Molecular Integrative Oncology: Adding to Conventional Cancer Treatment
Featuring: William LaValley, MD
In short
Dr. William LaValley explains how carefully chosen natural compounds and repurposed medications can be layered on top of standard cancer treatments—not replace them—to target the many cell types that support tumor growth. The approach draws on pre-clinical research and is built into personalized plans that patients can bring to their local doctors. It is designed for anyone with cancer who wants a science-based way to explore complementary options safely.
- •Ask your oncologist about adding an integrative medicine doctor to your team—someone trained in natural products and repurposed drugs who can create a plan that fits alongside your standard treatment.
- •If you pursue any complementary supplements or off-label medications, start at very low doses, increase slowly, and schedule a reassessment with your doctor every three months to track what is and isn't working.
- •Examples of evidence-referenced options in this field include curcumin, green tea extract, resveratrol, and low-dose metformin—but these should only be used within a personalized, medically supervised plan, not chosen on your own.
- •Talk to your doctor about liquid biopsies and cell-free DNA testing as a way to monitor how well any complementary interventions are working over time.
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“Because the cancer cells are producing molecules that induce or recruit, or could even be thought of as coerce and kidnap other cells that are good, desirable, necessary, normal, healthy cells in other circumstances and in other locations, now are forced into the service of supporting and maintaining and camouflaging the cancer cells.
Meeting Summary
A cancer diagnosis can feel scary and overwhelming. Your doctor will typically focus on standard care—surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy—but may not know much about complementary treatments that can increase the effectiveness of standard care. Many cancer patients search for ways to boost their health and immune system. Reliable information is hard to find and even harder to turn into a safe plan.
Working with a doctor or nurse trained in complementary treatments can help you make healthy choices like eating well, lowering stress, sleeping enough, and exercising. Most patients considering natural supplements or repurposed drugs want scientific evidence and medical guidance. Dr. William LaValley is uniquely qualified to talk about a scientific approach to complementary cancer therapies.
He has spent 36 years treating patients, and 25 years studying cancer biology. His “Molecular Integrative Oncology” protocols use research to create safe, targeted treatment plans that add to—not replace—standard care. These plans use natural compounds and repurposed medications backed by studies, designed to slow cancer growth and improve life quality. Patients or doctors contact Dr.
LaValley to create personalized, evidence-based plans for local doctors to deliver. Why do you need to understand the scientific approach to complementary molecular integrative oncology?
•Targets many parts of the tumor environment for stronger results.
•Uses data on molecular pathways to understand cancer’s complexity.
•Chooses natural products and repurposed drugs based on research, not guesswork. What are the key elements of the molecular integrative oncology model? “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment”
•Focuses on cancer as a network of pathways, not just single cells.
•Uses drugs already proven safe in other treatments for cancer effects.
•Identifies “pro-cancer” and “anti-cancer” processes to guide therapy.
•Builds on scientific evidence while adding to standard treatments. What do you need to do to access this molecular integrative oncology approach (outside of standard care)?
•Work with an integrative doctor trained in natural and repurposed therapies.
•Get a personalized plan, reviewed and approved by your doctor.
•Start with low doses, increase slowly, and track results closely.
•Understand that risks exist due to limited clinical trials. What are examples of treatment plans of evidence-supported and evidence-based recommendations using molecularly-targeted natural product supplements and re- purposed off-label drug protocols?
•Natural compounds like curcumin, green tea extract, or resveratrol with low-dose drugs like metformin.
•Anti-angiogenic supplements to block tumor blood supply.
•Immunity-boosting natural products plus repurposed immunotherapies.
•Agents that target cancer stem cells and key growth pathways. How should you administer these natural and off-label products?
•Start with very low dosages
•Gradually escalate
•Closely track cause and effect
•Ensure treatment remains well-tolerated
•Reassess every three months What are the potential risks of pursuing therapeutic interventions without comprehensive molecular insights into the tumor microenvironment?
•Unknown side effects or serious reactions.
•Reduced effectiveness if treatments aren’t well-matched to cancer biology.
•Resistance or poor tolerance if dosing isn’t carefully managed. How can you learn more?
•Reach out to Dr. LaValley through his website at https://lavalleymdprotocols.com/
•Explore the use of liquid biopsies and cell-free DNA analysis to monitor the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
•See previous discussions we have had on complementary cancer treatments, such as: “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment”
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•"A Patient’s View on Nutrition, Supplements, Integrative Oncology, and Complementary Therapies"
•"Terrain and the Whole Person in Cancer Care” (Nasha W
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•The information and opinions expressed on this website or platform, or during discussions and presentations (both verbal and written) are not intended as health care recommendations or medical advice by Cancer Patient Lab, its principals, presenters, participants, or representatives for any medical treatment, product, or course of action. You should always consult a doctor about your specific situation before pursuing any health care program, treatment, product or other course of action that might affect your health. “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment” Meeting Notes KEYWORDS Molecular integrative oncology, tumor microenvironment, pro-cancer, anti-cancer directionality, natural products, repurposed pharmaceuticals, pre-clinical trial data, cancer stem cells, vascular cells, immune cells, stromal cells, network pharmacology, personalized treatment plans, therapeutic interventions, molecular pathways. SPEAKERS Will LaValley (88%), Roger Royse (4%), Cindy Ness (4%), John P (4%), David Plunkett (1%) CHAT CONTRIBUTORS Roger Royse, Helen, Saed Sayad, Koryn DelPrince, Michael - Denver SUMMARY Will LaValley discussed the emerging field of molecular integrative oncology, emphasizing the use of a broad spectrum of therapeutic agents, including natural health products and repurposed pharmaceuticals. He highlighted the importance of understanding the tumor microenvironment, focusing on cancer cells, cancer stem cells, vascular cells, immune cells, and stromal cells. LaValley explained the concept of pro-cancer and anti-cancer directionality, guiding therapeutic interventions. He noted the lack of clinical trial data but stressed the potential of pre-clinical trial data to inform treatment plans. LaValley also addressed the challenges of managing treatment tolerance and the potential for resistance, advocating for a personalized, integrative approach. OUTLINE Molecular Integrative Oncology Overview
•Will LaValley introduced the concept of molecular integrative oncology, emphasizing its role in managing cancer.
•He referenced a landmark journal issue in Seminars in Cancer Biology, highlighting the use of a broad spectrum of therapeutic agents.
•The project involved 300 cancer researchers and oncology doctors, focusing on controlling cancer progression by intervening at each hallmark.
•He stressed the importance of pre-clinical trial data in guiding molecular integrative oncology. Understanding the Tumor Microenvironment
•The tumor microenvironment, including cells and molecules within it, is important. “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment”
•The concept of pro-cancer and anti-cancer directionality helps explain molecular pathways, how cells and molecules interact.
•The tumor microenvironment is divided into four main categories: cancer cells, cancer stem cells, vascular cells, and stromal cells.
•The role of vascular cells is supplying oxygen to cancer cells and there are interactions between cancer cells and immune cells.
•It is important to target pro-cancer molecular pathways with anti-cancer interventions.
•The imagery of cellular and molecular meetups describes how cells communicate and affect each other.
•Pre-clinical trial data can be used to make informed therapeutic decisions. Challenges and Opportunities in Therapeutic Interventions
•Managing the tumor microenvironment is complicated.
•An integrative, networked perspective is needed to manage multiple cell types.
•Natural products and repurposed pharmaceuticals can be used for therapeutic interventions.
•It’s important to start with low doses and gradually increase to ensure comfort and tolerance. Personalized treatment Plans
•John asked about the inputs used to identify cells in the tumor microenvironment and shared his experience with next-generation sequencing.
•Dr. LaValley explained the framework for pursuing information about cell types and molecular interactions and the limitations of current protocols and the potential for future advancements in understanding.
•John inquired about the use of liquid biopsies for monitoring treatment effectiveness.
•Dr. LaValley acknowledged the value of liquid biopsies and their potential for providing real-time information.
•Cindy Ness asked about the application of tumor microenvironment emphasis in standard of care institutions.
•Dr. LaValley described the collaborative process with local integrative medicine physicians to implement treatment plans.
•treatment plans need to fit the workflow of local physicians.
•Roger Royse asked about preventing resistance to therapeutic interventions, especially micro-dosing.
•Dr. LaValley explained the importance of targeting multiple molecular sites simultaneously to decrease compensatory signaling.
•Natural products and repurposed pharmaceuticals can enhance chemo sensitivity and decrease chemo resistance.
•Cindy Ness inquired about the influence of epigenetics and ethnicity on the tumor microenvironment.
•Dr. LaValley acknowledged the impact of epigenetics but noted the lack of specific information on ethnicity. “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment” Conclusion
•Dr. LaValley reiterated the importance of understanding the tumor microenvironment and the potential of molecular integrative oncology. “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment”
Full transcript
Will LaValley It's quite an honor to be here for this Cancer Patient Lab information exchange. I see this as a leading edge forum for bringing together ideas and this issue, it gets pretty challenging to understand the big picture and to piece everything together. There's a lot of different perspectives, and a lot of different points of view.
I'm going to present the way that it looks to me to have a coherent, cohesive understanding of what we're looking at and what we're attempting to do in managing cancer. This is the field of molecular integrative oncology, in addition to conventional oncology treatment, not instead of, and based on what was found many years ago.
It was published in a landmark journal, special issue, open access issue of seminars and cancer biology is a good place to start to look at the underlying, foundational concepts of using a broad spectrum of therapeutic agents, including natural health products as well as repurposed pharmaceuticals. Seminars in cancer biology, very high impact journal, generally not open access.
And at the end of 2015, this series of articles, after Dr Leroy low had a project of 300 cancer researchers and oncology doctors who divided themselves up into 10 different groups, each looking at one of the hallmarks of the time.
The three year project was to synthesize information about how to control the progression of cancer by intervening at each one of these hallmarks and came to the conclusion that it's a supported approach to provide a broad spectrum of natural products and repurposed pharmaceuticals. I'll point you to that open access journal, because it really is a good foundation for moving forward molecular integrative oncology.
I think of it as one of the emerging edges of synthesizing the knowledge that we have and that this is primarily based on looking at the pre clinical trial data. So we don't have clinical trial data for this by definition, just start a pre clinical trial The field is molecular integrative oncology. Integrative oncology has a very broad range of options, and we're narrowing the focus to the molecular biology of integrative oncology.
And here is that article. Sorry, that special issue for reference is a three year project. The project is called Getting to know cancer, and they were evaluating the hallmarks and control of cancer using additional available therapeutic agents and. What is it we're actually looking at, and what are the challenges?
The core, from my perspective, is looking at the tumor microenvironment, and it's often neglected to emphasize all the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, and that includes the cells and molecules in the tumor microenvironment, all of the cells and all of the molecules in the tumor microenvironment.
We have the data that we know about those cells and the molecules in the tumor microenvironment is readily available, doesn't mean it's easily available.
And the core seed that makes sense to me to plant is the concept of always looking at either pro-cancer or anticancer activity, pro-cancer or anti cancer directionality, that term pro-cancer or anti cancer directionality can be applied to all of the information we have about the cells in the molecules in the tumor microenvironment.
Seeing all the components in the tumor microenvironment through that lens of pro-cancer, anti- cancer directionality places a perspective for searching as well as understanding the information that's in the literature and that provides a structural framework for making choices and decisions “Molecular Integrative Oncology: In Addition to – Not instead of – Conventional Oncology treatment” about therapeutic agents.
Understanding this core concept is an important privilege in planting that seed here, because I think all of the additional information that we're pursuing comes back to that line. We're maintaining that line of understanding throughout the literature and using it and applying it regarding all the cells in the tumor microenvironment and all the molecules that we're discussing and reviewing.
When you look at the tumor microenvironment, oftentimes it's presented in ways that are quite confusing, very complex, and when we look at it from a high level overview, there's really four main categories that virtually every everything in the literature falls in these four main categories of cells, the cancer cells and cancer stem cells, the vascular cells, the immune cells, large category many different types and the stromal cells, which may be relatively neglected in the attention and are fundamentally relevant in the development of tumor, especially tumor once a tumor, population that community of cells proceeds and grows large enough that you can see it on imagery.
If we take a bigger expansion of that information, the vascular cells by the time a cancer cell is growing, dividing, accumulating, growing, dividing, accumulating, a group of cells that the center of that mass develops a lower oxygenation, hypoxia. And cancer cells, like healthy cells, are always attempting to survive.
They produce molecules to induce nearby blood vessels to either turn and grow to supply more oxygen or to newly grow to supply more oxygen. That vascularization of the tumor is not normal healthy expression of vascular cells, and it is still vascular cells and endothelial cells and pericytes that are the tumor vasculature that are relevant, and the immune cells. There are many different types of cancer cells producing the.
Immune messenger molecules to recruit, induce, even molecularly kidnap, certain components of the immune system that are generally associated with wound healing and anti inflammation, and there are the main cell types, the lymphoid cells with multiple subtypes, and the myeloid cells with multiple subtypes, and their interactions with each other.
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