Whole-Person Cancer Care: Treating the Patient, Not Just the Tumor

“Terrain and the Whole Person in Cancer Care” (Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO) [#95] Brad Power May 1, 2024 “We look at our patients' labs every single month. Then we regroup, plus we check in periodically within that. If something starts to change before that next monthly lab is set, we're going to test sooner than that.

This is how we adjust course and then know what therapies are working when and where.” – Nasha Winters “It's through this methodology: “test, assess, address, don't guess”, that I find that my outcomes might differ from those of my colleagues, because we are following data, not dogma, and we're never guessing in this process.

” – Nasha Winters “Everyone should be worrying about meditation, acupuncture, nutrition, dietary, massage, lifestyle modifications, yoga, exercise. We'd all be served with that, not just the cancer community.” – Nasha Winters “When you take all type stage 4 cancers, and you put them into a bucket, at the end of five years, the average is 12% of those people are still here.

… At the five year mark in my patient population, over 60% are still here.” – Nasha Winters Meeting Summary Advanced cancer patients are motivated to leave no stone unturned in searching for ways to treat their disease.

They may not like their odds in following standard treatments; they may want to know what other combinations of therapies might complement their treatment; or they may have heard stories about "exceptional responders" who defied the odds and beat a terminal diagnosis yet avoided standard treatments.

This pursuit can lead them to find treatments that are not (yet) sanctioned by the medical establishment, which go by a number of names: "integrative oncology", "complementary therapies", "non-Western treatments", "holistic medicine", and "alternative care". A common principle is to treat the whole person, not just the disease.

Examples of alternative treatments include acupuncture, meditation, intravenous Vitamin C, hyperbaric chambers, massage, drinking green tea, mistletoe, dietary supplements, and the ketogenic diet. Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO, is uniquely qualified to explore the opportunities and issues in pursuing non-standard cancer treatments.

She is an exceptional responder herself, having survived a fatal diagnosis of ovarian cancer when she was 19. She has been working in the healthcare industry for over 32 years. She is a nationally board-certified naturopathic doctor, and is a fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO).

She is executive director and Co-Founder Of the MetabolicTerrain Institute of Health which promotes the metabolic approach to cancer by treating the root cause and symptoms of each person's unique cancer process through her Test, Assess, Address (TM) methodology. MTIH is making health within R.E.A.C.H.

alth which promotes the metabolic approach to cancer by treating the root cause and symptoms of each person's unique cancer process through her Test, Assess, Address (TM) methodology. MTIH is making health within R.E.A.C.H. – Research, Education, Advocacy, Community, and Hope – and eventually leading to the creation of a biophilic-designed hospital and research institute on a 1200-acre

“Terrain and the Whole Person in Cancer Care” (Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO) [#95] organic, regenerative farm in Southeast Arizona. She is also CEO of Dr. Nasha, Inc.

, consulting with physicians and presenting on stages around the world, educating hundreds of professionals in the clinical use of mistletoe, understanding of metabolic oncology, and through her creation of robust educational programs for both healthcare providers, institutions, and the public on incorporating vetted integrative therapies in cancer care to enhance outcomes. Dr.

Nasha is a best-selling author of The Metabolic Approach to Cancer - Integrating Deep Nutrition, the Ketogenic Diet, and Nontoxic Bio-Individualized Therapies , co-author of Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology , and the host of Metabolic Matters www.metabolicmatters.org podcast, another platform to bring awareness and empowerment to the public.

Why should you consider integrative/metabolic/naturopathic therapies? To improve outcomes from your cancer treatment, you need to consider your “terrain”, not just your tumor, and tailor your treatment uniquely to you.

Traditional standard treatments can be too blunt, delivered according to a standard protocol, and miss critical factors that may impact you, such as your gut microbiome, immune system, inflammation, hormone modulation, stress, and mental and emotional state. For example, drugs are typically delivered at the maximum tolerated dose, rather than minimum effective dose.

What qualifies as a valuable treatment to consider (or a scam) can depend on your mindset. There are three valid mindsets you can use when evaluating integrative/metabolic/naturopathic therapies: 1.Natural: leaning into combinations of non-standard integrative, naturopathic, and metabolic approaches 2.Complementary: looking for adjuvant therapies to enhance your primary treatments 3.

Medical evidence : relying only on evidence from randomized clinical trials For this discussion, we focus on the natural and complementary mindsets. In a companion discussion with Bapcha Murty , we focus on the complementary and medical evidence mindsets. What can you do to manage your cancer more holistically?

●Take multiple perspectives : Get a comprehensive picture of all of the drivers of your cancer, your mitochondrial health, including your epigenetics, metabolics, toxins, microbiome, immune system, inflammation, hypoxia circulation, hormone modulation, and mental and emotional health.

omprehensive picture of all of the drivers of your cancer, your mitochondrial health, including your epigenetics, metabolics, toxins, microbiome, immune system, inflammation, hypoxia circulation, hormone modulation, and mental and emotional health. Don’t rush to try new treatments without first assessing your terrain to avoid negative responses.

●Test: Get extensive and frequent testing to predict cancer risk and progression. ●Personalize: Get tailored guidance which takes into account all of the data about you. Protocols don’t work. You need to test frequently and tailor your approach.

“Terrain and the Whole Person in Cancer Care” (Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO) [#95] ●Combine: Consider a wide array of complementary tools, adding to the standard of care, including off-label drugs, nutraceuticals, supplements, herbs, and lifestyle modifications, to target specific health issues.

●Advocate: You need to take your health into your hands and become an empowered, educated advocate for yourself. What are some promising integrative/metabolic/naturopathic therapies for cancer?

●Various forms of fasting, therapeutic ketosis, restricted in window eating, fasting, mimicking diets, especially to sensitize cells for radiation treatment ●Oxygen therapies, like hyperbaric oxygen, especially to sensitize cells for radiation treatment or with chemotherapy ●Glutamine blockades to slow tumor growth, alter the tumor microenvironment, and promote the production of durable and highly active anti-tumor T cells ●Off label drugs ●Metformin to inhibit growth and promote differentiation of ovarian, endometrial, and breast cancer, and reduce PSA and delay the progression of prostate cancer ●Certain supplements that change metabolic pathways ●Photodynamic (combines light energy, usually from a laser, with a photosensitizer drug, which makes it toxic to a targeted tissue), for several cancers, such as skin, lung, brain, bladder, pancreas, bile duct, esophagus, and head and neck ●Mistletoe as a complement to chemotherapy and for quality of life ●High dose IV vitamin C ●Hyperthermia (heat or cold), especially as a complement to immunotherapies because daddy social back ●Deuterium depletion of water, as an adjuvant, caused 3-7 fold increases of median survival time in lung cancer, twofold in advanced breast cancer, and also prevented recurrences of early stage breast cancer ●Molecular hydrogen water (“H2”, induces anti-proliferative, anti-oxidative, pro-apoptotic, and anti-tumoral effects) How would you know whether an integrative/metabolic/naturopathic therapy might be right for you?

If your mindset (as described above) is natural or complementary, then you will want to consider metabolic or naturopathic treatments.

l effects) How would you know whether an integrative/metabolic/naturopathic therapy might be right for you? If your mindset (as described above) is natural or complementary, then you will want to consider metabolic or naturopathic treatments. However, evaluating medical treatments is not easy, especially when they are non-standard and lack traditional evidence.

Most patients and caregivers who lean to the natural mindset solve this difficult treatment evaluation challenge by finding and relying on a quality natural healing center and organizing a team, including some combination of (1) a doctor, (2) a nutritionist or naturopath who specializes in oncology, (3) resources at the integrated oncology department found at a nearby academic research cancer centers.

“Terrain and the Whole Person in Cancer Care” (Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO) [#95] You need to be prepared to pay out-of-pocket for these therapies. You might see a doctor in a natural healing center every three months to advise you on things like infrared sauna, ozone therapy, grounding mats, and red light therapy, which can cost something like $600/hour.

A supplement program can cost over $650/month if you are buying only the best quality supplements. The equipment can be expensive. You will need to pay for treatments, such as a nurse practitioner who delivers IV vitamin C treatments every other month. How can you learn more about evaluating complementary treatments?

●Read or view our discussions with Mark Taylor and Gabriele Gavazzi , and Bapcha Murty on complementary therapies and the evidence they have gathered.

●Join the many Facebook pages that focus on health, healing, and natural remedies, such as Jane McLelland’s off-label drugs for cancer, the Patient Led Oncology trial group, Integrative Metabolic approach to health and wellness, Medicine Cabinet-Natural Healing Remedies, Beating Cancer with Diet and Lifestyle, and many more. ●Read books on natural health and wellness.

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.

“Terrain and the Whole Person in Cancer Care” (Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO) [#95] Meeting Notes KEYWORDS patients, cancer, work, therapies, labs, tumor, treatment, terrain, tests, standard, testing, doctors, proteomics, platelets, metabolic, approach, care, data, mitochondria, helped SPEAKERS Nasha Winters (73%), Brian McCloskey (8%), Amit Gattani (6%), Eric Hall (5%), Brad Power (3%), Jeff Krolick (2%), Bapcha Murty (2%), Carla Vass (1%), Chad Magnussen (1%) SUMMARY