An earlier blog entry commented on a study assessing the safety of Black Cohosh in cancer patients. Previously it was thought that Black Cohosh exhibited estrogenic activity, but further research has found that Black Cohosh exerts its hormone regulating effects by modulating luteinising hormone. A population based study done in Philadelphia strengthens the case for Black Cohosh use in breast cancer patients, finding that it in fact may be associated with decreased risk of breast cancer.
A retrospective case-control study of the use of hormone-related supplements and association with breast cancer. Rebbeck TR, Troxel AB, Norman S, Bunin GR, DeMichele A, Baumgarten M, Berlin M, Schinnar R, Strom BL.
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021, USA. trebbeck@cceb.med.upenn.edu
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Red clover is one of the herbs that commonly stirs up controversy regarding it’s safety with patients that have hormonally driven tumors. Some practitioners routinely avoid isoflavone containing herbs and foods because of the possibility of antagonizing estrogen receptor positive tumor cells. An overview of the data shows that although there are some studies showing a stimulating effect of these isoflavones in vitro, clinical and epidemiological data does not generally support the conclusions of these studies. Also, isolating and concentrating these isoflavones tends to have a very different effect then when they are administered as part of a whole plant or food. The estrogenicity of red clover is estimated to be weak at best, and this study shows that the isoflavone biochanin A markedly inhibits aromatase of estrogen, decreasing the body’s endogenous estrogen production. It could be that avoiding clover or other herbs and foods because of their reputed estrogenicity could be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
The red clover (Trifolium pratense) isoflavone biochanin A inhibits aromatase activity and expression.Wang Y, Man Gho W, Chan FL, Chen S, Leung LK.
Department of Biochemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong.
A recent German article notes the cytotoxic properties of constituents of two Chinese herbs, one commonly used as an anti-parasitic herb, the other as a circulatory tonic and regulator. Although it seems like we pay a lot of attention to the potential cell kill factor of alkaloids present in herbs, there are many more application of herbs in cancer therapy. The author of this study has also published a paper on the inhibition of multi-drug resistance by several chinese herbs. Certain cancers are commonly resistant to conventional treatment, or become resistant to cytotoxic and other conventional or herbal interventions. Certain herbs can, when employed concurrently with other therapies, increase the effectiveness of the therapy by keeping the cancer from resisting it.
Phytochemistry and pharmacogenomics of natural products derived from traditional chinese medicine and chinese materia medica with activity against tumor cells
Efferth et al Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 7, 152-161, January 1, 2008. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-07-0073
Activity of Drugs from Traditional Chinese Medicine toward Sensitive and MDR1- or MRP1-Overexpressing Multidrug-Resistant Human CCRF-CEM Leukemia Cells*
Efferth et al Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases Volume 28, Issue 2, March 2002, Pages 160-168
We know the obvious correlation between obesity and common diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but not as commonly with degenerative diseases such as cancer with the exception of perhaps colon or breast cancer. A recent meta-analysis of 141 articles in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that increased body mass index (BMI) doubles the risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus in both men and women, and about doubles the risk of endometrial cancer and cancer of the gallbladder in women. Renal cancer risk in women is increased by one third, The study also notes increases in risk of colon cancer, thyroid cancer, malignant melanoma, post-menopausal breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, leukemia, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in both sexes. Several possible mechanisms are discussed in the article, including IgF 1 (insulin like growth factor) which we commonly find elevated in cancer patients in our practice- and correlates strongly with elevated insulin levels. Insulin is one of the most inflammatory substances in the body, and the study also posits that increased inflammation and oxidative stress in the obese can lead either to initiation or proliferation of malignancies.
Lancet. 2008;1371:536-537, 569-578.