1 man in 36 will die of prostate cancer, which is second only to lung cancer of the death's caused by cancer. The death rate from that is dropping as smoking becomes less common. Men are living longer and getting prostate cancer more often as a result. Prostate cancer may soon be the No.1 cancer killer of men.
Huge sums have been spent on research with only small advances in recent years. Less than four months of increased life expectancy have been added in the last several years by the best but very expensive new drugs. The older drugs, which add years, all lose control in three or less years, normally. With nearly 100 hours of searching the medical literature for diet agents that have at least two pier-reviewed indications of benefit, I found some useful items. These studies typically only test one item at a time, but I use them all in a "shot-gun" approach as I hope for some synergistic effect. In any case, I have solid proof that my "therapeudic diet supplement" helps but is not a cure.
As there is no way to profit or even recover expenses of a properly controlled, large multi-year clinical trial of common diet items, that will never be done by any drug company. So to help others after more than 4 years of controlling my initially very aggressive prostate cancer, I am disclosing a brief personal history of my case. For readers who need more specific information, PM me.
Day 12/12/08, = Day 0, the date of a well done radical prostrate operation. 36 days before D = 0, eight of the 12 prostate biopsy samples were cancer free but other four from right side had Gleason scores of 7,7,7, & 8. Then, until the prostatectomy, 50 mg twice daily of anti-androgen cyproterone acetate (Androcur) was used to suppress Testosterone, T. The removed prostate and directly associated tissue weighed 46 grams. There was no evidence that cancer was not well contained to approximately 30% of the prostate.
After the prostatectomy, no anti-androgen drugs were taken for nearly 10 months: At ~3 months post-op the PSA was less than detection level, i.e. < 0.04mg/ml; at ~6 months post-op PSA was 0.2 mg/ml; and at ~9 months post-op, PSA was 0.8ng/ml. PSA doubling twice in only 3 months was a clear indication that the operation had failed as a cure. Beginning on day D = 292 post-op, when this 0.8 mg/mL result was known, 100mg of Androcur, was taken twice daily and a whole body Tc99 scan was soon made. On D = 328 the negative scan results were known the drug dose was reduced to 150mg/day {100 at breakfast + 50 at dinner} and by then a once-per-day dose of a well researched “therapeudic dietary supplement” was started also and refined with more literature research over several months.
On D = 348, Testosterone, T, was 22 ng/dL and PSA was < 0.04mg/mL, so drug use was reduced, in progressive steps to zero on day D = 449. (Maker advises not to abruptly stop. Last 20 days of this phase out had only 25mg/day drug dose.) On D = 463, PSA still remained below detection limits but T had climbed up to 218 ng/dL as a few weeks with 50, then 20 days with only 25mg/day is too little to do much suppression of T. Hope that my diet had cured me was shaken on D = 525 with measured PSA = 0.05mg/dL & T = 383 and completely shattered on D = 557 with PSA = 0.07mg/dL and T = 447.
Because I knew that anti-androgen agents lose their ability to control PSA, typically in less than three years of continuous use, I used Androcur intermittently. Resuming drug use when PSA approached 0.1mg/mL and going off drug again when T was at “castration level” and PSA was near or below detection level (< 0.04mg/mL). For more than three years, T was suppressed with about seventy 100mg pills taken twice per day (and abruptly stopped with no phase out when T was less than ~40mg/dL) but the off drug intervals were growing shorter and dropped to being “off drug” less than half time.
On the first anniversary of the prostatectomy (D = 365), the therapeudic dietary routine had been in effect for approximately two months, although not all six agents were taken in the initial two weeks and minor variations continued to occur. (Other agents, not having two or more pier-viewed journal articles supporting them were added for about a month and then dropped if no evidence supporting them in my PSA measurements was found.) The quantity of red chili peppers and raw garlic in the daily dose was increased weekly until stools became soft and then remained at that same level until day D = ~2x365.
Four of the non-noxious agents (grape juice, raw broccoli and/or cauliflower, cooked tomato sauce) were consumed liberally throughout the day and green tea replaced coffee at breakfast time for several months. The expensive grape juice was dropped during the second year post OP when I learned than the active agent (Resveratrol) is essentially 100% destroyed in the gut instead of getting into the blood. (A review of the literature I had read showed all the beneficial effects were on in-vitro tissue cultures.) Red peppers, raw garlic, cooked tomato sauce and raw broccoli or cauliflower, were believed to be the most effective agents. Initially they were consumed in approximately equal masses only once/day.
Near the end of one “off-drug” cycle with PSA increasingly rapid towards my self imposed 0.1mg/ml resume drug limit, I doubled the dose of my therapeudic dietary by taking it twice per day. That held PSA constant for about two weeks* so I more than tripled the diet (took more at all three meals) and PSA of next measurement had declined slightly instead of increased near the end of that off-drug cycle. A clear “dose effect.” For a few months, this higher dose occasionally caused “cold sweats” and mild nasua of 10 to 20 minutes duration starting about 10 minutes after ingestion of the diet supplement, but no more than twice per month, and after a few months more, diet only produced a sensation of being cold occasionally, which required putting a sweater on, etc. but it lasted less than hour, if I did not do that. That dose level was taken as the max “safe” dose and continues still (nearly five years now). (The active agent in the very hot red peppers stimulates the nerves that detect heat. The "cold sweat" reaction was due to my body "thinking" it was over heating, I'm almost sure. Fortunately the body does adapt to hot red peppers. I now enjoy ~40 times more than I could initially tolerate!)
After about four years of keeping PSA < 0.1mg/mL, the off-drug interval became only a few weeks, and on the final “off-drug” occasion became 0.14 mg/ml before I could switch to monthly injections of 3.8mg Goserelin (Zoladex brand) with slightly more cost than 200gm/ day of Androcur taken daily. It works indirectly via the pituitary gland to suppress testosterone. It is less convenient than the oral drug, which was finally losing control as expected, but perhaps functioned more than a year longer than it normally does with my intermittent, rather than continuous, use.
My first ever tomography scan of my torso found a small tumor on a kidney, so I needed another operation. Fortunately the post OP pathology report showed it was benign. As I did not like chemically “messing around” with my pituitary gland, the growing cost of continuous “chemical castration” or the inconvenience of monthly visits to get the injections, I had the surgeon castrate me while on the operating table to remove the kidney tumor. That was 10 months ago and only effect I noticed (and my urologist confirmed is typical) is that I tire slightly more easily. I am very happy with this decision, as I use no drugs now, but continue my “therapeudic diet.” I tell this, almost as a duty, to encourage others now undergoing continuous “chemical castration” to consider doing the same – get the “real thing” and get off drugs. What evidence there is, also indicates it will, on average, add years to your life expectancy – there is a thread on that here at Sciforums.
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*Fortunately, in Brazil, I paid nothing** to measure my PSA and T so I did that at decreasing intervals as needed to have accurate knowledge and control of my PSA when I was using drug intermittently. I also confirmed my theory that a growing PSA / T ratio indicates that drug is beginning to lose control of the cancer. I.e. as the disease progresses, some cancerous prostate cells no longer need T to divide.
**Or for either of my two operation each with several days of hospital stay! I admit not all free medical services in Brazil are of the same high quality that I enjoy at the clinic of the best university in all of South America. Normally you must go to the medical center nearest your home, but my Brazilian wife was a full professor there, and as her spouse, I can go there. To give an indication as to how well qualified the medical staff is there, my urologist is fluent in English (a great advantage for me) as he interned and then worked 8 years in the Johns Hopkins Hospital, becoming skilled in laprosopic surgery.
PS Last time I checked, a few years ago, Scherling's Androcur was not FDA approved (perhaps not FDA rejected either as getting their approval is costly?) but is the standard drug in Brazil and at least widely used in England and most of the countries of the former British empire for treating prostate cancer.
Huge sums have been spent on research with only small advances in recent years. Less than four months of increased life expectancy have been added in the last several years by the best but very expensive new drugs. The older drugs, which add years, all lose control in three or less years, normally. With nearly 100 hours of searching the medical literature for diet agents that have at least two pier-reviewed indications of benefit, I found some useful items. These studies typically only test one item at a time, but I use them all in a "shot-gun" approach as I hope for some synergistic effect. In any case, I have solid proof that my "therapeudic diet supplement" helps but is not a cure.
As there is no way to profit or even recover expenses of a properly controlled, large multi-year clinical trial of common diet items, that will never be done by any drug company. So to help others after more than 4 years of controlling my initially very aggressive prostate cancer, I am disclosing a brief personal history of my case. For readers who need more specific information, PM me.
Day 12/12/08, = Day 0, the date of a well done radical prostrate operation. 36 days before D = 0, eight of the 12 prostate biopsy samples were cancer free but other four from right side had Gleason scores of 7,7,7, & 8. Then, until the prostatectomy, 50 mg twice daily of anti-androgen cyproterone acetate (Androcur) was used to suppress Testosterone, T. The removed prostate and directly associated tissue weighed 46 grams. There was no evidence that cancer was not well contained to approximately 30% of the prostate.
After the prostatectomy, no anti-androgen drugs were taken for nearly 10 months: At ~3 months post-op the PSA was less than detection level, i.e. < 0.04mg/ml; at ~6 months post-op PSA was 0.2 mg/ml; and at ~9 months post-op, PSA was 0.8ng/ml. PSA doubling twice in only 3 months was a clear indication that the operation had failed as a cure. Beginning on day D = 292 post-op, when this 0.8 mg/mL result was known, 100mg of Androcur, was taken twice daily and a whole body Tc99 scan was soon made. On D = 328 the negative scan results were known the drug dose was reduced to 150mg/day {100 at breakfast + 50 at dinner} and by then a once-per-day dose of a well researched “therapeudic dietary supplement” was started also and refined with more literature research over several months.
On D = 348, Testosterone, T, was 22 ng/dL and PSA was < 0.04mg/mL, so drug use was reduced, in progressive steps to zero on day D = 449. (Maker advises not to abruptly stop. Last 20 days of this phase out had only 25mg/day drug dose.) On D = 463, PSA still remained below detection limits but T had climbed up to 218 ng/dL as a few weeks with 50, then 20 days with only 25mg/day is too little to do much suppression of T. Hope that my diet had cured me was shaken on D = 525 with measured PSA = 0.05mg/dL & T = 383 and completely shattered on D = 557 with PSA = 0.07mg/dL and T = 447.
Because I knew that anti-androgen agents lose their ability to control PSA, typically in less than three years of continuous use, I used Androcur intermittently. Resuming drug use when PSA approached 0.1mg/mL and going off drug again when T was at “castration level” and PSA was near or below detection level (< 0.04mg/mL). For more than three years, T was suppressed with about seventy 100mg pills taken twice per day (and abruptly stopped with no phase out when T was less than ~40mg/dL) but the off drug intervals were growing shorter and dropped to being “off drug” less than half time.
On the first anniversary of the prostatectomy (D = 365), the therapeudic dietary routine had been in effect for approximately two months, although not all six agents were taken in the initial two weeks and minor variations continued to occur. (Other agents, not having two or more pier-viewed journal articles supporting them were added for about a month and then dropped if no evidence supporting them in my PSA measurements was found.) The quantity of red chili peppers and raw garlic in the daily dose was increased weekly until stools became soft and then remained at that same level until day D = ~2x365.
Four of the non-noxious agents (grape juice, raw broccoli and/or cauliflower, cooked tomato sauce) were consumed liberally throughout the day and green tea replaced coffee at breakfast time for several months. The expensive grape juice was dropped during the second year post OP when I learned than the active agent (Resveratrol) is essentially 100% destroyed in the gut instead of getting into the blood. (A review of the literature I had read showed all the beneficial effects were on in-vitro tissue cultures.) Red peppers, raw garlic, cooked tomato sauce and raw broccoli or cauliflower, were believed to be the most effective agents. Initially they were consumed in approximately equal masses only once/day.
Near the end of one “off-drug” cycle with PSA increasingly rapid towards my self imposed 0.1mg/ml resume drug limit, I doubled the dose of my therapeudic dietary by taking it twice per day. That held PSA constant for about two weeks* so I more than tripled the diet (took more at all three meals) and PSA of next measurement had declined slightly instead of increased near the end of that off-drug cycle. A clear “dose effect.” For a few months, this higher dose occasionally caused “cold sweats” and mild nasua of 10 to 20 minutes duration starting about 10 minutes after ingestion of the diet supplement, but no more than twice per month, and after a few months more, diet only produced a sensation of being cold occasionally, which required putting a sweater on, etc. but it lasted less than hour, if I did not do that. That dose level was taken as the max “safe” dose and continues still (nearly five years now). (The active agent in the very hot red peppers stimulates the nerves that detect heat. The "cold sweat" reaction was due to my body "thinking" it was over heating, I'm almost sure. Fortunately the body does adapt to hot red peppers. I now enjoy ~40 times more than I could initially tolerate!)
After about four years of keeping PSA < 0.1mg/mL, the off-drug interval became only a few weeks, and on the final “off-drug” occasion became 0.14 mg/ml before I could switch to monthly injections of 3.8mg Goserelin (Zoladex brand) with slightly more cost than 200gm/ day of Androcur taken daily. It works indirectly via the pituitary gland to suppress testosterone. It is less convenient than the oral drug, which was finally losing control as expected, but perhaps functioned more than a year longer than it normally does with my intermittent, rather than continuous, use.
My first ever tomography scan of my torso found a small tumor on a kidney, so I needed another operation. Fortunately the post OP pathology report showed it was benign. As I did not like chemically “messing around” with my pituitary gland, the growing cost of continuous “chemical castration” or the inconvenience of monthly visits to get the injections, I had the surgeon castrate me while on the operating table to remove the kidney tumor. That was 10 months ago and only effect I noticed (and my urologist confirmed is typical) is that I tire slightly more easily. I am very happy with this decision, as I use no drugs now, but continue my “therapeudic diet.” I tell this, almost as a duty, to encourage others now undergoing continuous “chemical castration” to consider doing the same – get the “real thing” and get off drugs. What evidence there is, also indicates it will, on average, add years to your life expectancy – there is a thread on that here at Sciforums.
--------
*Fortunately, in Brazil, I paid nothing** to measure my PSA and T so I did that at decreasing intervals as needed to have accurate knowledge and control of my PSA when I was using drug intermittently. I also confirmed my theory that a growing PSA / T ratio indicates that drug is beginning to lose control of the cancer. I.e. as the disease progresses, some cancerous prostate cells no longer need T to divide.
**Or for either of my two operation each with several days of hospital stay! I admit not all free medical services in Brazil are of the same high quality that I enjoy at the clinic of the best university in all of South America. Normally you must go to the medical center nearest your home, but my Brazilian wife was a full professor there, and as her spouse, I can go there. To give an indication as to how well qualified the medical staff is there, my urologist is fluent in English (a great advantage for me) as he interned and then worked 8 years in the Johns Hopkins Hospital, becoming skilled in laprosopic surgery.
PS Last time I checked, a few years ago, Scherling's Androcur was not FDA approved (perhaps not FDA rejected either as getting their approval is costly?) but is the standard drug in Brazil and at least widely used in England and most of the countries of the former British empire for treating prostate cancer.
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