Chemoprevention of Lung Cancer

It is well known now that people groups who consume the highest quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables have the lowest incidence of cancers, heart disease and other degenerative diseases. The American Institute for Cancer Research, in fact has recommendations for good eating and a healthy lifestyle (Diet and Health Recommendations for Cancer Prevention – http://aicr.donortrust.com/include/BookformReadOnline/dh.htm).
However, it does not take into consideration the difficulties encountered by the average person in trying to adhere to the perfect diet to maintain this good health. It is exceedingly difficult to have the right balance of exercise, nutrition and relaxation they recommend, and the main issue relating to lung cancer in particular is that it is almost always related to smoking at some time during the patient’s life, which means that major damage has been done to the body, and thereafter can’t be called normal.

If cancers occur in a population eating a certain diet, obviously the diet is insufficient to prevent cancer, and so supplements may add to the body’s immune system to fight cancers by supplying nutrients deficient in those people. It has been shown, for example, that patients with lung cancers can be deficient in the vitamin A’s.

As smoking causes so much damage to the body, and no one knows out of those smokers who will ultimately develop a lung cancer, once a person takes a decision to stop smoking, and promote their own health is eating fresh fruit and vegetables enough to prevent a lung cancer from developing?

If a person continues to smoke, can lung cancer be prevented by a healthy diet alone?

Once a person has had a lung cancer removed by an operation, what then?

I believe that in all these situations there has been a significant oxidative stress to the body and that just as one jogs to increase fitness over baseline activity, one needs to take special nutritional supplements to enhance health repair mechanisms on top of the diet. Smoking has caused the biggest public health problem in the history of the world, and unfortunately, 50% of lung cancers occur in people who have given up smoking.

By understanding mechanisms of lung cancer progression, various ideas on how to prevent the situation have been studied. One study showed that Vitamin B12 and folate could improve the bronchial squamous metaplasia in smokers – i.e. reverse pre-cancerous changes in the lining of the windpipe, as detected by abnormal cells in sputum cytology samples. (JAMA 1988;259:1525-1530)

Two books you could consult regarding the use of supplements are:

  1. "Cancer – A nutritional/Biochemical Approach" By Henry Osiecki B.Sc (Hons.) Dip.Nutr.&Dietetics.
    He has a website at: http://www.orthoplex.com.au and his email address is: info@bioconcepts.com.au

  2. "Bionutrition – The amazing health benefits of nutritional supplements" by Dr Ray D Strand MD. His website is: http://www.bionutrition.org

Both these books are heavily referenced and provide good arguments for taking supplements, especially if lung cancer is to be prevented from occurring or from coming back.

SUPPLEMENTS RECOMMENDED
Ultimately, what is recommended for surgically resected lung cancer patients or reformed smokers who want to prevent lung cancer:

  1. Multivitamin preparation containing at least Vitamin C, natural Vitamin E, ß carotene, Selenium, Zinc VitB12, folate
  2. Omega 3 oil
  3. CoQ10 (a major antioxidant)

There are others mentioned in the books, but the above cover the main groups easily obtainable which are relatively cheap.

There are new studies coming out all the time to support use of dietary supplements, and as the previous studies have left many unanswered questions, we are all looking forward to new information. Unfortunately, these studies may take many years to complete, so where does it leave us?

I feel that reformed smokers should take the above supplements along with a healthy diet and regular exercise, to optimise their body’s defence mechanisms that have been damaged by repetitive oxidative stress.

Does anybody want to have lung cancer? Obviously not – so to decide what to do on giving up smoking, (The Quit Programme http://www.quit.org.au) read the above books, or find others on the subject. Make an informed decision for yourself.

Remember, we are not responsible to a doctor for our health, we are responsible to ourselves. I would hope that by applying the principles from this information that all who decide to give up smoking will no longer live with fear of cancer developing, but will live a well, cancer free life. For those who have had a lung cancer removed surgically, likewise I hope that recurrences can be prevented. Smoking has had the upper hand for too long.