The following article covers Holistic Treatments for Liver Cancer.
According to the National Cancer Institute, primary liver cancer — cancer that begins in the liver — is the world’s third leading cause of cancer deaths. Unfortunately, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy offer little hope for patients with primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). However, integrative medicine offers a broad range of holistic treatments for liver cancer.
Holistic Treatments for Liver Cancer
These 10 non-toxic treatments are among some of the most effective.
1. Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy (Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy)
Insulin potentiation therapy (Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy) is an integrative cancer treatment that targets the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway in primary liver cancer. Liver cancer, as a 2014 literature review points out, is especially resistant to conventional treatments since many primary liver cancers arise in cirrhotic livers, making metabolizing anti-cancer drugs a challenge. However, as the review points out, the IGF pathway is “one of the key drivers of hepatocarcinogenesis” since the pathway’s three central insulin receptors, the IR-A isoform, “is commonly overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).” Therefore, unlike other drugs, insulin can easily get into the tumor cells. In Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy, doctors administer anti-cancer medications alongside insulin, making it easier for cancer-killing drugs to reach their target.
2. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
In hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), patients breathe highly pressurized air for anywhere between 45 minutes and two hours, allowing more oxygen to enter their bloodstream. Cancer cells thrive and grow in hypoxic (low-oxygen) conditions, growing new blood vessels to feed themselves the oxygen they need to spread into nearby tissue. A 2018 literature review examining the role of HBOT in treating liver disorders referenced several studies showing that using HBOT improved post-surgery immune response and long-term survival in patients with primary liver cancer. Additionally, the treatment also reduced proliferation and necrosis in colon cancer metastases that lodged in the liver, making it a promising non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
3. Nutritional Counseling
A landmark 2016 literature review looked at several studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of several fruits, vegetables, grains, and spices in preventing and treating liver cancer. These nutritional powerhouses contain potent phytochemicals that inhibit cancer cell growth, protect healthy liver tissues from carcinogens, enhance the immune system to fight tumor development, hinder metastasis, drive cancer apoptosis (cell death), and magnify the effects of chemotherapeutics. For that reason, it’s essential that people living with liver cancer amend their current diet to include more of these cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Nutritional counselors work with patients to design a customized nutritional plan that includes more of these foods.
4. Curcumin IV Therapy
Patients looking for natural treatment options for their liver cancer should consider curcumin IV therapy. A 2011 review examined several studies that demonstrated the effectiveness of this nature-sourced compound on liver tumor cells. An extract of turmeric, a popular spice, curcumin shows promise in inhibiting angiogenesis, a significant driver of cancer growth and spread, one of the studies indicated. Another study showed that curcumin inhibited N-diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis (liver cancer growth) in mice, while yet another study discovered that curcumin treatment significantly suppressed the metastasis of implanted liver cancer cells in laboratory animals. With liver tumors’ resistance to chemotherapy a significant factor in liver cancer’s fatality rate, curcumin IV therapy presents a substantial advance in holistic medicine’s war against cancer.
5. Vitamin B17
Vitamin B17 (amygdalin), a semi-synthetic compound derived from the pits of various fruits, shows great promise in treating liver cancer, according to several studies. A 2021 study looked at vitamin B17’s effectiveness in inducing apoptosis in DMBA-induced liver cancer in mice. That study discovered that not only did it induce cell death in tumor cells, but it also boosted the animals’ immune systems and reduced angiogenesis, a necessary factor for tumor growth. Another vitamin B17 study discovered that adding zinc to the B17 regimen increased its effectiveness in primary liver cancers, giving liver cancer patients a natural option to treat this chemotherapy-resistant disease.
6. Ozone Therapy
Ozone, a gas that occurs naturally in nature, contains three oxygen atoms instead of oxygen’s two. A 2021 review looked at several studies on ozone’s effectiveness in fighting various types of cancer, including liver cancer. Cancer cells require a delicate balance of oxygen to survive. When the supply goes too low, the tumors generate new blood vessels to accommodate their oxygen needs. Increasing reactive oxygen species, such as ozone, inside the tumor cells upsets that balance, causing the cancer cells to die. However, breathing ozone can cause lung damage. For that reason, ozone therapy occurs via IV infusion, rectal insufflation, or an ozone sauna, in which doctors encase a patient’s entire body in an airtight pod, leaving the head free to breathe air. Then, they flood the pod with ozone and hot steam, opening the patient’s pores to better absorb the cancer-killing gas.
7. Alpha-Lipoic Acid IV Therapy
A potent antioxidant, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) induces apoptosis (cell death) in a broad range of cancer cells. However, until 2007, researchers hadn’t yet explored whether it would do the same in hepatoma (live cancer) cells. A study published in Apoptosis, a journal that focuses on programmed cell death, explored whether alpha-lipoic acid would be as effective on hepatoma cells. The researchers exposed two hepatoma cell lines, FaO and HepG2, to alpha-lipoic acid, finding that the substance reduced the number of cells in the sample by inducing pro-apoptotic signaling and inhibiting anti-apoptotic signaling. A non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy, alpha-lipoic acid IV treatments give liver cancer patients an effective option without the side effects of traditional cancer treatments.
8. High-Dose Vitamin C Therapy
Clinical studies have already shown that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) at high doses is an effective weapon against various cancers, both as a preventative and a treatment. However, until 2021, researchers hadn’t studied its effectiveness in treating liver cancer. A 2021 study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology showed that in both in vitro and in vivo research, ascorbic acid “inhibited the viability” of cancer stem cells, which play a major role in metastasis and the formation of the liver cancer cells themselves. With these results in, patients now have an all-natural alternative to toxic chemotherapy agents as well as radiation therapy.
9. Natural Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy leverages substances that occur naturally in the human body to enhance a patient’s immune system, thus empowering the patient’s body itself to fight the progress of the disease. Research at the National Institutes of Health revealed that natural immunotherapy works best with people whose tumors have cells that are “highly similar to one another.” People whose tumors have a more diverse set of cancer cells are not as sensitive to natural immunotherapy, the study found. However, for patients with the types of tumors that are more susceptible to this treatment, immunotherapy is a viable natural treatment option well worth exploring.
10. Quercetin IV Therapy
A 2020 in vitro study found that quercetin, a flavonoid (plant pigment) that occurs naturally in many foods, induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in liver cancer cells, suppressing the cells’ proliferation. Quercetin’s effectiveness is both dose- and time-dependent, so close medical supervision is essential to the treatment’s success.
Holistic treatments provide liver cancer patients with hope outside the realm of debilitating chemotherapy, disfiguring surgery, or radiotherapy. If you’ve received a liver cancer diagnosis, it’s well worth investigating whether an alternative cancer therapy would be a better choice.
Explore all the possibilities with a free consultation with the caring Brio-Medical team. Schedule your consultation today!
External references:
“Liver and Bile Duct Cancer.” National Cancer Institute, https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver. Accessed August 17, 2022.
Enguita-Germán, Mónica, and Puri Fortes. “Targeting the insulin-like growth factor pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma.” World journal of hepatology vol. 6,10 (2014): 716-37. doi:10.4254/wjh.v6.i10.716
Sun, Yun et al. “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Liver Diseases.” International journal of medical sciences vol. 15,8 782-787. 22 May. 2018, doi:10.7150/ijms.24755
Zhou, Yue et al. “Dietary Natural Products for Prevention and Treatment of Liver Cancer.” Nutrients vol. 8,3 156. 10 Mar. 2016, doi:10.3390/nu8030156
Li, Yan, and Robert C G Martin 2nd. “Herbal medicine and hepatocellular carcinoma: applications and challenges.” Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM vol. 2011 (2011): 541209. doi:10.1093/ecam/neq044
Chuang, S E et al. “Curcumin-containing diet inhibits diethylnitrosamine-induced murine hepatocarcinogenesis.” Carcinogenesis vol. 21,2 (2000): 331-5. doi:10.1093/carcin/21.2.33
Ohashi, Y et al. “Prevention of Intrahepatic Metastasis by Curcumin in an Orthotopic Implantation Model.” Oncology vol 65,3 (2003): 250–258. doi:10.1159/000074478
Hosny, Samar et al. “Prunus Armeniaca L. Seed Extract and Its Amygdalin Containing Fraction Induced Mitochondrial-Mediated Apoptosis and Autophagy in Liver Carcinogenesis.” Anti-cancer agents in medicinal chemistry vol. 21,5 (2021): 621-629. doi:10.2174/1871520620666200608124003
El-Desouky, Mohamed A et al. “Anticancer Effect of Amygdalin (Vitamin B-17) on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line (HepG2) in the Presence and Absence of Zinc.” Anti-cancer agents in medicinal chemistry vol. 20,4 (2020): 486-494. doi:10.2174/1871520620666200120095525
Baeza-Noci, J et al. “Systemic Review: Ozone: A Potential New Chemotherapy.” Int. J. Mol. Sci. vol. 22, 11796 (2021). doi: 10.3390/ijms222111796
Simbula, G et al. “Increased ROS generation and p53 activation in alpha-lipoic acid-induced apoptosis of hepatoma cells.” Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death vol. 12,1 (2007): 113-23. doi:10.1007/s10495-006-0487-9
Wan, Jingjing et al. “Ascorbic Acid Inhibits Liver Cancer Growth and Metastasis in vitro and in vivo, Independent of Stemness Gene Regulation.” Frontiers in Pharmacology vol 12 (2021). doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.726015
“Advances in Liver Cancer Research.” National Cancer Institute, https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver/research. Accessed August 17, 2022.
Hisaka, Toru et al. “Quercetin Suppresses Proliferation of Liver Cancer Cell Lines In Vitro.” Anticancer Research, 40 (8) 4695-4700 (2020) doi: 10.21873/anticanres.14469
