The epidemic that helps cancer grow

Any kind of cancer is scary. But an early diagnosis can be a lifesaver in most cases. The trouble lies with a few cancers that unfortunately are most often not discovered until they have spread to other parts of the body.

When it comes to one of the most deadly cancers that targets women, that’s exactly what happens. The symptoms are rather general — bloating, abdominal pain, feeling full quickly — and are often confused with less serious conditions.

But there’s one thing you can do that could improve your chances of early detection and survival, and decrease your risk of developing it in the first place.  And that’s to maintain a healthy weight.

This year, an estimated 21,290 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This same year, 14,180 women will succumb to their battle against it. ^[1]

A large number of studies have shown that an increased body mass index (BMI) is associated with a greater risk for ovarian cancer with worse overall survival — and that’s bad news for American women.

Obesity is a growing epidemic in America, and more than 35 percent of women in the United States are obese. That means they face a double-whammy: greater odds for developing and surviving ovarian cancer.

Researchers from the University of Notre Dame and its affiliated Harper Cancer Research Institute (HCRI) have looked into the connection between BMI and ovarian cancer, and their research has revealed important insights, zeroing in on a certain type of cell that lines the abdomen — mesothelial cells.

“In 3-D tissue culture models, we found that lipid-loading the mesothelial cells, or growing them in the presence of components that make up fat, increased the ability of tumor cells to bind to them,” M. Sharon Stack, lead researcher, said.

“As tumor cell-mesothelial cell binding is a key step in ovarian cancer metastasis, this prompted us to study this further in mouse models. We used a ‘diet-induced obesity’ (DIO) protocol in which mice were fed a high fat diet, which was 40 percent fat, relative to mice fed control chow. When mice were significantly different in weight, they were injected with fluorescent ovarian cancer cells and we monitored metastatic seeding in the abdominal cavity by in vivo imaging.

“In all of these models, we found that obesity enhances ovarian cancer metastatic success,” Stack said.

The researchers hope this study and more like it, will lead to more effective therapies and interventions. Until that time comes, maintaining a healthy weight is an important step in improving your chances of early detection and decreasing your risk of metastasis if you are ever faced with ovarian cancer.

But never wait for a cancer diagnosis. Instead head it off.

The best healers know that it’s easier to avoid disease than to treat it. And there are numerous cancer-fighting foods, herbs, supplements and integrative therapies that are proving successful at warding off cancers and halting their spread.  These are things you can do now — on your own.

Of course you won’t hear this kind of talk from from your doctor, but for 30 years now, alternative doctors and integrative medicine specialists have been showing us how to fight cancer — before and after diagnosis.

Take vitamin C for instance. Many studies today are finding that vitamin C causes cancer cells to die.

And it’s not just regular folks who are seeking these natural treatments. Did you know that as many as 91 percent of oncologists would refuse conventional treatment if they faced a cancer diagnoses? It’s true — according to a survey by the McGill Cancer Center in Montreal — mentioned in this report on surviving cancer.

They would never tell you this, because cancer doctors are often rewarded by pharmaceutical companies for recommending their drugs.  But people who refuse to just wait and see, or roll over and die, seek it out.

Borrowing the words of a famous man… to thine own self be true, I say. That’s good advice in sickness and in health.

[1] http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/ovarian-cancer/statistics