Cancer prevention advice for the genetically pre-disposed...

[alexthegra8]

Dear all,

my mother, 60 years old, diabetic (type 2), and daily smoker, recently had a 300g tumor removed from her kidney. In conjunction, she has been diagnosed w/ Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and is currently on the path to trying to get it treated...

In my family, on both sides, AML has been a terminal illness (my father's mom, however, lived until age 90 with it likely due to being a healthy eater and not overweight).

- My question is thus, how can I (32 year old male, 67kg, 176cm), go about in attempting to prevent what might be the inevitable? Of all terminal illnesses, cancer seems to be  the one that is hardest to prevent (compared to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc).

- I am on a CR diet (1500 cal per day), lift weights 4-5 times a week (20-30 min kettlebell work); ride around 100km on the bike each week (total around 3+ hours). 

 

Thank you for your responses,

Edited February 21, 2022 by alexthegra8

[Gordo]

I hear ya, my Dad had prostate cancer, melanoma, and thyroid cancer but he is still alive and well minus a couple organs 😉

This has also been on my mind recently because my father in law was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, it was treated with chemotherapy and radiation which in turn seems to have damaged his lungs leading to a deterioration in his health over the prior 6-12 months, and ultimately to acute respiratory failure and death last month (not covid related in any way).  He was 73 years old.  We are still in shock about it but I guess 73 isn't really that far off from the average life expectancy for an American man.  He also ate the standard American diet and was overweight.

I think your best odds of avoiding cancer to whatever extent it can be avoided, are just the basics everyone knows about - healthy diet, exercise, sleep, and a BMI <22.  Beyond that it's probably beneficial to avoid spiking IGF-1 frequently, and the best way to avoid that is probably by eating a mostly plant based diet or at least eliminating dairy from one's diet.

Nutritionfacts has a bunch of vids related to cancer prevention, for example:

https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=prostate+cancer

 

[Gordo]

 

[AlanPater]

3 hours ago, Gordo said:

73 isn't really that far off from the average life expectancy for an American man.

66.5 assuming he was white and born in 1948: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_09.pdf

Edited February 22, 2022 by AlanPater

[Gordo]

1 hour ago, AlanPater said:

66.5 assuming he was white and born in 1948

Wow, didn't realize it was that low. His Dad lived to 89 and Mom to 93.

[alexthegra8]

7 hours ago, Gordo said:

I hear ya, my Dad had prostate cancer, melanoma, and thyroid cancer but he is still alive and well minus a couple organs 😉

This has also been on my mind recently because my father in law was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, it was treated with chemotherapy and radiation which in turn seems to have damaged his lungs leading to a deterioration in his health over the prior 6-12 months, and ultimately to acute respiratory failure and death last month (not covid related in any way).  He was 73 years old.  We are still in shock about it but I guess 73 isn't really that far off from the average life expectancy for an American man.  He also ate the standard American diet and was overweight.

I think your best odds of avoiding cancer to whatever extent it can be avoided, are just the basics everyone knows about - healthy diet, exercise, sleep, and a BMI <22.  Beyond that it's probably beneficial to avoid spiking IGF-1 frequently, and the best way to avoid that is probably by eating a mostly plant based diet or at least eliminating dairy from one's diet.

Nutritionfacts has a bunch of vids related to cancer prevention, for example:

https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=prostate+cancer

 

Thanks yes I am aware of the literature on IGF-1, an interesting dynamic here is fasting; I regularly fast (20/4) and eat basically three small meals between 2-6pm. I do this for hormesis and generally have become leaner and started to look younger over the last 1.5 years of doing this. Does fasting spike growth hormone? If so, how does this counteract the benefits it produces to mitochondria?

[alexthegra8]

7 hours ago, Gordo said:

 

Amazing how the Czech Republic has a relatively low incidence rate; the average eating regimen here is highly fatty pork, fried cheese, bread, potatoes, and literally no vegetables (not to mention soy) other than red cabbage : )

Edited February 22, 2022 by alexthegra8

[corybroo]

First trial to prove a diet supplement can prevent hereditary cancer

A trial in people with high hereditary risk of a wide range of cancers has shown a major preventive effect from resistant starch, found in a wide range of foods such as oats, breakfast cereal, cooked and cooled pasta or rice, peas and beans, and slightly green bananas.

An international trial—known as CAPP2—involved almost 1000 patients with Lynch syndrome from around the world, and revealed that a regular dose of resistant starch, also known as fermentable fiber, taken for an average of two years, did not affect cancers in the bowel but did reduce cancers in other parts of the body by more than half.

The astonishing effect was seen to last for 10 years after stopping taking the supplement.

"We found that resistant starch reduces a range of cancers by over 60%. The effect was most obvious in the upper part of the gut," explained Professor John Mathers, professor of Human Nutrition at Newcastle University. "This is important as cancers of the upper GI tract are difficult to diagnose and often are not caught early on.

"Resistant starch can be taken as a powder supplement and is found naturally in peas, beans, oats and other starchy foods. The dose used in the trial is equivalent to eating a daily banana; before they become too ripe and soft, the starch in bananas resists breakdown and reaches the bowel where it can change the type of bacteria that live there.

This type of starch has several health benefits and fewer calories than regular starch. We think that resistant starch may reduce cancer development by changing the bacterial metabolism of bile acids and to reduce those types of bile acids that can damage our DNA and eventually cause cancer. However, this needs further research.

Between 1999 and 2005, nearly 1000 participants began either taking resistant starch in a powder form every day for two years, or aspirin or a placebo.

At the end of the treatment stage, there was no overall difference between those who had taken resistant starch or aspirin and those who had not. However, the research team anticipated a longer-term effect and designed the study for further follow-up.

In the period of follow-up, there were just 5 new cases of upper GI cancers among the 463 participants who had taken the resistant starch compared with 21 among the 455 who were on the placebo.