The Driving Cause Behind Cancer,
Finally Discovered?
This could be big news. It appears that certain research groups feel they've found the reason cancer grows and spreads, and is so hard to beat. Keep reading to learn the answer. . .
Continued below...
Ten-year breast cancer survivor was told: Doctors didn't give Wiltrude much hope when they diagnosed her with cancer in the year 2000. Wiltrude, a German psychologist, never thought cancer would happen to her. But it did. And it came as a big shock. One doctor told her, "You'll be dead in a year." Late stage breast cancer is virtually incurable using conventional treatments. Even M.D.s admit it. They talk about "buying you more time." (Don't count on it. The evidence shows you're better off doing nothing than chemo.) When Wiltrude told her doctor she was going to try alternative treatments, he said, "You are committing suicide with what you're doing." But she was determined to find a way to beat her cancer. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, this European woman came across a book by my good friend Bill Henderson, one of the smartest and wisest people I know when it comes to cancer treatment. She tried Bill's top, number one recommendation — a gentle treatment you can do at home for just $5.15 a day. What's more, the cost goes down to $3.50 after six weeks because you just need a maintenance dose. And it even tastes good. Not only has Wiltrude passed the five-year cancer survival mark, she's survived for ten years. We just interviewed her recently for this publication. The radiologist who tests her every year told her, "You're the only one with this kind of result." You can find out about Bill’s proven cancer treatment plan in a free video presentation — click here to watch it now. When I ask him about some of the treatments that top alternative doctors use, Bill sort of shrugs and says, "They're fine, but why bother? My treatment works, you can do it yourself, and it costs practically nothing." He's coached thousands of cancer patients with all different types and stages of cancer. Most of the people who follow the detailed, specific plan in this Special Report get over their cancer and live for years. "Almost any kind of cancer is reversible," says Bill. "I never give up on anyone." Click here and watch the free video presentation about Bill’s amazing cancer protocol. |
According to Dr. Max Wicha, Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Michigan, cancer is driven by cancer stem cells. He considers these cells the source behind the devastating behavior of the disease.
According to Dr. Max Wicha, Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Michigan, cancer is driven by cancer stem cells. He considers these cells the source behind the devastating behavior of the disease.
Dr. Wicha goes so far as to say these findings just might revolutionize the way we treat cancer. (Not a bad idea, since the other mainstream approaches clearly aren't working.)
The news is about as big as it gets, considering cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. The survival rate for those with advanced cancers hasn't improved significantly for decades.
Dr. Wicha and his team, along with several other groups of researchers, think the treatment problem lies in a failure to destroy the key cells that drive a cancer's growth. His team is looking beyond chemotherapy and radiation (thank goodness) as they work to target the cancer stem cells they believe are the main source of cancerous growth.
They believe eliminating cancer stem cells from a cancerous area will make it impossible for cancer to grow or relocate within the body.
A quick background on stem cells
If you're confused by all the talk about stem cells these days, you're not alone. Though most people associate them with embryos, stem cells are actually inside all of us, all the time. They're the cells that multiply and renew constantly. They proliferate through cell division and have an unrivaled capacity to shape growth and development.
Embryonic stem cells are the ones that spark all the debates. According to some advocates of various types of stem cell therapy, stem cells lifted from unborn infants offer the most potential for treatment. They appear within days of conception and can prompt the development of any kind of cells — heart cells, bone cells, liver cells, you name it.
Embryonic stem cells are the cells that make therapeutic cloning possible through regenerative medicine (like growing new hearts and lungs for transplants). The discovery I'm talking about here has nothing to do with cloning or harvesting stem cells from embryos.
In adults, though, stem cells are less common and they're also different from other cells in the body, because most other cells are specialized to perform just one set of tasks and have reached a terminal stage of development. Those cells usually can't regenerate and commonly wear out and die.
However, adult stem cells don't wear out. They never limit their own potential by transforming into specialized cells such as bone, brain or liver cells. This means they never reach a stage of final development. Adult stem cells are commonly found in each of our organs, but once there they can only differentiate and replicate cells within that particular organ (i.e., breast stem cells replicate to form only breast cells).
The best known adult stem cells are the ones that create platelets and red and white blood cells. They're also the cells used in bone marrow transplants. Called "hematopoietic" stem cells, they're the troopers that regenerate the blood system for anybody who gets a bone marrow transplant.
A quick background on cancer stem cells
Researchers like Dr. Wicha believe cancer stem cells are the instigators of many tumors. This theory took shape after scientists removed tumor cells from patients and let them grow in a petri dish. They noticed a small percentage of tumor cells appeared to be capable of regenerating the tumor. In other words, those cells never reached an end-stage of development.
Those are the cells believed to be cancer stem cells. They're also supposedly the reason current anti-cancer drugs don't always work. Scientists suspect these cancer stem cells resist treatment, since most anti-cancer drugs target cancerous cells that cannot self-renew. The stems cells are also called multi-drug resistant or MDR cells.
In a sense, cancer stem cells are immortal, constantly renewing themselves and creating daughter cells. But, unlike embryonic stem cells and even adult stem cells that shape normal development, cancer stem cells are uncontrolled in their growth.
Some researchers believe cancer stem cells are adult stem cells gone bad. Adult stem cells are limited in the kinds of cells they can spin off (unlike embryonic stem cells, which can turn into any kind of bone or tissue), but adult stem cells can keep dividing.
This means the goal for researchers is to come up with drugs that target cancer stem cells. If scientists could kill these cancer cells and all their self-renewing properties, they could possibly end cancer. There'd be no remission stage — once it's gone, it would be gone.
Meanwhile, there's already a natural solution (two, in fact) to the problem of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) cancer cells. While scientists are still learning the nature of MDR cells, the fact that they exist is pretty old news. If you'd like to know the natural plants that can kill these deadly cancer cells, check out Issue #53 and Issue #116.
But back to Dr. Wicha and his research. . .
The first step is simply finding cancer stem cells
Mainstream medicine is taking a different tac in fighting MDR cells. The first step in developing drugs that target cancer stem cells is being able to distinguish those cells from other malignant cells. It's impossible to do under a microscope.
Recently, the University of Michigan Cancer Center came up with a biochemical assay that detects certain proteins on the surface of the cells. From there, they inject what they believe to be cancer stem cells into mice that lack cancer-fighting immune systems.
If the mice don't get cancer, it follows that the cells injected were not stem cells (ordinary tumor cells divide only a few times before dying). If the mice develop a tumor, it means the injected cells were cancer stem cells.
Scientists have yet to determine how to pinpoint active cancer stem cells within humans, but they're getting closer.
Finally, a hint of progress from mainstream medicine
Some scientists believe this research on cancer stem cells will change everything about the way doctors diagnose and treat cancer. It should even have a profound effect on cancer prevention.
Right now, the theory is that doctors could identify patients with a high risk for advanced or aggressive cancer by counting and analyzing the number of stem cells in a tumor.
From there, they'd work to design therapies that target stem cells and eliminate cancer — ideally without risks or side effects. Once the cells that drive a tumor's growth are killed, treatment aimed at killing cancer stem cells would — ideally — eliminate the possibility of recurrence.
Until now, cancer treatment has been designed to shrink tumors. We know traditional cancer treatments often kill the bulk of the cells in a cancer. But in many cases (in most cases, I suspect). . .the cancers come back. Why do they come back? It's because of cancer stem cells — multi-drug-resistant cancer cells. Chemo and surgery don't kill these cells.
At any rate, that's the best theory at this time. What we need is a way to destroy cancer stem cells (and without damaging healthy cells) — and as I mentioned earlier, there are two natural ones you should look into.
Meanwhile, most scientists will wait to celebrate until they have a few years of controlled testing under their belts.
As Dr. Wicha says, "If we're going to cure the more common cancers, we have to find a way of being able to eliminate the cancer stem cells… [meaning] we have to fundamentally change the way we approach cancer treatment."
Meanwhile, you can avoid the poisons in our industrial lifestyle, and then maybe you won't have to worry about cancer stem cells or any other kind of cancer cells. A good place to start would be to avoid some toxins we wrote about in the last issue. If you missed this info, it's right below this. . .
Best regards,
Lee Euler,
Publisher
