The LAST thing cancer patients need is greater risk from their “therapy”

Risk Upon Risk

If you’re fighting cancer, the LAST thing you need is increased risk of tumor progression or recurrence.

But that’s exactly what’s at risk if your doctor has prescribed aggressive treatments to curb anemia with a class of drugs known as ESAs.

Tumor progression and tumor recurrence are bad enough. But the black box warning for Procrit (the best known of the ESAs) actually cautions that the drug may also increase risk of death and cardiovascular events.

Now, new research from New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University shows that ESA users DOUBLE their risk of blood clots in the lungs and legs compared to cancer patients who don’t use the drugs.

Without question, anemia is a serious problem for cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. But if you’re fighting cancer AND anemia, you must talk with your doctor about these significant risks.

When you do, you can also discuss a far safer and far less expensive way to avoid the debilitating effects of anemia.

Treatment without toxicity

Dr. Dawn Hershman, who led the New York/Columbia ESA study, told Reuters Health: “I think the take-home message is we really do need to think about how we look for long-term toxicity in patients.”

From your lips to the FDA’s ears, Dr. Hershman!

While the medical mainstream attempts to get its act together in protecting patients from drug toxicity (don’t hold your breath), cancer patients at risk of anemia will hopefully find their doctors open to trying non-drug approaches.

For instance: ginseng.

Ginseng is an adaptogen, which means it works through the adrenal glands to help the body adapt to and cope with stresses such as fatigue and anxiety.

In a 2007 study, researchers based at the Mayo Clinic recruited more than 280 cancer patients who were all expected to live for at least six months. Subjects were divided into four groups to receive three different daily dosage levels of ginseng or placebo for eight weeks.

Those in the low-dose ginseng group reported little improvement in fatigue or general well-being compared to the placebo group.

Response was better in the group that received 1,000 mg of ginseng daily. But the best response was in the 2,000 mg group. Nearly 30 percent reported moderately better or much better fatigue symptoms, with improvements in vitality and well-being.

Talk to your doctor before using ginseng to treat anemia. And while you’re on the topic, also ask about vitamin B-12 and folate deficiency. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy deplete your body’s store of nutrients. And depletion of these two key nutrients may play an important role in the development of anemia.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“Patterns of Use and Risks Associated With Erythropoiesis- Stimulating Agents Among Medicare Patients With Cancer” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Published online ahead of print, 11/10/09, jnci.oxfordjournals.org
“Study Confirms Clot Risks with Anti-Anemia Drugs” Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters Health, 11/10/09, reutershealth.com
“Herb Shows Potential to Reduce Cancer-Related Fatigue” North Central Cancer Treatment Group press release, 6/2/07, eurekalert.org