LDN study for breast cancer...effective!

My mom(67 yrs) is recently(3 weeks back) diagnosed with TNBC and has existing autoimmune condition (polymositis) since 22 years confining her to wheelchair from last 8 years. Quality of life has already been compromised and now this diagnosis .

Doctor says it is in stage 4 B and no chemo - but says surgery may help to ensure the tumor does not grow too big and break, but says it can metastasize to lung, liver and brain in that order.

I have started her on 4 mg LDN along with teas of soursop, simaruoba, and some herbal medicines.There is no pain/burn or twitch near the tumor site from the time I have started these medicines, but there is no guarantee that I am on the right path.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel she should be treated as gently as possible since she is already kind of bed ridden and wondering how could surgery help.

This is in-vitro study of low-dose naltrexone was funded by the drug company that stands to benefit and is not ready for in-vivo clinical trials. But! People with cancer have been experimenting with it for many years, often combined with alpha-lipoic acid and vitamin D-3.

I self-experimented with the suggested 2.5 mg dosage for several years and found it significantly helped with pain without significant unwanted effects. I stopped when I began with opiod-based narcotics, since it's contra-indicated to take both together.

If you want to try, you'll need some guidelines (found online through websites and online groups) and a doctor's script. Skip's Pharmacy in Florida can provides it (I think under $100 for 2 month supply) and their pharmacists provide telephone counseling.

Each of us has a different and evolving approach to treatment options…conventional, integrative and alternative…this one crosses the boundary lines and may be interesting to some here.

Good healing wishes for all!

Stephanie

xox

Low-dose Naltrexone, a drug that helps addicts, may help treat cancer too, say experts

Date:
June 27, 2016
Source:
University of St George's London

Summary:
The drug naltrexone (LDN), which is used to treat addicts, can have a beneficial impact on cancer patients if it is given in low doses, new research suggests.



Scientists at St George's, University of London, say the drug naltrexone (LDN), which is used to treat addicts, can have a beneficial impact on cancer patients if it is given in low doses.

Researchers discovered that not only does LDN cause cancer cells to stop growing, it also alters their internal machinery, making them more likely to kill themselves. This can lead to other treatments becoming more effective.

The research team, led by Dr Wai Liu and Professor Angus Dalgleish and working with the company LDN Pharma, discovered that the drug, when used in these small doses, can alter the genes that regulate how a cancer cell behaves. LDN can reactivate genes that promote cell killing, as well as modify the genes that interact with the immune system to make it more unfriendly to cancer.

Dr Liu said: "We have shown that the genetic fingerprint of naltrexone differs according to the different doses used, which identifies new ways of using it as an anti-cancer treatment.

"Rather than stopping the cancer cells from growing, patients want to be rid of them. We saw that by giving the drug for two days, then withdrawing it, cancer cells would stop cycling and undergo cell death."

Dr Liu, who has spent 20 years researching cancer treatment, hopes his research will prompt clinical trials for the use of LDN on cancer patients. He foresees LDN being used in conjunction with other cancer treatments.

At present naltrexone is licensed in many countries for the treatment of alcohol and heroin addiction, but the doses used is much higher than in this study.

However, it isn't licensed for the treatment of other illnesses, and patients are obtaining it 'off label' to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia.
Dr Liu added: "We have taken a drug that is relatively safe in humans, and reformulated a new use for it; this has only been possible by understanding the dynamics of a drug. How many other drugs can be improved in this way?
"We have shown a similar 'repackaging' benefit with the antimalarial drug artesunate and the cannabinoids. In both cases, drugs that are not classically cancer therapies are being trialled as such.

"This helps clinicians to devise new ways to tackle a disease that affects so many."
The research has been published in the International Journal of Oncology.



Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of St George's London. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Journal Reference:

Wai Liu, Katherine Scott, Jayne Dennis, Elwira Kaminska, Alan Levett, Angus Dalgleish. Naltrexone at low doses upregulates a unique gene expression not seen with normal doses: Implications for its use in cancer therapy. International Journal of Oncology, 2016; DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2016.3567

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27279602

I realize this subject hasn't had a post to it in almost a year. However, I wanted to say I am on LDN many years for MS. It is off-label, compounded by local pharmacy. I pay $55 a month for 4 mg. Above that dosage and legs start jumping around significantly. It does interfere with sleep,so I moved it to daytime dosage. Of interest besides possible benefits of reducing risk of b.c., is the usage for pain. I was so surprised when I got into a conversation with a nurse anestheologist, (just before my mastectomy) and he said he has been studying this drug for pain control. When Dr. Bahari passed away, few showed interest in continuing his studies. I had read paper after paper published about his findings and took it to my neuro after coming off chemo for MS. I knew I needed a drug that did not carry side effects of depression and this one fit the bill.

It's difficult to determine the benefit regarding b.c., since I am newly diagnosed with Encapsulated Papillary. However, I can't help but wonder if LDN helped to build that barrier around the tumor? Did an aspirin daily for years make a difference? Or maybe having MS, an overactive immune disorder, made a difference. Plus I did Mitoxantrone starting in 2005 for MS, which I was to understand was a first line b.c. chemo back years ago. I also did benadryl for many, many years to sleep. MS kept me from sleeping. Stopped it two weeks ago since I may need tamoxifen and it's contraindicated. I just don't know but whatever, I'm so grateful and give credence to LDN keeping my MS mostly undercontrol for 10 plus years.