Ovarian Cancer Integrative Oncology
Integrative treatment for ovarian cancer is primarily focused to reduce side effects of chemotherapy.
Combination of Paclitaxel and Carboplatin is first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. The objective of the integrative treatment is to diminish side effects in order to have better tolerance, allowing chemotherapy cycles to be completed without interruption.
It is necessary to control the immunity by leukocyte count test, since if the count is less than 3000, chemotherapy is postponed until it reaches these levels. On the other hand, the immune system is important in the control of cancer growth and once the chemotherapy cycles are finished it is necessary to recover the normal values of leukocytes in the shorter possible time.
There are formulas of Chinese Herbs that boost the immune system. Intravenous vitamin C also helps to strength the immune system. The combination of intravenous vitamin C with Chinese Herbs formulas is a great help in supporting chemotherapy cycles without interruption and with fewer side effects. Side effects such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue can improve with Chinese Herb formulas to strengthen the digestive system in conjunction with acupuncture.
Side effects of chemotherapy such as nausea, vomiting and fatigue can improve with nutrients to help detoxification, a personalized diet plan and specific Chinese Herbs formulas to strengthen the digestive system. Intravenous vitamin C improves fatigue associated with the administration of chemotherapy.
In cancer treatment, it is very important to remove the cancer stem cells, so surgery is the treatment with the best prognosis. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are also addressed to kill cancer cells, but they cause significant side effects and weaken the body. Therefore, recovering and strengthening the body after these treatments, helps to prevent cancer recurrences.
Diet therapy plays a very important role remove toxicity of the treatments and improve the quality of life.
There are scientific studies on the anticancer effect of some Chinese Herbs in ovarian cancer, such as Menispermum dauricum that has proved anticancer activity in ovarian cancer. Oldenlandia diffusa induces apoptosis or cell death of ovarian cancer cells. Rhizoma Paridis contains polyphyllin D, which has proved its ability to inhibit growth and metastasis in ovarian cancer. In addition, it has shown its ability to sensitize the ovarian tumor cell to the effect of chemotherapy, therefore enhancing its action. Scutellaria Barbata also induces apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells and sensitizes them to the action of chemotherapy.
High levels of vitamin D in the blood are associated with a lower incidence of ovarian cancer. Vitamin D has an immune system regulatory effect.
Scientific studies on the anticancer effect of Chinese herbs in ovarian cancer
- Song, Y. H. et al. 2012. Ursolic acid from Oldenlandia diffusa induces apoptosis via activation of caspases and phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta in SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 35: 1022–8.
- Gu, L. et al. 2013. Polyphyllin I inhibits proliferation and metastasis of ovarian cancer cell line HO-8910PM in vitro.J. Tradit. Chin. Med. 33: 325–33
- Al Sawah, E. et al. 2015. The Chinese herb polyphyllin D sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin-induced growth arrest. J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 141: 237–42.
- Powell, C. B. et al. 2003. Aqueous extract of herba Scutellaria barbatae, a Chinese herb used for ovarian cancer, induces apoptosis of ovarian cancer cell lines. Gynecologic Oncol. 91:332–40.
- Li, J. et al. 2014. Sensitisation of ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin by flavonoids from Scutellaria barbata. Nat. Prod. Res. 28:683–9.
Scientific studies abticancer effect of Vitamin D in ovarian cancer
- Guo H, Guo J, Xie W, Yuan L, Sheng X. J. 2018. The role of vitamin D in ovarian cancer: epidemiology, molecular mechanism and prevention.Ovarian Res. 2018 Aug 29;11(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s13048-018-0443-7. Review.
- Chen Y, Sun Z, Xu J et al. 2018. Vitamin D and DDX4 regulate the proliferation and invasion of ovarian cancer cells. Oncol Lett. 2018 Jul;16(1):905-909. doi: 10.3892/ol.2018.8718.
