Please Help/Read...needing advice ASAP

Here's the link to cannabis oil thread.

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topic/8...

You can also do your own research on the supplements you mentioned at clinicaltrials.gov by plugging them into the search and looking for completed trials and then looking them up on pubmed. You could the term "sulforaphane" ford broccoli sprouts.

And I know that some women follow pretty strict diets, plant based, no sugar, no processed stuff. 

That's exactly why I am sprouting my own, I figured can't beat fresh. I was not sure I was getting what I paid for with the broccoli supplements and if they were even potent or how they were processed. Roswell Park cancer center is running a small study and they are using broccoli sprouts extract.

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01753908?term=NCT01753908&rank=1

They do not mention the dose but they say that must tolerate taste. Go figure. Maybe someone else will chime in soon.

my integrative doc told me 90% of BC have vit D deficiency. So I would say taking vit D is a good idea. But if you are doing chemo, def check with your MO to make sure. 

AAE2014, I don't have time to post the links right now, but most of them are on this site, so you can do a search on this site  and you can also type in each of these and triple neg breast cancer and do google search - NAC, LDN, Turkey Tail Mushrooms, Curcumin, Rath Protocol. Bee propolis,. There are some others and I'll see what I can dig up when I have more time. Best.

Hi aae2014, so sorry to hear you're having a recurrence!  Have you visited the triple negative forum here?  There may be some useful info for you there.. it's at

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/72

One thing that stood out for me was that you say there is no spread beyond the breast.  This may actually be in your favor, since it may be a local recurrence rather than true stage IV (metastases to distant organs).  See:

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/sta...

and

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/b...

What kind of chemo did you have before, and what kind are you on now?   If the chemo you had shrunk your tumor significantly, are you switching to the oral chemo or is it an addition to try to address the skin?

Have you had vitamin D levels checked?  Vit D supplementation is a bit controversial as to its bottom-line benefits, but apparently many BC patients do seem to be deficient, so if you haven't had it checked you might want to ask.  Does your onc have a monitoring plan in place to gauge your response to the new treatments?  Have you thought about seeking a second opinion?  It can be helpful in either giving other treatment options or confirming the path you're on.  Have you and/or your oncologist looked at any clinical trials you may be eligible for?

As far as cannabis oil, broccoli sprouts, turmeric, mushrooms, supplements, special diets, etc., please read up on these very carefully before you decide on a plan.  It's important to note that none of these are well-supported for treatment or prevention of breast cancer by legitimate research.  A lot of links and resources you'll find are based on anecdotes, theoretical links, conspiracy theory, and pseudoscience.  Some that have been researched do show promise in petri dishes or in mice, which unfortunately don't always translate into human success.  Some treatments have potential benefits but are outweighed by the potential risks associated, and some are just plain misrepresented by people who make money selling things.  It really is the Wild West out there, especially on the internet, as far as cancer treatment information goes so please do your research very carefully and always let everyone on your treatment team know your choices so they can treat you safely and effectively.  

My very best wishes to you.  Please let us know how you're doing!

Hi Newme, 

The cell line MDA-MB-231 refers to triple negative breast cancer.  The MCF-7 cell line typically refers to hormone receptor positive breast cancer.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20179194

and here's another study..

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19789297

and another...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC369728...

This one discusses the effects of bitter melon on the MCF-7 cell line

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22134530

This one discusses the effects of bitter melon on triple neg and HER2+. True, this study was done on mice, but a quarter of the mice w/ "extensive metastasis" were alive and tumor free for 96 days after injection of the bitter melon. I think that is significant, as well as amazing. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10810336

I'm still drinking half a cup of olive leaf decoction I make myself from olive leaves from frontier, but I stopped using bee pollen some time ago (& I miss the calories & flavor) thinking it converted to estrogen perhaps, propolis too?  I 

I've used a propolis lib balm for many years.  any comments/

that message light is partly covered by a blank swath I can't make vanish.  having major laptop problems, I get the jist of that though, why the warnings on bitter mellon used for centuries & not on modern mc donalds hambergers

Hi Light,  spring has sprung here.  did my weekly castor oil pack this morning, It really doesn't get much easier, but I guess less boring than infusions.  I pray (say mantras) while doing it.  or, this morning name the characters in sex & the city.  monday the artimesia oil should arrive.  rosemary oil on the dressing today.  seems to help with some things, I've about stopped thinking of cure 7 think with contol of symptoms.  but monday, actually, atimesia oil.  laptop okay, don't know how I did it. clicked everything

I found another good article on bitter melon:

http://www.aacr.org/home/public--media/aacr-press-...

“Breast cancer is a major killer among women around the world, and in
that perspective, results from this study are quite significant,” said
Rajesh Agarwal, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences at the University of Colorado, Denver School of Pharmacy. “This
study may provide us with one more agent as an extract that could be
used against breast cancer if additional studies hold true.”

I've started juicing one every other day. I cut it in half lengthwise, then I scape out/remove the white inside stuff and seeds and put them in the garbage, because they are poisonous. I then juice one  bitter melon (minus the innards) with a green apple.  I have yet to add the watercress but that is next. According to the article I posted on this thread earlier regarding watercres:  

"New scientific research from the University of Southampton has revealed
that a plant compound in watercress may have the ability to suppress
breast cancer cell development by 'turning off' a signal in the body and
thereby starving the growing tumour of essential blood and oxygen." 

 I really hope no one feels compelled to post a picture now insinuating that eating watercress is like killing cancer w/ a handgun. These are healthy foods. Bitter melon is only potentially dangerous if one does not educate themselves about how to prepare it and how much to eat/drink. I could drink a load of alcohol and wind up with alcohol poisoning too. Many adolescents and young adults who don't know better, do it all the time, but that doesn't stop you from drinking a glass of wine does it? Wine doesn't kill breast cancer in a petri dish either. Oh, maybe I should take that back....resevertrol.

Anyway, I had been taking the powdered supplement form of bitter melon but I am so glad I started juicing it because it is much different, powerful, and very regulating. When I drink it, it feels like good medicine going in. I kinda crave it now because I feel so healthy when I drink it. One bitter melon at a time is enough though. It would be hard to get down the strong bitterness of more than that anyway. 

Choosing to wait for the outcomes of human trials is perfectly understandable, given that the research does not encourage us to go ahead and embrace this as a medicine for our disease. However not everyone has time, and the research provides us with enough information that it kills breast cancer cells. It is a food that has been eaten by people of various cultures for many years,  and has been touted to effectively treat diabetes as well. 

Anyway, I'm now wondering if the bitter melon in eastern diets has helped to prevent breast cancer among these ethnicities. Of course it could always be the presumed soy and seaweed.

Check out breast cancer stats by race and ethnicity:

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/race.h...

Hi Juneping, I was hoping you would weigh in. I use my brevielle juicer. I'm not sure about blending it although it sounds fine since you would also retain the fiber. Yes, a spoon works best to scrape out the white stuff and the seeds inside.

New me, where are we without hope? what happens when someone is out of conventional options? Are we supposed to just give up, like some of the doctors do, before even looking to the science that we have now that could possibly help? and where are the "exaggerated claims" "theoretical links", "conspiracy theory", and "pseudoscience"in the studies I posted on bitter melon? what information/study points to the idea that bitter melon is "false hope", and/or does not kill breast cancer cells in the research? In one of the studies on mice,  some of the mice with extensive breast cancer metastasis, after given bitter melon were in remission for 96 days! Please understand that I am not saying that everyone or anyone should eat/drink bitter melon, or that I think that this is a "cure" for breast cancer,  but if the information that is available helps and extends the life of even one person, then why try to squash that very real, scientifically supported hope that something out there might help them? 

Let me first say that I do not wish to embroiled in any heated discussion, hence I always hesitate to post in this part of the forums. As OP has skin mets, I shall offer an Asian perspective with only well meaning intentions and nothing more. 

I live in Asia and I can read Chinese research. And I'm entering my 7th year as Stage IV. 

I love bitter melon and eat it fairly regularly. I will only say bitter melon is good for health and its benefits is just as good as any other vegetable. 

I grew up eating soy, even daily during my teenage years. There is research to say that soy is supposed to be beneficial if you eat it while growing up. I also grew up with goji berries as it's supposed to be good for our eyesight. Soursop is supposed to be another wonder fruit, I ate it daily for 5 years before being diagnosed at Stage IV from the get-go. And the list goes on..

It's frustrating for me too, to see all these research about these "exotic Asian foods/herbs" being done but I don't appear to have any benefitted from it at all. Maybe it's not for me.. 

Lastly, I once read that to get the actual dose of anti-cancer benefits of broccolli, I'd have to eat something like 25kg of brocolli daily! lol..

This talk about BC patients having Vitamin D deficiency  is interesting to me.

My Primary care doc and I have been battling my low Vitamin D levels for the past 3 years before my BC diagnoses   My guess is it could be a contributing factor to theBC.

redheaded - yes it's very interesting to know. And I also read it here in this forum that the deficiency of vit D vs BC is like chicken and egg. I told my sis to have her bloodwork done and check the vit D instead of too frequent mammo.