6 Additional Testing – Examples Research Myths.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix
6 Additional Testing – Examples Research Myths.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:
Hello and welcome back to the Cancer Secrets podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Jonathan Stegall. This is episode number six. 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. In today's episode, I'm going to build on what we discussed in episode five and talk more about lab testing. More specifically, both standard and innovative and advanced lab testing that I feel is essential to properly diagnose, treat and monitor cancer. I invite you to grab a family member or a friend and listen in to this episode together. Today's show is going to be foundational to our podcast and discuss very key facts that you need to be thinking about. Let's start out by talking about basic lab testing. Now, conventional oncologists typically will run most of these labs as well, but they're still very important for us to talk about here. Let's start with the complete blood count. This is also known as a CBC. This lab panel looks at several key factors, including the immune system, including your white blood cells, as well as all the different types of immune system cells such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basal fills. For the purposes of our discussion today. Just know that these are important immune system cells that do different things in the body, and getting a good baseline measurement of them is important when we're talking about cancer treatment. The complete blood count also includes a measurement of the body's red blood cells, which are important for oxygen carrying capacity, as well as nutrient transport throughout the body.
Speaker2:
Now, when red blood cells are low, that's what we refer to as anemia. There are a couple of other lab tests that we look at as well that are related to the red blood cells, including hemoglobin hematocrit and overall iron levels. These are important because many cancer patients are anemic as a result of the disease process. In additionally, some cancer treatments, including chemotherapy at high doses, will cause anemia as well. So we need to watch this level very closely. And finally, the complete blood count also includes a measurement of the body's platelets and platelets, or those little sticky components in the blood that help a clot to form any time there's bleeding. In addition to the complete blood count, we also need to look at what's called a comprehensive metabolic panel or CMP. The CNP provides us a very important look at the body's kidney function, liver function and electrolytes. Now, electrolytes are things like sodium, potassium and chloride. They're very important for cellular function. In addition to the comprehensive metabolic panel, we also must look at blood sugar control. Now we know that cancer loves sugar, among other things. So getting a good look at the body's blood sugar control through what's known as a serum glucose or blood sugar as well as a hemoglobin. A1c is important. So the hemoglobin A1 C tells us about the body's blood sugar control over the past three months. Now you can eat well for a few days leading up to the lab test and full a blood glucose level.
Speaker2:
But you can't fool the hemoglobin A1 c it's going to give us a nice timeline of not only the blood sugar control, but typically the kind of diet the patient has been eating as well. I also feel that a cholesterol panel is important to examine as well. Now, the cholesterol panel typically includes a total cholesterol, the LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Now, you might be wondering why I'm recommending this test to be performed when we're talking about cancer. Well, first of all, it's a generally good marker for overall health. But contrary to popular belief, high cholesterol is not necessarily bad and low cholesterol is not necessarily good. There was a really interesting study done which found that people who have high cholesterol actually live longer than people who have low cholesterol. Now, there are certainly conditions where we want to make sure we're controlling cholesterol, such as diabetes and heart disease, but we don't want it to be too low. And in fact, I found in my patient population of cancer patients that very low cholesterol levels are frequently a bad prognostic sign. So we don't want cholesterol too high or too low. It's very important to monitor this from the outset and then at regular intervals during treatment as well. Many patients benefit from hormone level monitoring as well. And this is especially true for patients who have hormone related cancers such as breast, prostate, ovarian and endometrial cancers.
Speaker2:
Getting a good basic hormone panel, including estradiol or estrogen, progesterone. Testosterone and DHEA are all important. Now, let's also talk about the importance of vitamin and mineral levels. Now, you may be familiar with routine blood work measuring a vitamin B 12 or perhaps a vitamin D level. These are important, but this is measuring vitamin and mineral levels in the serum, which is the liquid part of a blood draw. What we really want to know is whether we're getting the vitamins in minerals actually into the cells where they can be used and absorbed. So the test I like is a micronutrient test by a company called Spectra Cell and the Spectra Cell. Micronutrient test is an innovative test that measures intracellular levels or levels inside the cells of various vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It also evaluates the body's immune system function as well as the body's antioxidant capacity. I feel this is a very important test to draw at baseline to determine whether there are any critical nutritional deficiencies from the outset. And then if there are, those can be addressed so that treatment can be optimized moving forward. Now I'd like to move on and talk about a urine test, which is known as the organic acids test. This is often abbreviated as oat. The organic acids test tells us how the body is functioning on a cellular level. It measures many different markers for metabolic health. And when I'm talking about metabolism, I'm not talking about how quickly the body burns calories to maintain weight and body temperature.
Speaker2:
When I mentioned metabolism in this setting, I'm talking about cellular metabolism, which is basically the way cells process nutrients and hormones and other substances in order to produce energy. So this energy production by cells is very important because we know when cells don't do that as well, they don't work properly, they get worn down and we're predisposed to cancer. And of course, cancer cells have their own form of metabolism that we target when we're talking about treatment. But for the purposes of the organic acids test, which is a simple urine test, we're looking generally at the cells of the body and how well they're working. So we get a lot of different levels that are important to us, including whether there is possible overgrowth of bacteria or fungus in the body. I frequently see these issues in cancer patients. Now that we've discussed the important blood and urine test, I'd like to also talk about another form of testing, which is saliva testing. I found saliva testing to be valuable when identifying stress on the body and by stress on the body, I don't just refer to emotional stress, but also physical and chemical stress. We know that the adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys are the body's main stress response organ. Now, the adrenals were designed to function, especially when we're in a very, very stressful situation, such as what we know as fight or flight. If you think back to cave MENDEZ Fight or flight situations would be running from a bear or trying to kill dinner for the evening.
Speaker2:
But these days, what we find in our society is that people are more stressed than ever. Our bodies were designed to combat stress on a short term basis, more like a sprint. What we're doing now with our chronic, stressful environments is we're asking our bodies to sprint over a long period of time. And this really wears the body down. One of the main hormones we think about is cortisol. Cortisol is the body's main stress response hormone. And measuring cortisol in the saliva is a wonderful way to look at how the body is handling stress. Now, you might be wondering why this is important when we're talking about cancer. Well, cancer is a very stressful situation inside the body. We want to make sure that the body has all the tools it needs to fight cancer best. And the saliva test, which is known as the salivary cortisol test, gives us a great measurement of cortisol in the body. Now, we know that cortisol is supposed to peak in the morning and then it gradually levels off during the day. Now, that morning, peak of cholesterol is important because we're starting our day. We're trying to accomplish a lot. And then as as cortisol declines throughout the day, we want it to be fairly low in the evening so that we can relax and then fall asleep. What we see a lot is adrenal dysfunction. And adrenal dysfunction can take on several different appearances.
Speaker2:
But what we can sometimes see is a spike in the morning and then that level of cortisol actually maintains throughout the day. And the patient can't fall asleep at night because they have so much going through their minds as adrenal function worsens and the dysfunction of the adrenal glands begins to take over. We can actually see a very low level of cortisol all the time, and these patients have trouble getting up in the morning. These patients can also have difficulty staying awake in the afternoon. So we actually measure cortisol levels four times throughout the day. On this cortisol test of the saliva, we get a morning reading, a noon reading, a late afternoon reading and a bedtime reading. And of course, if there are abnormalities in the cortisol level, we can easily treat those typically with some nutritional interventions, but sometimes with medications as well. I found that some patients will need additional testing, especially as it relates to digestive health. Stool testing, as well as food allergy testing, can be valuable tools in these cases. So we've talked about blood testing, urine testing and saliva testing. So now I'd like to talk about biopsies. Now biopsies are essential for obtaining an appropriate diagnosis. There's actually a myth that biopsies spread cancer. And there was a Mayo Clinic study several years ago that sought to evaluate whether biopsies spread cancer. I'm not quite sure where this belief started. Now, there have been rare cases of what's known as seeding, where certain procedures can actually stimulate the release of cancer in other parts of the body.
Speaker2:
But these are exceedingly rare. There are only one or two cases reported in history of this happening. So for all intents and purposes, this is not something we need to really be thinking about. But this Mayo Clinic study looked at whether biopsies spread cancer, and they looked at patients who had biopsies and what their treatment outcomes were versus patients who did not have biopsies. And what they found was that the patients who had biopsies lived longer. Now, they suspected that this is due to the fact that the biopsy allowed for an accurate diagnosis, which was then used to guide treatment. Now, when we're discussing biopsies or even surgery, the concern is with wound healing. So we know that any sort of invasive procedure that goes into the body creates a wound, and the body does have to heal that wound, and it does so through inflammation. So that inflammatory process, which we associate with redness and pain and sometimes bleeding, is actually necessary for that healing of that wound to occur. Now there has been some concern that all this inflammation in that area can actually cause cancer cells to migrate somewhat. So what we found is that simply putting patients on a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or NSAID such as aspirin or Celebrex actually negates this risk. So to answer the question once and for all, biopsies do not spread cancer. And for an extra layer of insurance around the time of a biopsy or even surgery, it's important to be on a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for a brief period of time.
Speaker2:
So we've obtained our biopsy. We have an exact diagnosis down to the details of what we're dealing with. And there's another test I want to tell you about related to that. And it's known as the caries molecular intelligence test. Now, the molecular intelligence test is actually performed on a piece of tissue obtained via biopsy or surgery. Now, Caris Lab, which is based in Arizona, will obtain a piece of tissue from the pathology lab where the pathology was performed. And Kerry's will perform advanced testing on that piece of tissue. They do several advanced testing methods, one being immunohistochemistry, and they analyze the tissue for specific mutations. And then what they do after these mutations are identified is they will predict which treatments will work best on that patient's cancer. I found this test to be very helpful, especially when choosing chemotherapy drugs. I hope you found today's information helpful. With everything we've covered in terms of testing in today's episode, as well as the information on circulating tumor cell testing in episode five, you have a complete guide to all of the necessary testing that you will need to craft an outstanding cancer diagnosis and treatment regimen. I hope you're enjoying our time together as much as I am. In our next episode, we'll discuss the ins and outs of cancer nutrition. You don't want to miss this. Thank you again for being with me today. 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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