In today’s post I am going to be discussing chemotherapy for uterine cancer, also called endometrial cancer. This adjuvant treatment is part of the standard of care protocol that oncologists will recommend depending on your tumor type.
All oncologists have the same or similar protocols they follow for everyone even though we are all very different. When I was diagnosed with grade 3, stage 4b cancer, they told me I needed to do everything in order to survive, which included chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy!
I instinctively knew I would not be able to handle all this and it terrified me. I was sicker than I even knew at the time. I was already suffering with anxiety, depression and significant stress on a daily basis and the diagnosis added to this 100 fold. I did not have a strong support network and lived alone which would have made things even more difficult. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. I am now glad I made the decisions I made, even though it was very scary and no one wanted me to take the alternative route I did.
If you are in a similar situation or have these kinds of feelings, do not despair! So many of us when faced with this diagnosis suddenly feel very alone, overwhelmed and scared. I want to encourage you to continue to read these posts and reach out to me or others for help and support. You are not alone!
Although I personally declined chemotherapy for the reasons I am going to outline in this article, this was a very personal decision and I want to preface this by saying I am not recommending anyone do what I did. I simply want to give you more information than you may get from your oncologist to help you make an informed decision.
DON’T RUSH INTO TREATMENT
Many of us, after being diagnosed, are often pressured into starting treatments like chemo as soon as possible, thinking we may die soon if we don’t.
Family, spouses and friends all mean well and want the best for you, but it’s important to be your own advocate. It is your life, your body and your future. How do you want to live it? What is your gut telling you? How do you really feel about all these treatments being pushed on you?
I had to ask myself these tough questions and more and needed time to think about all my options. This is perfectly ok, you have time. It is so important to ask your oncologist lots of questions and do your own research. Weigh all your options. Pray about it. A major part of getting well and surviving is believing that what you are doing is going to work.
I hope these articles will be beneficial and help you figure out what to do without having to go through all the hours and hours of study and research I did, especially during the first year of my diagnosis. Again, I want to emphasize, you have time. Cancer did not happen overnight. Studies show that when a person is diagnosed, the cancer may have been growing for up to a decade before it is found!
Scientists have found that for most breast and bowel cancers, the tumours begin to grow around ten years before they’re detected. And for prostate cancer, tumours can be many decades old. Read More
Chemotherapy is often the first thing that is recommended after surgery for uterine cancer. For low-grade or sometimes intermediate grade uterine cancer, chemotherapy may not be given. For higher risk cancer types or cancer that has spread or recurred it will be recommended. I am not opposed to chemotherapy in certain situations, but you need to get as much information as you can.
CHEMOTHERAPY, DOES IT REALLY WORK?
The most common protocol for treating uterine cancer is a combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel. It is often called carbotaxol for short. The typical regimen is getting the chemo drugs every 3 weeks, at maximum dosages, for 6-9 cycles, sometimes more depending on the type of uterine cancer you have.
In the following study in Australia and the United States, they looked at 22 different adult cancers to see how much chemotherapy contributed to 5 year survival. What they found is very revealing.
The overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA.
In 1971 President Nixon declared a “war on cancer”. In over 3 decades, chemotherapy as a treatment still had <3% effectiveness towards 5 year survival for 22 different cancer types!
Of the 22 malignancies they looked at, the contribution of chemotherapy towards 5 year survival for uterine cancer was 0%. Let that sink in for a minute.
When I read this study, I was shocked. How could they still be recommending these drugs, some that are over 50 years old, to fight uterine cancer when it had no effect towards 5 year survival? It didn’t make sense, which led me to do more digging.
COMMON SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY
Chemotherapy (chemo) are drugs that are given intravenously (in a vein) to kill the cancer cells. Chemo drugs are very toxic and kill all rapidly dividing cells, not just cancer cells, so this includes hair follicles, white and red blood cells, and platelets, as well as cells lining the intestinal tract and mucus membranes.
This is what causes many of the common side effects, including hair loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, and higher risks for infection. Chemotherapy can also damage the liver and kidneys and even the heart. The drugs given for uterine cancer can also cause significant neuropathy, especially of the hands and feet. Neuropathy is damage to the nerves and leads to a loss of sensation, tingling, and pain. This side effect can often be permanent.
FIVE SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMO YOUR DOCTOR MAY NOT TELL YOU ABOUT
1. Chemotherapy will wipe out your immune system and your gut microbiome will suffer tremendously. These two systems are the most important defense you have against the cancer cells so damaging them is not ideal.
2. Although chemotherapy can kill cancer cells, these are only what are called the well differentiated “daughter cells”. The cancer stem cells are not affected by chemotherapy. These cells can hide and remain dormant, but then spread later and are what cause the dreaded metastasis.
Metastasis is spread of the cancer to other organs, tissues, and bones throughout the body and is the main cause of death. The primary tumor often inhibits metastasis, but when you hit it with chemotherapy it can actually become more aggressive in some cases and spread the cancer.
Cancer stem cells are inherently more resistant to chemotherapy than their differentiated counterparts. Traditional chemotherapy targets the bulk of differentiated cancer cells, effectively reducing the tumor mass but selecting highly resistant CSCs that can regenerate the tumor. Read More
3. The other problem with chemotherapy is that the cancer can become resistant to the drugs. When the cancer recurs or spreads, the chemotherapy may no longer work, which is what often leads to death.
Developing resistance to chemotherapy is a nearly universal, ultimately lethal consequence for cancer patients with solid tumors — such as those of the breast, prostate, lung and colon — that have metastasized, or spread, throughout the body. Read More
Around 90% of patients with solid cancers, such as breast, prostate, lung and colon, that spread – metastatic disease – develop resistance to chemotherapy.
Treatment is usually given at intervals, so that the body is not overwhelmed by its toxicity. But that allows time for tumour cells to recover and develop resistance.
4. In some cases the chemotherapy is what causes or hastens the death of patients, not the cancer.
A British inquiry into the use of chemotherapy to treat seriously ill cancer patients has found the treatment caused or hastened death in 27% of cases. 43% of patients suffered significant treatment-related toxicity despite receiving other treatment to reduce the chemotherapy side effects. Inquiry advisers believe more than one in four of the patients died from these side effects rather than from the cancer – a concern when 14% of patients were taking the treatment to cure them of cancer. Read More
Here is another report on a chemo drug causing death. Read More
5. In some cases, chemotherapy can cause cancer. For instance, it is well known that women who take Tamoxifen for treating breast cancer can develop endometrial cancer. Read More
WHY EVEN DO CHEMOTHERAPY WITH ALL THESE PROBLEMS?
I won’t go into great detail here regarding the big business of chemotherapy for hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, but it is a huge money maker. People with cancer are desperate for a cure and will do anything a doctor says if it will improve their chances of survival. Unfortunately, the bad side of chemo is often downplayed and the positive side inflated.
You may want to read this book. Questioning Chemotherapy
Clinical studies are often manipulated and reported in ways that make the chemo sound very successful, when it may only extend survival by a few days, weeks or months. Many people believe they are being cured by these toxic drugs, when in reality, it may only be palliative. Please read this article, The Untreated Live Longer carefully and to the end. Even though the references are old, they are still valid when it comes to standard of care treatments like chemotherapy, especially for uterine cancer.
This is why you should do more research for your particular situation and ask your oncologist lots of questions. Here is a questionnaire that you can print and use to help with this. 25 Questions for your Oncologist
SOME PROS OF CHEMOTHERAPY
Now that I’ve gone through all the cons, let’s look at some of the pros of chemotherapy. Chemo can be very effective for treating uterine cancer in the short-term for certain people. It may even be possible to get lower dosages and/or single drug therapies now that work just as well without all the debilitating side effects.
Chemo may rapidly shrink tumors and kill circulating cancer cells to give you more time to work on healing your body through natural means like fasting, a ketogenic diet, supplements, reducing stress, detoxing, healing infections and more.
Cancer is almost always related to problems with lifestyle and environment so it is important to address the underlying causes to heal from the disease and prevent it from coming back!
Chemotherapy, used in conjunction with more natural treatments can be more effective as well and protect your body from side effects and long-term complications. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting the biomarker testing I discussed in a previous post here to help choose targeted, personalized treatments for your particular cancer.
ONE THING YOU CAN DO NEXT ON YOUR HEALING JOURNEY
The next thing I would highly encourage you to do is to find a good Naturopathic Doctor (ND) as soon as possible. These doctors may also use titles like integrative, functional or holistic doctor. Many of them started off in traditional medicine, but then switched over to naturopathic medicine.
If you live in a bigger city this is easier to do, however many of these doctors do virtual appointments. My recommendation is to find a doctor trained by the Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health. This organization was founded by Dr. Nasha Winters, an ovarian cancer survivor.
Their mission Changing The Standard to Cancer Care And Prevention With A Highly Individualized Terrain Based Treatment Approach
Their approach Test, Assess, Address and Don’t Guess!
I will be writing more about Metabolic Health and the Terrain, but for now, this is a place to start. I regret that I did not find a good ND right away. Instead I wasted a lot of time and money jumping around between different doctors trying to get answers and help and I regret that.
Do your research, try to find someone nearby if possible, but don’t be afraid to go virtual. If you have facilities where you can get alternative treatments, this is the best. I lived in a very rural, small town without access to this. Instead I spent 10s of 1000s of dollars going to a clinic in California. Don’t do this right away. First, find a naturopathic doctor to help you and stick with that person if possible.
“You can’t poison the body back into health.” – Dr. Nasha Winters