Chemotherapy support
A month ago, my daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. She will now have chemotherapy once every three weeks for 16 weeks. Can you recommend any supplements to support her system during this time?
We all have cancer cells in our bodies but a strong immune system is able to destroy them. The problem with cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation is that they weaken an already struggling immune system. The other problem is that at a cost of £300 a month if you are already undergoing chemotherapy, the remedy which can help counter this is expensive.
BioBran, a Japanese product which is sold as MGN3 in the United States, is a patented formula of rice bran broken down using enzymes from immune-boosting Shiitake mushroom extract. In trials, this food supplement which is now recommend by The Bristol Cancer Help Centre has been shown to bolster every single critical component of the immune system but especially the production of the cancer-killing Natural Killer (NK) cells whose activity increased by 300%.
Nobody knows precisely how this works but the theory is that BioBran triggers an increased production of cytokines; the body’s messenger proteins that stimulate the immune system; inhibit virus replication and cancer proliferation.
In new test tube studies by immunologists at the Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, researchers also demonstrated that BioBran can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy. When multi-drug resistant tumour cells were exposed to the chemotherapy drug Adriamycin, the killing dose was reduced from 25mg to just 7mg if the researchers added BioBran.
Nobody is claiming this is a cure for cancer but the consensus is that this could mean doctors could give lower doses of chemotherapy to induce the same level of cancer cell death. Also, unlike other immune booster, BioBran does not cause “hyporesponsiveness” where there is an immediate significant improvement that then tails off over time. It is both non-toxic remains effective over long term use.
In the UK, BioBran costs £46.95 for 50 x 250mg tablets which is a maintenance dose to support the immune system if you are well. For support during cancer therapies, patients need a start-up dose of 3g a day for two months before cutting back to 1g a day. The cost of 30 x 1g sachets is £105 so you can see how the cost really starts to add up.
If you are still interested, then in the UK, BioBran is available from The Really Health Company on 0208-480 1000. This is a small company so please be patient if it takes time to get through.