing the major categories of cancer treatment. They are surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy and alternative. The first four categories represent the standard of care today. We refer to these treatments as conventional therapies. Virtually all oncologists today will include some or all of these treatments in their recommendations. Now, let's review each of these in detail. Surgery for cancer can include the physical removal of a tumor, lymph nodes and sometimes even an entire organ. Surgery has been around for thousands of years, dating back to about 6000 B.C. when holes were drilled into the skull. Around 180 tooth extractions and bloodletting became the norm. In the 1800s, anesthesia became more commonplace, allowing for more invasive surgeries such as hysterectomy, appendectomies and even heart surgery.
Speaker2:
Since then, technology has advanced at a rapid pace, allowing for a wide variety of surgical procedures. Now, surgery is typically recommended when a tumor can be safely and completely removed. However, when a tumor is too advanced to allow for surgery or cancer has become metastatic surgery is not usually an option. Chemotherapy is a use of various chemicals to treat cancer in the body. Now, the idea of using chemicals to treat cancer came about in the 1930s, but the real start of chemotherapy came in 1943 at Yale during World War Two. It was noted that exposure to mustard gas caused shrinking of the bone marrow and lymph nodes. The thought then became, Can we use this substance to treat lymphoma? Cancer of the lymph nodes. The treatment worked on lab animals and studies on humans showed that it worked in that case as well. Now, this was not a perfect treatment, but it sparked interest in the idea of using chemicals to treat cancer. In the 1950s, research into chemotherapy for cancer exploded, and many new drugs were developed during that time. Some of the chemotherapy drugs which were developed in the 1950s are still used today. Chemotherapy is used for most cancers, and when the patient's a surgical candidate, chemotherapy can be used after the fact to try to kill any remaining cancer cells leftover from surgery.
Speaker2:
Given in this form, we call it adjuvant chemotherapy. However, sometimes the patient is not a candidate for surgery due to the tumor being too large and chemotherapy is given to try to shrink the tumor and make it more amenable to surgery. Chemotherapy in this instance is known as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Radiation therapy traces its roots to the discovery of X-rays in the 1890s. At this time, radiation was believed to kill bacteria and was thus used to treat various lesions and other growths. However, human tolerance to radiation was later found to be lower than expected. The risk of long term damage from radiation, including the development of cancer, was found to exist for up to 40 years after the radiation exposure. The radiation therapy has progressed significantly since those early days, including the use of various types of radiation beams which can be better targeted to specific areas of the body. Immunotherapy is the newest of the four conventional cancer treatments. However, its history began in the late 1800s with the work of Dr. William Coley. Dr. Coley found that some of the patients who received injections of live strains of bacteria had a dramatic response, resulting in remission of their cancer. However, neither Dr. Coley nor anyone else truly understood why these patients had the results they did while other patients did not. Coley's toxins, as they were called, fell out of favor with a rise of radiation therapy and later chemotherapy.
Speaker2:
Patients would often get very sick after receiving Coley's toxins, developing high fevers and other side effects. However, the idea of immunotherapy or harnessing the immune system to better fight cancer resurfaced in the 1970s when the tuberculosis vaccine known as BGC was used to treat bladder cancer. Interestingly, this treatment is still used today. With our growing body of research into the immune system, as well as cancer genetics. Immunotherapy has exploded over the last decade. Many researchers feel that immunotherapy is the future of cancer treatment. This is evident with the many television commercials that we see advertising all of the newest and supposedly greatest immunotherapy treatments. However, a word of caution. Cancer is not simply an immune system deficiency, and stimulating the immune system is a potentially dangerous endeavour. If we overstimulate the immune system, we potentially create autoimmune disease where the body is being attacked by its own immune system. As you can see, the immune system is a very delicate balance and we must be careful. So these four treatments, which comprise the conventional standard of care, are far from perfect. Despite billions of dollars spent on cancer research. We are no closer to a cure. Although we have made some progress over the last 20 years in the death rate from cancer. There are still roughly 600,000 Americans each year who die from cancer. This puts cancer as the second leading cause of death in this country, and many estimate that it will soon surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death.
Speaker2:
Clearly, we need to do a better job in the way we treat cancer. It is no surprise that cancer patients are searching for alternatives. The Internet has opened up a treasure trove of information for those hoping to learn more about cancer and potential treatment options. In the past, patients were at the mercy of their doctors when it came to treatment options, and sadly, they were usually provided with just one or two options. Today with the Internet, patients are empowered to learn more about cancer treatments for themselves. This has been a huge win for patients and their families. Unfortunately, there is a significant divide between most oncologists whose knowledge and recommendations are limited to these four treatments we just discussed, and patients who are interested in using alternative treatments when appropriate. These alternatives might consist of specific cancer diets, vegetable juicing, nutritional supplements, infrared saunas, hyperbaric oxygen pulsed, electromagnetic field therapy, coffee enemas, intravenous vitamins and minerals, music therapy, prayer and meditation, just to name a few. Many of these therapies have been used for centuries for medicinal purposes, while others are fairly new. The amount of scientific evidence for these therapies ranges from plentiful to nonexistent. Unfortunately, when most patients ask their oncologists about these therapies, they are met with indifference or worse, with skepticism and anger. Some oncologists will actually fire their patients if they attempt to use some of the aforementioned alternative treatments simply because they are unfamiliar with them or even believe that they will be harmful.
Speaker2:
This is where our open minded skepticism comes into play. As we've discussed in prior episodes, it is imperative that we have a balanced view of any treatment or intervention. We should be open to possibilities but also have a healthy level of skepticism. This is especially important when researching on the Internet and consulting Dr. Google. From my perspective, it is clear that we need to do more than simply continue to rely only on the standard of care therapies. We are losing the war on cancer badly, but we also can't abandon these therapies and put all of our eggs in the basket of alternative therapies, especially those which have little to no scientific evidence. But what if we use both? What if we combine both conventional and alternative therapies? And what if we did this in a way that is highly scientific and also personalized each patient with the goal of providing treatments that work, but which are also as safe as possible. We can. That is what integrative oncology is all about. We integrate the best of both worlds to achieve a synergy that is not possible with one branch of medicine alone. This holistic approach takes into account a variety of factors, including a patient's health, history, genetics, spirituality, environmental exposures, stressors and treatment goals. And it works. Did you know that there was actually a study done to determine the best definition for integrative oncology? A November 2017 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute polled health care providers to develop a consensus.
Speaker2:
Their conclusion was as follows Integrative oncology is a patient centered, evidence informed field of cancer care that utilizes mind and body practices, natural products and or lifestyle modifications from different traditions alongside conventional cancer treatments. Integrative oncology aims to optimize health, quality of life and clinical outcomes across the cancer care continuum and to empower people to prevent cancer and become active participants before, during and beyond cancer treatment. I love it. You might be wondering how and why I became an integrative oncologist. For me, it began when I was five years old and my grandmother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I vividly remember how her cancer treatment affected her. She was a strong, vibrant woman who, over the course of just several months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, became weaker and sicker. Even her positive, upbeat, energetic personality gradually waned. She ultimately passed away, and I was left with many great memories of her, but also the realization that she succumbed to a nasty disease despite her best efforts. Roughly 20 years later, when I started medical school and ultimately became a resident physician, I found that I was drawn to cancer patients. I viewed these patients and their health challenges differently than patients suffering from other diseases and ailments. I found myself spending extra time with them even after I'd completed my shifts and was supposed to be at home.
Speaker2:
Many times I would visit them on the weekend just to spend time with them and see how they were doing. I would learn about the patient's life story, their happy times, and even their regrets. I laughed with them, cried with them, and frequently prayed with them as well. I realized that I made a real difference for them on a personal level, but when it came to what I could do for them medically, I felt very limited. I saw many patients who, despite the best modern medicine, had to offer using chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and immunotherapy still had bad outcomes. Many died from cancer and others died from side effects of treatments. I knew then that there had to be a better way. My personality is to analyze the situation from multiple angles, not simply to understand it better, but also to improve it. I saw a huge opportunity to change the way we view cancer as well as how we treat it. In future episodes, we'll discuss cancer from multiple viewpoints and in the process reveal a wide variety of potential treatments we can employ. Let's talk more about the nuts and bolts of integrative oncology using a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient as an example. I will walk you through how we might proceed. We start by gathering all the important data, including biopsy reports, imaging results and lab results.
Speaker2:
This will include the standard imaging such as CT scan, MRI or PET scan, as well as the usual blood work to evaluate the immune system kidney function, liver function, electrolytes and tumor markers. However, we also like to include additional testing such as thermography, which measures heat patterns within the breast, as well as innovative lab tests involving blood, urine and even saliva. These tests give us a complete picture of what is going on inside the body rather than a much more limited view when only relying on the conventional tests. These objective measurements are vital. But equally important is information straight from the patient. We need to dive deep into the patient's history. When was she born? Were there any complications at birth? How healthy was her mother? Especially while she was pregnant with her? What was her childhood like? Was our patient sick as a child or relatively healthy? What health issues did she have as a teenager and young adult? Did she live in the same place or move around a lot? What environmental exposures might she have had? Did she live under power lines near a factory or adjacent to a farm which employed toxic chemicals? What was her home life like? Did you grow up with one parent or two? Did she have siblings? If so, what kind of relationship did they have? What is her relationship like now with her family? Is she married, single or divorced? What stressors does she have in her life? Are the relationships stressors? Financial stressors.
Speaker2:
Does she feel supported by family and friends since receiving her cancer diagnosis? What are her religious beliefs? What other medical problems does she have? Does she take any prescription medications? Does she have any known allergies to drugs or foods? Does she take any supplements? What kind of diet does she eat? Does she have any dental problems? Does she have mercury? Dental fillings? Does she eat non-organic fruits and vegetables? How often does she eat highly processed foods? How much alcohol does she consume? Does she smoke? Does she use illegal drugs? Also, what are her treatment goals? Has she read about cancer? How does she define cancer? What treatments has she researched? Has she seen any other health care providers to hear their proposed treatments for her cancer? Does she plan on seeing any other providers? Does she want to beat her cancer, or is her goal simply to avoid side effects and have a better quality of life? Based on all this data, we develop a treatment plan. I say we because the treatment plan is our plan, not just my plan as a physician. I will certainly provide my treatment, recommendations and advice. But the final plan must be something that she and I agree on together. At that point, we lock arms and we commit to our plan 100%. Of course, we understand that our plan might change along the way due to a variety of reasons.
Speaker2:
But having a plan and being on the same page is crucial. So what therapies do we use? It depends on the answers to the questions above, as well as the results from testing. However, for our breast cancer, patient treatment might involve surgery sparing as much healthy tissue as possible, followed by chemotherapy given as safely as possible. Now I do chemotherapy in a way that allows us to use lower doses of chemotherapy, targeting it to cancer. We take advantage of the known hallmarks of cancer. This allows us to still get results without the harmful side effects we see with conventional chemotherapy. We might also include intravenous treatment with high dose vitamin C. A cancer nutrition plan, some personalized nutritional supplements and guidance regarding stress reduction techniques. There are many other potential therapies we might also include, but as you can see, we make sure to incorporate therapies from both conventional and alternative medicine. Personalized to this patient. In future episodes, we will delve into each of these therapies in more detail. I hope you found this information to be helpful. Whether you're a cancer patient yourself, supporting a loved one or friend as he or she goes through cancer treatment, or simply trying to learn more about how to prevent cancer. I'm so excited to go on this journey together, and I hope you'll join me next time for more integrative oncology information. Until next time.
Speaker1:
Thank you for listening to the Cancer Secrets podcast. If you were encouraged by this show, please share it with a loved one or friend. Help support the show by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. The more reviews, the more friends like you can find the show. Finally, to learn more, visit us online at Doctor Stay Google.com. The Cancer Secrets Podcast. Changing the Cancer Paradigm.
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