You’ve been diagnosed with cancer. It can be a daunting challenge, but you’re poised to fight for your life. If you are embarking on a cancer-fighting protocol which includes chemotherapy, your objective is to use drugs that are effective in killing cancer cells, thus eradicating the cancer – or stopping or slowing its progress.
But the decision process regarding which chemo drugs are best, is a complex one. There are more than 100 chemotherapy drugs and drug combinations that are used in the oncology world. How do you know the best course, specifically, for you?
NCCN recommendations – digging in
Conventional cancer decisions are based on recommendations specified by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). The NCCN is an alliance of 30 leading cancer centers, nationwide. Their guidelines about the best therapeutic approaches for cancer patient care, including chemotherapy, are universally accepted by mainstream medicine. These guidelines are based on historical and current practices, from evidence-based studies and relevant clinical information. Fundamentally, they are based on mass statistics not YOU, an individual.
NCCN recommendations are not informed by the highly specific, nuanced, cancer micro-
environment and idiosyncratic cancer issues pertinent to the actual individual who will undergo chemotherapy treatments. They are not chosen based on distinct factors, directly related to you. They are general, standard-of-care recommendations. They do not take into account the highly complex matrix of your personal: vascular and inflammatory processes, stromal environment, growth factors and other molecular activity that contribute to the cancer process.
Pioneering cancer research
Meet Dr. Robert Nagourney, an internationally recognized pioneer in cancer research and
personalized cancer treatment. He is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Medical
Oncology and Hematology. I interviewed Dr. Nagourney for Hope Never Dies, wherein he elucidates his perspectives about the current state of affairs in cancer research and treatments.
I share his ground-breaking wisdom, in his interview. Dr. Nagourney is the founder and medical director of Nagourney Cancer Institute and Clinical Professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He performs a test called “functional profiling” in his laboratory that measures how cancer cells respond when exposed to a variety of chemotherapy drugs and drug combinations.
His technicians may test the patient’s actual cancer cells against a dozen different drugs and combinations. This technique reduces the guesswork about drug selection to identify the most effective, least toxic, options. Results take only seven days and offer you and your physician a personalized roadmap for the chemo drugs best suited for treating your specific cancer. The chemo drugs identified are used against your cancer cells.
The power of individualized treatment
Think about it, logically: When visiting a doctor for a sore throat, a patient may undergo a
throat culture to identify bacteria or a fungus that may be causing an infection. After a
laboratory analyzes the culture under a microscope, the doctor is provided with information to identify the specific problem, enabling him or her to prescribe the appropriate drugs. The doctor is evaluating the actual cells from a person’s throat, not making a general guess based on general findings of a group of patients with sore throats.
With specific patient-related data, the physician is able to prescribe the antibiotic or drug that is likely to be most effective for the patient.
It is widely known, and agreed, that chemotherapy treatments may engender harsh side-
effects. It is also known that these protocols are not always successful in causing a tumor
response (shrinking of the tumor). Instead, chemotherapy may only damage healthy cells and tissues, without any benefit to the patient. These are real risks of chemotherapy, which is frequently not a cure-all treatment, and not necessarily a beneficial treatment, depending upon the cancer type, stage, and response or sensitivity of the tumor to the drug(s).
Chemotherapy drugs: What’s best?
So, the question remains: What kind of chemotherapy drugs should you take?
Is there a better way to discern which drugs may be helpful, versus solely accepting the
conventional NCCN guidelines?
Unfortunately, for the most part, the conventional oncology approach does not implement Dr. Nagourney’s personalized, functional testing methodology, but typically implement a
generalized approach that is not individualized to the patient. There are many oncologists,
nationwide, who swear by Dr. Nagourney’s laboratory test and send their patient’s tissue
samples to his laboratory for analysis and drug recommendations … but unfortunately, major medical advancements and paradigm shifts occur at a glacial pace.
It should be noted, in a paper published in December 2015, investigators from Harvard
University endorsed functional profiling and even published an editorial in support
of functional profiling that uses a patient’s living tumor cells exposed to potential therapies to match each patient to the right drug.
Living proof of the power of functional testing
One of the patients I interviewed in Hope Never Dies (who happened to be a medical doctor and Ph.D.), was told in October of 1999 that she had two months to live. She had tried two different kinds of chemotherapy prescribed by oncologists at leading cancer centers, however, her ovarian cancer, which had metastasized, did not respond. In fact, she visited five leading cancer centers from coast to coast and was not given any hope. As she was wasting away, she conducted research online and was fortunate to find Dr. Nagourney.
Long story short: Upon testing her ascites (buildup of malignant fluid), Dr. Nagourney found a drug combination (not used for ovarian cancer, at the time) that melted the cancer cells away. As a result of identifying a successful combination of drugs from his laboratory test, and further treatment by Dr. Nagourney, the patient is enjoying life 21 years after her so-called “expiration date.”
If you or someone you care about is contemplating implementing chemotherapy as part of a cancer fighting regimen, please strongly consider working with Dr. Nagourney and his laboratory to ascertain the best chemotherapy drugs to kill and/or stop the progression of your cancer. Many people who were told to “get your affairs in order” — but who found Dr. Nagourney — are thriving, many years later.
Learn more about Dr. Nagourney’s Functional Profile Test
