Issel clinic

Chillipadi, It's so good to hear progression has been slowed. That's good evidence and therefore gives us hope that these cells are dying! 

I'm curious, (and if I'm getting too personal, just say so) have they given the lesions a name or do they just say it's the cancer coming through the skin? The reason I'am asking is because of the fungal aspect. Those who know fungus (mycologists) say that fungi is the cause of many different diseases; Allergies and respiratory disease (sarcoidosis), arthritis, hormone problems, mental dysfunction, autoimmune diseases, weight gain, hair loss, skin disease (psoriasis, eczema, scleroderma),  depression, weakened immunity, gout, bladder disease and kidney stones....the list goes on.  I read that cyclophsphamide is used in the treatment of cancer as well as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, various forms of vasculitis and advanced mycosis fungoides (myco is greek for fungi).

Mycosis fungoides: severe disorder in which large necrotic tumors resembling mushrooms present on a patient's skin.

My mind was just wondering after reading your post about the whole fungi connection.  I have found quite a few drugs that are used in cancer chemotherapy as well as in the treatment of fungus. Maybe there's a connection there??

Chiilipadi,  So the lesions are white?

Perhaps I mis-spoke. I said I have found several drugs that are used in chemo as well as treatment of fungus.  I should have said - Some may currently be used and others are currently being studied and have been found to benefit in the treatment of both. There are also compounds that have been taken from plants such as taxol. Most plants have mechanisms to protect them from fungal invasion. Scientists have discovered these mechanisms and learned how to use them in chemo therapy.    

Here are some abstracts found on the Pub Med website. These are antifungal drugs that have been studied and found to have possible benefit in cancer treatment.

Ketoconazole-prostate cancer

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21092758

Terbinafine-anticancer action of terbinafine in human cancer cell lines.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12794767

Griseofulvin

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18384115

Taken from wikipedia: Potential for cancer treatment  (Griseofulvin)

When cancer cells divide (undergo mitosis), they use an unusual mechanism to ensure the correct genetic material is present within each of the resulting tumor cells. Laboratory experiments at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) show that griseofulvin causes cancer cells to fail to divide the chromosomes correctly, which eventually leads to tumor cell death. Griseofulvin does not interfere with cell division in healthy cells. The observed effect is not strong, but is significant. Griseofulvin may be combined with other treatments to improve its effectiveness and may lead to the development of more effective future drug treatments with very low toxic side effects^[1].

Chillipadi, Hope you had a good holiday! Has your doctor(s) commented on or diagnosed your lesions? Are they calling it cancer or a secondary infection due to a weak immune system? I am certainly no doctor but I have become very interested in mycology since my most recent cancer diagnosis (basil cell and melanoma prior) and have begun to try to self educate on the subject. I have a text book called Clinical Mycology with "great pictures" (ick).  There is a photo of a person's foot with what is described as "nodular, cauliflower-like lesions" that appear to be various colors...brown, pink, red, whitish. The condition in the photo is called chromoblastomycosis.  It is unlikely that's what yours is because it says it unsually occurs in tropical to sub-tropical regions and most often in the lower extremities (mainly because, as it says the most common way of contracting the fungus is through "traumatic inoculation into exposed skin", such as a thorn, wood splinters or minor cuts). It states that in certain parts of the world, different types of fungus are more likely than others to cause this infection. For example, in Brazil, Columbia, Japan and humid parts of Venezuela, F. pedrosoi (fungus name) is the most common causative agent while in Australia and arid parts of Venezuela, C. carrionii is the most common cause.  Site of involvement also seems to differ in patients from various geographic locations.  In most countries, lower extremities are the most frequently affected sites. The exceptions are Japan and Australia , where upper body sites predominate.  Most cases occur among males 30-60 (again, because males represent increased exposure rates due to the male predominance of outdoor workers), however in Japan, the ratio of males to females was equal.

This probably doesn't "fit" in your case but your lesions sure sounds like the fungal infections I've read about.

If pathologists aren't told to look for a particular pathogen (fungus in the case) they may not see it. They see abnormal cells with abnormal nuclei and call it cancer. Diagnosis of a fungal infection is typically made by clinical observation, then by histopathic examination of tissues, including skin scrapings or biopsy specimens. These can be examined under a microscope and may demonstrate sclerotic bodies without special staining ( a technique used to enhance contrast in a micrscopic image).  Cultures must also be grown in a special media (4-6 weeks) to determine the causative agent (species of fungus)

It says the lesions can come and go but "spontaneous regression with complete resolution is unusual."  Also, no single therapy is right for every situation and several have been used including surgical intervention (cryosurgery), topical therapies and chemotherapies.  ("In general chemotherapy has been minimally successful") The most common antifungal drugs it seems they've used are the "azole" family of drugs such as itraconazole, ketoconazole, thiabendazole in combination with flucytosine. It also lists a trial with the drug terbinafine, at 500 mg per day for 12 months. The results were a mycologic cure in 82.5% of patients and total cure in 47% of patients with lesions present longer than 10 years. 

 The drugs listed have to be obtained by prescription and most traditional doctors tend to "shun" the fungal diagnosis. I dont know why... maybe because they aren't taught a lot about them in med school, so finding a doc willing to look into this for you may be difficult.  If I were you, I would follow an antifungal diet while trying to find a doc willing to listen to you, if this is what you believe your lesions could be.    

Sorry to be so winded but as you can see I've become a self titled "myco-head", lol. 

Good luck to you!