Cancer as a Metabolic Disease

If you have taken the time to review Dr. David Minkoff’s video on cancer treatment you will understand his explanation of how cancer cells get their energy.  In essence it is summarized like this.  A healthy cell creates its energy in the cell (via the mitochondria), the healthy cell has one doorway in for oxygen and a source of sugar. The mitochondria combine the oxygen and glucose and the cell creates ATP – which is the energy of the cell. This is used for growth and function in the cell. When working correctly the combination of oxygen and glucose create 36 ATPs.

An unhealthy cell has a damaged mitochondrion, usually damaged by toxins or a toxic internal environment, etc. – the mitochondria is the part of the cell that would allow cells to go into apoptosis (i.e. know when to die off).  The cell is damaged and cannot use oxygen to create ATP.  The cell then becomes anaerobic (non-oxygen using) and on glucose alone it can only make 2 ATP’s which is not enough to function.  To accommodate this what the cell does is it starts to make more doors to allow glucose (sugar) to come into the cell.  If the cell has 10 doors in it can make 2 x 10 = 20 ATPs which is enough for it to function.

Dr. Thomas Seyfried wrote the book Cancer as a Metabolic Disease.  He has a number of very informative videos online.  In the linked video he explains how “A shift from respiration to fermentation is a common metabolic hallmark of cancer cells. As a result, glucose and glutamine become the prime fuels for driving the dysregulated growth of tumors. The elevation of non-fermentable ketone bodies protect normal cells from energy stress while further enhancing energy stress in tumor cells that lack the metabolic flexibility to use ketones as an efficient energy source. Mitochondrial abnormalities and genetic mutations make tumor cells vulnerable to metabolic stress.”

From the Interview of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease he explains: Current cancer research focuses on genetic origins of cancer, and standard treatments generally involve combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. An alternative origin of cancer based on the theories of Otto Warburg, wherein cancer is viewed as a disease of cellular metabolic dysfunction due to damaged mitochondria. In addition to pointing to new directions of research, Dr.  Seyfried elaborates on a non-toxic mode of treatment, the ketogenic diet, which capitalizes on the inability of the damaged cancer cell mitochondria to metabolize ketones, thus starving them while maintaining healthy cells. Note; he also adds in that these diets work through a calorie restriction and they do not work when excessive food amounts of high fats are eaten.  The therapeutic effect of low glucose and elevated ketones become much greater than voluntary restriction of food on some diet.

He also covers that people can avoid cancer if they keep their mitochondria healthy.  Cancer in his view is not a genetic disease as the damaged genes come after the initial damage in the Mitochondria – it is a downstream effect.  The Ketogenic Diet is a zero to very low carb high fat diet.  When there are some restrictions on calorie amounts blood glucose levels go down and ketones are used as an alternative to glucose. Tumors/Cancer cells will have issues competing with regular cells for the ketones.  Generally, the diet ratio is 2:1 as in two parts fat to one-part protein plus carbohydrate.  Butters, creams and coconut oils will be a high part of the diet, proteins will be normal and carbs will be minimal.  This ratio then moves towards 3:1 for more effect. 

In her book “How to Starve Cancer” Jane McLelland goes through her discovery that a cancer-starving diet, powerful supplements and a handful of old, forgotten, low-toxicity drugs, when taken together, acted synergistically, magnifying each of their anti-cancer effects many times. This was the second time she had cancer and she decided that she was going to heal it by discovering an alternate route which she discusses in her book. Like magic, her terminal cancer just melted away. 

Care Oncology Clinic (COC) prescribe some of the drugs mentioned in Janes Book – they prescribe a repurposed combination of existing, licensed medications which are used to treat conditions other than cancer.  The COC Protocol is a combination of four commonly prescribed medications (atorvastatin, metformin, mebendazole, and doxycycline) with the potential to target cancer and help improve the effectiveness of standard anticancer therapies.  Note some of the drugs they use are used to treat diabetes and help regulate or limit the update of glucose in the body. They have a base in London and in Chicago and they work online with patients, prescriptions are mailed to the home.