A Sane Look at Prostate Cancer

Julian Whitaker, MD

A close friend of mine is battling prostate cancer. He’s 60 years old and has opted for an extremely aggressive regimen of chemotherapy. It’s very painful for me and all of his friends to see what chemotherapy is doing to him—it’s wiping him out. Not only do these extremely powerful and toxic drugs attack cancer cells, they attack normal, healthy cells as well. In short, they wage war on the person. My friend’s speech is slower, his energy is dwindling, and his once-animated self is non-existent. It’s almost as if the drugs have attacked his soul.

The Pitfalls of Conventional Treatment

I’ve suggested numerous alternatives to him because I know that chemotherapy is not an effective treatment for prostate cancer—multiple studies clearly show that it does not increase longevity. Worse yet, it has overwhelmingly negative side effects.

But so do other conventional therapies, such as radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate), radiation therapy (external beam or radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate), cryosurgery (freezing cancer cells to death with liquid nitrogen), and hormone therapy (testosterone blockade).

These treatments cause a plethora of debilitating side effects, such as urinary and fecal incontinence, erectile dysfunction, nausea, and hair loss. And that’s not the worst of it: Rarely are any of these treatments more effective than “watchful waiting,” or simply observing the course of disease without taking any aggressive action.

Therapies Aren’t Extending Life

This is not opinion but scientific fact. According to a review of more than 12,000 published studies conducted by the Prostate Cancer Panel of the American Urological Association, none of the conventional therapies listed above is better than any of the others—including watchful waiting—at extending the lives of men with prostate cancer.

Despite the multitude of aggressive therapies that modern medicine has conjured up over the last 75 years, the lifespan of patients with prostate cancer hasn’t changed since 1930. In fact, I believe that these aggressive therapies make patients worse.

This is something all men need to be aware of, because almost all of us, if we live long enough, will eventually get prostate cancer. Nearly 80 percent of men in their late 70s have it, and more than 230,000 new cases are diagnosed in this country every year. Yet only about 30,000 men die from prostate cancer annually. The actual death rate from prostate cancer for men over 65 is .003 percent (226 per 100,000). Most men die with prostate cancer—millions of them undiagnosed—not from it.

“Aggressive Watchful Waiting”

I look at prostate cancer quite differently than most physicians and patients. If I had the disease, I would opt for “aggressive watchful waiting.” In other words, I wouldn’t undergo any of the conventional drug, surgical, or radiation therapies—but I wouldn’t just sit around, either. I’d start on a comprehensive program of natural substances that target general health and boost immunity, plus therapies specifically for prostate cancer that are not toxic or debilitating.

First, I’d take a high-dose daily multivitamin and mineral supplement. Because free radical damage occurs in any disease process, I’d make sure I got 200 mcg of selenium, and I’d take additional vitamin C (5,000–10,000 mg daily total).

Every day, I would drink several cups of green tea, which curbs the aggressiveness of prostate cancer cells. As an immune booster I’d add AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound, 1,500–3,000 mg), a potent blend of medicinal mushrooms that increases production of macrophages and natural killer cells. I’d also take fish oil (4–8 1,000 mg capsules) to help curb inflammation, which runs rampant in cancer.

In addition, I would eat fish two or three times a week, along with other sources of lean protein, lots of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, tomato sauce (a good source of protective lycopene), and soy products. I would also take a supplement containing 50 mg of soy isoflavones, just to cover my bases.

Additional Supplements

Coenzyme Q10 (200–300 mg) and saw palmetto (320 mg) would also be key components of my supplement regimen. In addition to its antioxidant activity, coenzyme Q10 has been shown to slow the growth of some prostate cancer cell lines, and saw palmetto, used primarily to reduce symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and improve urinary flow, also slows prostate cancer growth.

I would round out my supplement program with modified citrus pectin (15 g in divided doses), derived from the pulp and peel of citrus fruit. Modified citrus pectin inhibits prostate cancer metastasis by interfering with cancer cells’ ability to clump together and attach to tissues in distant sites, and it retards the doubling time of prostate cancer cells.

If my PSA were significantly elevated, I would take AminoCare A-10 (2 capsules twice a day). This unique over-the-counter product, developed by Stanislaw Burzynski, MD, contains an amino acid derivative that turns off the molecular switches that promote cancer cell growth and turns on those that inhibit growth. And if my cancer metastasized, I’d make a beeline to a treatment facility that offers IV vitamin C and other nontoxic yet effective therapies.

What Should You Do?

I want to make it clear that I’m telling you what I would do if I had prostate cancer. When we see a patient at Whitaker Wellness who has prostate cancer, we make recommendations to enhance his immune system, and if this happens to help overcome his cancer, we’re happy, and he’s ecstatic.

I cannot and will not tell you what to do if you have prostate cancer, but I can tell you that if you receive such a diagnosis, you must take charge of your health and carefully research all your options.

Recommendations

• An excellent place to start is a compelling new book called The Truth About Prostate Health – Prostate Cancer, by noted oncologist Charles B. Simone. It can be purchased by calling (609) 896-2646 or visiting www.princetoninstitute.com.
• Even if you undergo chemo, surgery, or radiation, I suggest you support yourself nutritionally and with natural therapies as well. They can only help.
• Most of the supplements recommended above are available in health food stores or by calling (800) 810-6655.

Reference

• Simone, CB, The Truth About Prostate Health – Prostate Cancer, Princeton Institute, Princeton, NJ, 2005.

Modified from Health & Healing with permission from Healthy Directions, LLC. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher. To subscribe to Health & Healing, click here.