Blog Archives - Hope Never Dies

Many Paths to Wellness – 2023 CAM for Cancer Conference

January 31, 2023 by Rick Shapiro Leave a Comment

The Annie Appleseed Project was founded in 2000 by Ann Fonfa, a 25 year breast cancer survivor and warrior, whose journey was chronicled in Hope Never Dies.

The goal was to bring complementary and alternative therapies to the mainstream, while also serving as a place where all ideas are scrutinized.

From its inception, the Annie Appleseed Project sought to …

Challenge the existing treatment paradigm
Question the existing research methods and subjects
Propose new directions for both, ending with true Integrative Oncology

The first Annie Appleseed Conference took place in 2005.

2023 Conference: CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) for Cancer

The theme of this year’s conference is Many Paths to Wellness. A robust agenda includes presentations from medical doctors, PhDs, researchers, experts, Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) and practitioners, as well as survivors, including Ann Fonfa herself.

Many Paths to Wellness

Within this year’s packed agenda are the following renowned speakers and their topics:

Keith Block, MD: Known to many as the patriarch of Integrative Cancer Medicine, Dr. Block will discuss Cancer Recovery: Importance of Overcoming a Disrupted Terrain
Kelly Turner, PhD: Kelly will share a documentary screening of Personalizing Herbal Supplements
Charles Bens, PhD: A topic sure to resonate with all attendees, Dr. Bens will discuss Optimizing Cancer Prevention and Recovery
Isaac Eliaz, MD, MS will examine The Survival Paradox: Targeting the Root Cause of Cancer and Chronic Diseases

Conference Details, Registration & Logistics

15th Annual Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Cancer Therapies Conference

Feb 23-25, 2023 in West Palm Beach, FL

The conference begins on Thursday, February 23 at 2PM (arrive a bit early to pick up badge and giveaway bag). The conference ends Saturday, February 25 at 5PM.

Full Conference – Up to 13 hours CEU’s (Continuing Education Credits) or CNE’s
One day (Thursday, Friday or Saturday) or two day registrations are also available

Conference link

Registration

Testimonials from past conferences

Background and history – Annie Appleseed Project

The Annie Appleseed Project hosts a yearly CAM Conference for Cancer: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Cancer Therapies. It is an opportunity for practitioners and laypeople to learn more about options in the treatment of cancer. Each year, speakers report on developments and changes in the world of cancer.

The Annie Appleseed Project offers information, survival strategies and support for individuals dealing with cancer, including …

Nutrition
Mind/Body
Detoxification
Dietary supplements
Physical activity/exercise
Natural therapies/substances
Lifestyle issues

I look forward to seeing you at the CAM for Cancer conference!

Finding Your Best Anti-Cancer Nutrition Plan

April 8, 2021 by Rick Shapiro Leave a Comment

Anti-Cancer Nutrition

Dr. Jeanne Wallace, Ph.D., C.N.C. is widely regarded as a prominent international expert in nutritional oncology. She is the founder and director of Nutritional Solutions, which provides cancer patients across the U.S. and abroad evidence-based dietary, nutritional and botanical support and cancer consulting services, to complement conventional care.

“Cancer cells do not exist in isolation; they are influenced by the environment within the body.”

– Dr. Jeanne Wallace, Ph.D, C.N.C.

Dr. Wallace is deeply involved in cutting-edge translational research, providing innovative cancer nutrition guidance to people with cancer, their families, oncologists, naturopaths and others. She, and her colleague, Michelle Gerencser, M.S., have served thousands of clients around the world, consulting by phone and Skype.

The deeply-focused efforts of Dr. Wallace and Michelle Gerencser are grounded in the evolving understanding of the interrelationship between nutritional and metabolic factors, and the hallmark characteristics of cancer cells.

Harness the Oncometabolic Advantage

Dr. Wallace states, “Cancer cells do not exist in isolation; they are influenced by the environment within the body. Our goal is to teach our clients dietary and lifestyle strategies to modulate this environment, so that it is a less favorable host for tumor growth and progression. This approach is particularly well suited as a complement to conventional medical treatments for cancer, and allows our clients to optimize their care by integrating the best of both worlds.”

I am pleased to share a five-minute video that explains Dr. Wallace’s approach to finding the best anti-cancer diet and nutrition plan for you. Take the time to review this very informative presentation.

Read my in-depth interview with Jeanne Wallace in my book, Hope Never Dies.

Fasting to Mitigate Chemo Side-Effects

March 18, 2021 by Rick Shapiro Leave a Comment

The intention of chemotherapy is to kill cancer cells and shrink malignant tumors. It can extend survival in patients diagnosed with various malignancies. However, well-known and unfortunate consequences of chemotherapy are the harsh, potential side-effects (including cardio-toxicity, neurotoxicity, mucosititis, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, cramps and hair loss) that engender harmful problems to the human body. These side-effects can be temporary or cause permanent challenges, and limit dose intensity and the consistent-scheduled implementation of treatment cycles. Some patients undergoing cancer treatment fear the toxic side-effects even more than the cancer.

So, the question is:
Are there any therapeutic approaches that can modulate these harmful effects, whereby
patients can complete their chemotherapy regimens without experiencing harsh injuries to the body?

Answer: YES!

Controlling chemo side-effects

Fortunately, there are several methods that can mitigate the harsh side-effects of chemo treatment. One approach, in particular, is free and doesn’t require a prescription or any kind of medical intervention. That approach is: STRATEGIC FASTING.

I’ve included herein, below, the citation for an insightful five-minute You Tube video, featuring Dr. Valter Longo, Ph.D. (the pre-eminent “fasting” researcher) explaining why cancer cells are more vulnerable to chemotherapy and why fasting makes normal cells more resistant to the effects of chemotherapy. He talks about how an integrative approach is the most powerful approach when fighting cancer, versus exclusively a conventional or alternative approach.

Dr. Dwight McKee , an internationally distinguished researcher and clinician, is trained in immunology and board-certified in oncology and hematology. He is renowned for his sophisticated knowledge regarding integrative care, nutritional science and botanical medicine. I had the privilege to interview Dr. McKee in Hope Never Dies, where he said:

“I advise patients to fast the day before, the same day and the day after chemotherapy. Water and tea are OK, but it is essentially a fast. The fast appears to cause normal cells to down regulate their metabolism and hibernate. Cancer cells can’t hibernate. This concept reduces toxicity and comes from Dr. Valter Longo’s work at the University of Southern California. I know that fasting works based upon my clinical practice.”

Abundant, convincing, and growing evidence demonstrates that short-term fasting is safe. It protects healthy cells from toxicity while enhancing the efficacy of a variety of chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of many different tumor types.

Some patients may not have the vitality or energy to engage in such fasting regimens. This potential factor should be assessed prior to implementing a fasting strategy.

Chemo side-effects substantially reduced

A noted case series report described 10 cases in which patients, ranging in age from 44 to 78 and diagnosed with a variety of malignancies, voluntarily fasted prior to and after treatment. Not one of these patients, who received an average of four cycles of chemotherapy drugs, reported significant side-effects from the chemotherapy. This study found that fasting was well-tolerated and associated with a reduction of multiple chemotherapy induced side-effects, compared with patients who did not fast and ate any foods they desired.

I have encouraged several cancer patients to implement a fasting strategy, prior to embarking on their chemotherapy protocol. To their delight, and to the surprise of their oncologists, they tolerated the chemotherapy much better than other patients who did not engage in a fasting strategy — according to their oncologists.

If you are contemplating implementing chemotherapy as part of a cancer fighting approach, I strongly suggest you consider incorporating fasting to help tolerate the potential harsh side-effects, allowing the chemotherapy to do its job without interruption, and without wreaking havoc on your body and organs.

If your doctor is skeptical about incorporating this adjunctive therapy, I encourage you to present them with the studies cited in this post, which recommend and support this toxicity-mitigating approach.

Read more about evidence-based cancer care

Curcumin: A Powerful Anti-Cancer Agent

February 25, 2021 by Rick Shapiro Leave a Comment

Curcumin is a component of the spice turmeric, which can be found in many people’s spice cabinets. Commonly consumed in many Asian countries as a culinary ingredient, it gives curry and mustard their yellow color. Turmeric has also been used for medicinal purposes for centuries.

Curcumin is the biologically active agent in turmeric. Approximately 2% to 5% of turmeric is composed of Curcumin. Many studies and clinical evidence confirm that curcumin delivers myriad benefits to cancer patients. One of its primary proven benefits is its anti-inflammatory effect.

Inflammation fighter

An abundance of evidence from numerous studies (preclinical, animal and clinical) strongly suggest curcumin exerts potent anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities.

It is well-known that chronic inflammation is an underlying problem and driver of many diseases, including cancer. And, cancer further drives and spreads internal-chronic inflammation. The NF-kB (nuclear factor kappa beta) protein, a proinflammatory signaling pathway (aka – transcription factor), is essentially the “master-switch” for inflammation. It is one of the most important molecules linking chronic inflammation to cancer problems, including cell proliferation, angiogenesis, tumor promotion and metastasis.

Inhibiting and suppressing NF-kB signaling is a therapeutic objective when fighting cancer, and the natural agent curcumin has been shown to be effective in achieving this goal. An abundance of evidence from numerous studies (preclinical, animal and clinical) strongly suggest curcumin exerts potent anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities. In addition to its role in fighting cancer, curcumin plays a multifaceted role in cancer prevention. Due to its many anti-inflammatory benefits, it also delivers a cascade of other benefits for other inflammatory conditions, including arthritis.

Personally (and not for cancer reasons), I have found curcumin to be very effective, and I incorporate it into my daily supplementation regimen to alleviate sundry aches and pains, by mitigating that gnarly instigator: inflammation. For me, it works wonders!

Curcumin dosage and interactions

Dosage always matters, whether a patient is using pharmaceutical drugs or evidence-based supplements. Thus, an individual patient’s issues will dictate appropriate dosing. Curcumin has been used, up to 12 grams per day, for up to three months without any significant side-effects, although most cancer patients take a lesser amount of approximately 3.0 to 8.0 grams per day, for longer time periods.

Also, drug interactions need to be assessed with any supplement or pharmaceutical agent. It has been suggested that curcumin may have an anticoagulant effect, thus if a patient is already taking anticoagulant agents (such as blood thinners), caution would be advised.

Absorption

One challenge with curcumin is the notion that it is not bioavailable — in other words, it doesn’t absorb well into one’s system. Thus, it is advisable to take curcumin (if a capsule or tablet) with bioperine or piperine (derived from black pepper) which, purportedly, helps enhance absorption. Many curcumin supplements include this component in their ingredients.

Of course, effective cancer protocols require a sophisticated multifaceted approach. I strongly recommend you explore curcumin as a strong anti-inflammatory agent, to be included in the toolbox of comprehensive and effective interventions.

Finally, prior to embarking on any medical or healthcare protocol, intervention or regimen, always seek the counsel of a qualified doctor or healthcare professional.

Learn more about curcumin, and the power of other integrative therapies, in my book, Hope Never Dies.

Buy the Book

Compelling “Pearls of Wisdom” from Hope Never Dies Cancer “Survivors”

November 10, 2017 by Rick Shapiro Leave a Comment

Compelling Pearls of Wisdom Hope Never Dies

There is much to be learned from cancer patients who have faced dire cancer prognoses and who survive, and thrive, many years past their so-called expiration dates.

Elizabeth, MD, Ph.D: Diagnosed in 1999, Ovarian and Uterine Cancer

She was told: “You don’t understand. You must face this. You are dying and you don’t have more than a few weeks, maybe 2 months. We don’t think you will make it until Christmas.” Elizabeth is retired and enjoying life.

Elizabeth’s wisdom: “In the beginning of this journey, I felt disbelief and anger. Since my successful treatments, I came to accept ‘what is’ and enjoy the moments in life. It is sad, but I find that some cancer patients are not sure if they want to live. You must want to live. I find that cancer patients who do the best are those who become advocates for themselves, who direct their own therapies versus patients who just go along with their doctors. People should not lose hope. Keep on searching; follow your heart.”

Julie, Attorney: Diagnosed in 2008, Triple Negative Breast Cancer

She was told: “You have three to four months to live.” Julie is practicing law, enjoying her family and raising her kids.

Julie’s wisdom: “I have gained a tremendous appreciation for every day I am alive. I looked down the barrel of a gun. My transformation has been immensely positive. Life is just beautiful. Enjoy it! If you are considering conventional treatments, take a close look at the success of those treatments. Don’t blindly follow the herd.”

Janet, Former Practicing Nurse: Diagnosed in 1995, Metastatic Lung Cancer

She was told: “You have three to six weeks to live.” Janet is retired and enjoying life.

Janet’s wisdom: “I truly believe how I eat impacts every cell in my body. I am now more open and trusting. I used to be cynical, skeptical and an angry person. I believe anything is possible. I thank God my doctor was open-minded and encouraged me to explore macrobiotics. Unfortunately, we eat like pigs in America. I believe there is more than one way to heal cancer. I never would have tried integrative or alternative therapies, but my doctor suggested it. Since I left hospice, life has been great. I thank God every morning for the new day, before my feet hit the floor. Never give up, never give up!”

John, Electrical Engineer and Corporate Executive: Diagnosed in 1991, Melanoma

He was told: “There are not any successful treatments here. You may want to consider participating in a study.” John is retired and enjoying life.

John’s wisdom: “Cancer puts everything in perspective about what is important in life. In my former life, I was a corporate star, a hotshot executive. That is not important anymore. I now see my kids and grandkids. I now have more time to meditate, read and study all kinds of things about the world. I recommend meditation to everyone. I believe it is very helpful. People eat too much food. They throw poison in their bodies. Stay away from it. Statistics don’t tell you anything about what will happen to you. They can’t tell you about any particular person or a specific issue. Surround yourself with people who want to be healthy.”

I will update you in future blog posts about their: advice, feelings, opinions and pearls of wisdom. We can all learn from their unique perspectives.

Have a Wonderful Healthy Day and Keep the Hope!

Rick Shapiro, Author

Can Food Choices Influence the Prevention and Progression of Cancer

June 29, 2017 by Rick Shapiro Leave a Comment

Can food choices influence the prevention and progression of cancer?

SHORT ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY YES. This is a deep and exhaustive cancer subject and has been a topic of debate for centuries. The so-called “Father of Modern Medicine” Hippocrates, born approximately 2,500 years ago, is well known for his famous quote:

Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Let Medicine Be Thy Food

His prescient understanding of how food impacts our health was remarkable, given the lack of analytical testing mechanisms (blood work and other medical-diagnostic tools) at his disposal. He was at the forefront of in-depth clinical observation and documentation. Today, an abundance of evidence strongly suggests that the inclusion of certain foods and the exclusion of other foods can have a major effect upon cancer. I will keep this article brief and expand upon it in future articles, but provide you, herein, with some “food for thought.”

Jeanne Wallace, Ph.D.

Jeanne wrote a compelling chapter in Hope Never Dies. She is a world-renowned specialist in the dietary and nutritional cancer world.

In speaking with Jeanne, I pointed out that there are many so-called anti-cancer diets, including the gluten-free, macrobiotic, Gerson, Ludwig, ketogenic, paleo, raw, vegan, vegetarian, and other diets. She takes a non-dogmatic approach:

“There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these diet approaches. While some of our clients might thrive on a vegetarian diet, others will be healthier eating some humanely raised, pasture-fed/finished meat. While a Gerson-type diet (organic plant-based) will provide ample phytonutrients for modifying gene expression, it can be disastrous to one’s blood sugar control.

Ditto macrobiotic approaches, which can be very healing for individuals whose genetic predisposition suits them to such an eating plan, but will worsen insulin resistance in others. A raw foods diet often works well as a short-term intervention to increase one’s connectedness to food vibrancy, but carotenoids and other flavonoids have low bioavailability in their raw state and are optimized when cooked and eaten with healthy fats.”

Jeanne and her staff engage in global translational research. They educate and counsel clients (and doctors) about evidence-based nutrition, which is tailored to patients based upon numerous factors. These factors comprise an individual’s biochemical criteria, including a client’s specific cancer type, stage and other related issues.

Jeanne also asserts:

A diet that fosters systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, excess blood viscosity, nutrient imbalances and immune suppression will have a permissive effect with malignant cells. So, contrarily, our primary goal is to lessen these factors and create an internal environment that is not conducive to cancer growth and progression. Most exciting is the discovery that our diet has direct effects on cancer genes.

We’ve learned that genes are more plastic than originally thought. Gene expression is not written in stone; we’re not stuck with the genetic luck-of-the-draw with which we’re born. While we can’t change the actual gene, we do have significant influence over which genes are expressed and which are kept dormant. Research in nutritional epigenetics is revealing how—at the molecular and genetic level—various anti-cancer foods repress the expression of oncogenes (genes that foster the growth and promotion of cancer) and up-regulate the expression of tumor suppressor genes.

Keith Block, M.D.

Dr. Keith Block is a world-renowned integrative cancer doctor. He has also written a compelling chapter in Hope Never Dies.

He states:

Regarding the impact of diet, it is clear that the typical Western diet can drive the onset of malignancy. For example, according to several studies, red meat can increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 25 to 75 percent. Also, high milk and calcium consumption are associated with a 15 to 200 percent increase in prostate cancer. And one randomized controlled trial showed that when breast cancer patients reduced their fat intake to 20 percent or lower, they reduced their risk of recurrence by an average of 24 percent! This is on par with Tamoxifen, which has shown a 25 percent reduction in recurrence rates after taking it for five years.

Another example: 25 grams of flax per day will cut your Ki67, a proliferation marker for cancer, by 34 percent. There is also evidence to suggest that 25 grams of flaxseed per day can induce apoptosis (the normal, genetically-regulated process of cell death) by 30 percent.

Yet, we don’t talk about nutrition specificity as medical culture. There is also impressive data showing that if you shift to a whole grain, legume-based, vegetable and fruit diet, you cut back cancer risks dramatically, yet there is less than a three percent chance that your cancer specialist will bring up a discussion about diet with you!

Keith treats his patients with a multi-interventional, systemic and comprehensive integrative regimen, based upon objective diagnostic criteria tailored to the individual, and not based upon the strict “standard of care,” alone.

What are the best foods to eat to avoid cancer?

I’m often asked for lists of what to eat and avoid. There is no perfect list of anti-cancer foods because everyone is an individual with different needs, but there are some common sense choices, based upon numerous research studies that certain foods and food categories should be avoided and, on the contrary, others included.

Anti-cancer food suggestions from Jeanne Wallace, Ph.D.

Cruciferous vegetables (including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, brussel sprouts, radishes, and mustard)
Carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables (known for their deep orange, red and yellow hues)
Leafy greens
Berries
Spices
Green tea

Foods generally deemed deleterious to cancer prevention

Refined, processed and packaged foods with excessive sugar
GMOs and artificial ingredients
Pesticide or hormone-laden factory-farm-raised meats/poultry/dairy/eggs
Preserved meats and fish with nitrates
Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages
Refined vegetable oils
Hydrogenated and trans fats

Intelligent food choices that are adhered to and implemented every day can play a major role in preventing cancer and impacting its progression.

Be aware of what you eat at every meal and understand that food or food products can have a direct effect on your body, especially if you have been diagnosed with cancer and are attempting to thwart its progression or keep it in remission.

Have a Wonderful Healthy Day and Keep the Hope!

Rick Shapiro, Author

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