Two Ironies

Radiation therapy, either performed by itself or done along with other therapies such as chemo, is received by nearly 60% of cancer patients in the US. Radiation is an ionizing waveform usually delivered directly to the tumor by what are called electron linear accelerators. The radiation works by reacting with oxygen and water inside the cells to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that damage the DNA in the nucleus. It is this DNA damage that then stimulates apoptosis (normal, programmed cell death) that then kills the cell.

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Two ironies exist. The first is that, in order for radiation therapy to kill a cell, the cell NEEDS to have an adequate amount of water and oxygen. Unfortunately, the healthy a cell is, the more water and oxygen exists inside the cell; the sicker the cell (as in cancer), the less water and oxygen and the less effective the radiation will be. So, radiation is MORE effective at killing healthy cells than it is at killing cancer cells. Understanding this important piece of biochemistry can give us hints to help a cancer patient undergoing radiation therapy. Using hyperbaric oxygen, Rife therapy, and PEMF, during radiation may improve its effectiveness.

ROS, generated intracellularly by the radiation, kills cells. However, the second irony is that ROS does not kill most cells, it just leaves them damaged. What is usually left damaged is the DNA and these damaged cells can then become cancerous. An article published in Free Radical Research stated that, “Elevated rates of reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been detected in almost all cancers, where they promote many aspects of tumor development and progression.”

So, ROS causes cancer and radiation, causing high levels of ROS can also help kill cancer. But, the healthy cells that don’t die are more susceptable to cancer. In an obvious case of “what doesn’t kill you does NOT make you stronger, but can kill you later,” there needs to be another solution. (1)

The same study gives us even worse news when it stated, “However, tumor cells also express increased levels of antioxidant proteins to detoxify from ROS, suggesting that a delicate balance of intracellular ROS levels is required for cancer cell function. A challenge for novel therapeutic strategies will be the fine tuning of intracellular ROS signaling to effectively deprive cells from ROS-induced tumor promoting events, towards tipping the balance to ROS-induced apoptotic signaling.”

Our summary Q & A:

  • How do we limit ROS in non-cancer patients to help prevent cancer?
    • Use of nutritional antioxidants
    • Use of frequency medicine
  • How do we balance the need for a healthy amount of ROS necessary to help kill pathogens and a lesser amount so as to not damage DNA?
    • Keep cells well hydrated through water consumption
    • Keep cells well oxygenated through exercise
    • Keep cell membranes healthy through healthy fat consumption
    • Use of nutritional phospholipids
  • How do we maximize the benefits of radiation and/or chemotherapy when utilized?
    • Use less or more targeted nutritional antioxidants during therapy
    • Help target the effects of the radiation/chemo to cancer cells using Rife technology

 

(1) Liou, G. Y., & Storz, P. (2010). Reactive oxygen species in cancer. Free radical research, 44(5), 479–496. doi:10.3109/10715761003667554