Fucoidan, Brevail, Indole-3.... Vs. Tamoxifen? Ki-67?

sunny8

I have a highly ER/ PR positive breast cancer 90% each. I am very hesitant on taking Tamoxifen because I am pre-menopausal and do not want all the side effects. After my biopsy when I was diagnosed with breast cancer my Ki-67 score came back at 38%. Immediately my parents told me to take Fucoidan which is a Japanese seaweed.

I didn't know what it was but they said their friend had cancer and took it and it was very helpful. So, I took it and by the time of my mastectomy one month later my pathology report came back with a ki-67 at 25%.

I am not sure if it was the effect of the Fucoidan but it was the only supplement I was taking. So, I continue to take it. Now, I have been roaming these boards and seeing that others are taking Brevail and Indole-3 along with D-3, aspirin etc. If you had success with any of these other treatments or other suggestions could you let me know?

Lily55

where can you buy Fucoidan please?

sunny8

What I use is Umi No Shizuku. However, I think there are other brands out there that sell Fucoidan. You can google it or pm me.

pipers_dream

I've been taking Brevail and DIM and have opted completely out of conventional therapy. Of course I take a lot of other stuff too but these are the ones you seem to be asking about. They have not made the tumor shrink but it's not grown or metastasized either. One thing that did happen, and I don't know if it was the DIM, Brevail, or iodine that I was taking, but when all this started I was a DD. Now I am a B. Yes quite a difference and I'm thrilled that my breasts no longer hurt. They had been hurting so long that I didn't even realize how uncomfortable I was until the pain was gone. All of that size was due to fibrocystic tissue and the supplements took care of that. I sure do wish I'd known about that sooner. And yes, I had very dense breast tissue, but no longer.

sunny8

Dear Pipers Dream,

Thank you for letting me know about it. I was concerned about the Brevail because I'm not sure if I should mess with my estrogen. My logic is that this estrogen blocker stuff would upset the balance and then cause more problems. But DIM, Indole-3 and fucoidan actually cause the cancer cells to die and if they die then who cares about suppressing the estrogen? Just my thoughts. I noticed that since I started taking Fucoidan, eating broccoli, Kale etc. that my periods aren't coming on as aggressive as before. I was getting my period every 18 days!!! It was terrible. Now I am back to 30 days and I don't feel so tired.

sunny8

Has anyone else been taking Brevail for ER+ breast cancer and had good results? Just wondering. Or taking other supplements with success?

flaviarose

Wow, Piper's dream, that is an amazing story about your reduction in breast size. I had fibrocystic breasts for many years, and had 2 fibroadenomas removed, one when I was 23, now I'm 60. (and, since I had a fibroadenoma back then, I was told I needed yearly mammograms - which I think is one of the triggers of my cancer, but that is another story.) I was a G cup. When they did my lumpectomy I had a reduction at the same time and became a C cup. I recently had the other side reduced to match (sort of, but that's another story.) I have taken the DIM and iodine, and didn't notice any changes.... I'm going to look into Brevail.

mellowtime

Hi sunny8,

My Ki-67 went from 52% at biopsy to 10% at surgery. After googling I realize this reduction is significant and is often used as an indicator of the effectiveness of neoadjuvant therapy in clinical research. However, to my disappointment all my physicians didn't seem to think it's something worth noticing. I'm wondering how you discovered the importance of Ki-67, and what is your oncologist's opinion.

I was taking lots of supplements before surgery, including Curcumin, DIM, Vitamin D, large amount of carrot juice, apricot kernels. I hope the reduction of Ki-67 means that what we are doing is working. But I'm also curious to know how often people see this kind of fluctuation.

Hopeful82014

My Ki-67 went from 43 percent to 4 percent in 5 weeks using Femara. I wouldn't hesitate to use something like fucoidan, and it's great to see people documenting their results with complementary therapies, but I think it might be useful to compare those results to what's achievable with standard treatment, too. And no, I've not had any side effects in 3 months of use.

JohnSmith

Please enlighten me about KI-67.

I was under the impression that KI-67 was measured during pathology, either after a biopsy OR after surgical removal of the tumor (i.e. FINAL pathology).

So, if one is not stage 4 and shows NED (no evidence of disease), how can one possibly harvest tumor cells to test KI67 after the initial surgical removal?

I certainly can see the value of comparing KI67 differences between "pre surgery" and "post surgery", but beyond that I'm confused.

Hopeful82014

John, I'm confused by your question - I'm not sure who (or which post) it's directed at.

In my case, both numbers were derived from core biopsies, one taken at dx., the other after 5 weeks on Femara, used neoadjuvantly.

I'm with you in that once the tumor is removed I don't see what there would be to measure or obtain Ki-67 from.

JohnSmith

It's my confusion. I didn't interpret your post correctly when you said "My Ki-67 went from 43 percent to 4 percent in 5 weeks using Femara."

Makes sense now. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Hopeful82014

I'm glad we cleared that up, John - it's always good to have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

labelle

My ki-67 was < 4% at the time of my needle biopsy. I did not get a ki-67 score from the final pathology of my lumpectomy so I don't know if it changed or not. .

I am taking both DIM and Calcium D-Glucarate to modulate estrogen-also take turmeric and vitamin D. Glad to read Mellowtime's post showing a measurable difference/ lower ki-67 with alternative treatment as that is a good thing.