Head & Neck

Under ten percent of head and neck cancer patients have sufficient levels of vitamin D3 at diagnosis. Treatment responses and results are strongly linked to patients vitamin D3 levels. And based on compelling lab studies, most patients could benefit from supplements. Notably, HPV (common herpes viruses) positive tumors are more responsive to therapy, independent of vitamin D3, and have lower recurrence in the presence of the virus (the opposite to some other cancers). Many nutrients including D3 are constantly depleted by cancer activity including related inflammation as well as by many drugs, so supplements need to be able to constantly compensate this.

Use of statins during and after oncology therapies is gaining evidence in cancers including head and neck, both for benefits in treatment response and outcomes, as well as reduced risk of other events. Multiple studies based on patient data show significant benefit, and these are starting to be confirmed in clinical trials. Atorvastatin is the most well researched prescription drug. Red yeast rice is widely available and is the source of lovastatin, can can be an alternative. In other cancers, impacts of statins are clearest in patients that also see a major drop in LDL on their introduction.

About 35% of head and neck cancer patients are reported with a common dysregulated gene expression, so called PIKC3A . In this group, use of NSAIDs, most commonly low dose aspirin, results in substantial risk reductions. Both for progression and even for all cause risk. Most commonly this is low dose aspirin use. Similar findings have been confirmed recently for colorectal cancer patients with the same gene expression.

Higher levels of both selenium and zinc are seen in comparisons of patient data to drastically improve treatment outcomes. Correcting and sustaining levels of selenium in particular, with higher dose regimes, is now emerging as a new supporting treatment in areas such as kidney cancer management-

Equally remarkable impacts are linked with microbiome where certain families of gut bacteria strongly decrease risks for progression. These bacteria can in some instance be supplement but mainly are encouraged with functional foods and diet.

Systemic inflammation is linked with increased risks for progression, especially in later stages. Both acute type inflammatory responses measured by C-reactive protein, and immune system related neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios. Maintaining relatively lower levels of both make a substantial difference. Commonly used Astragalus root has evidence of improving immune system balance and NLR while curcumin and other other functional foods including garlic can help bring down CRP.

The so called Th1/Th2 immune system balance is strongly linked to the progression of head and neck cancers, including treatment resistance. Molecular Iodine solutions are emerging in this area in breast cancer management, and may support increased treatments responses in HNSCC in a similar way during chemo or immunotherapy ( see Supplement Library). For immunotherapy the presence of high sodium levels is now idenfied as a key marker for success in other cancers. And in other cancers, AM treatment programs are substanitally more effective that PM/evening sessions.

Certain nutrients from healthy diets have been reported to reduce progression risk by around a third. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4844799/, so called xanophylls, including lutein and zeaxanthin known for eye health as well as β-cryptoxanthin. Whilst at least the former are used extensively as supplements the study if focused on the benefits of healthy diet. And here, almost a report that higher omega3 and omega6 oils before therapy have significant benefit https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358657387

Subscribe to the site for Pathfinder ANALYSIS and helpful GUIDE. Build you personal plan with confidence.

Click the IMAGE to view the library entry

Vitamin D3 and its immune system health actions are key, higher doses being trialed in oncology

Clinical study reports 40% increased overall survival with higher levels for HPV negative tumors
In a small group of test subjects, 80% had meaningful increases of serum levels with D3 supplements
15% of patients were HPV positive and had significantly longer survival for any vitamin D3 level

HNSCC patients with severe vitamin D deficiency showed significantly altered intra- and peritumoral immune cell infiltrate levels. After vitamin D substitution, the patients’ NK cells showed a significant rise in cytotoxic activity..Taken together, we could show that Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in HNSCC patients and is a predictor of poor survival. Vitamin D substitution used as an adjuvant in immune therapies such as cetuximab and nivolumab treatment could support antitumorigenic immune responses, thus contributing to the improvement of the patients’ prognosis in the conte...

Red Yeast Rice or where possible a prescription statin have multiple beneficial actions including all-cause risks

A 30% improved relative overall survival rate with post diagnostic statin
National scale patient data analysis has reported a 20% effect
Given during radiotherapy, lovastatin has shown more than 30% benefit

Compared to non-users, increased post-diagnosis cumulative use of statins (per one-year of use) conferred a significant improved survival with adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.70. When analysis was stratified by status of statin use prior to HNSCC diagnosis, the HRs were 0.31 and 0.81 for post-diagnosis users who also used it before HNSCC diagnosis and those who only used it after the diagnosis, respectively.

Aspirin has a majority of analysis in its favor including all-cause mortality and clinical studies are increasing

Tumor mutations of PIKC3A gene expression strongly linked to NSAID benefits
About 55% are users of low dose aspirin, and NSAIDs show almost 3X improved overall survival
Around a third of head and neck cancer patients have upregulated PIKC3A activity

We conclude that regular NSAID use likely confers a statistically and clinically significant advantage in DSS as well as OS in patients with PIK3CA-altered HNSCC, irrespective of HPV status, through direct interaction between the PI3K and COX pathways. The magnitude of this apparent advantage, especially given the marked morbidity and mortality of this disease, warrants further study in a prospective randomized clinical trial.

ZINC along with selenium-zinc ratio is implicated in prognosis of several cancer types

In Laryngeal patients higher vs lower serum zinc at diagnosis strongly linked to progression
Results show 2.3X higher relative overall survival rate for high vs low level
At least one earlier trial has reported benefits of active supplementation

A total of 86% of all laryngeal cancer patients have at least one of those genotypes, suggesting survival is dependent on serum zinc level with a HR of 2.55; 40% have both, with a HR of 3.13. Zinc supplementation in those patients might have positive effect on survival. A total of 13% of patients have neither the SOD2 TC/TT nor CAT CC variant and in that particular subgroup zinc influence on survival seems to be the opposite, suggesting that those patients should be excluded from zinc supplementation.

Selenium is developing in kidney and ovarian cancer, high doses pulsed with oncology drugs

Study of effects on serum selenium level at diagnosis
Tripled survival rates for higher vs lower levels
Pilot trials in kidney cancer at high doses are ongoing

The effect appeared to be continuous; that is, the risk of death declined continuously with increasing circulating levels of selenium and there was no apparent threshold value. Individuals in the lowest quartile of selenium had a three-fold increased risk of death during five years of follow-up. We observed a stronger prognostic role of low selenium status on mortality among those with advanced stage disease (stage III/IV). Together with our earlier observations, these findings collectively suggest that low selenium levels are both a risk factor for laryngeal cancer and a prognostic factor<...

Oat and egg based functional foods are entering early stage clinical trials for several cancers

Measure increases in fluid pressure in tumors up to 33mg Hg in H&N cancer
Comparable to levels in other cancers where effects on survival are strongly negative
Gut produced anti-inflammatory compounds (ASF) reduce this and result in improved therapy outcomes

Furthermore, the IFP increased with tumor size. The highest IFP was 33 mm Hg in a 24-ml tumor. In one tumor, the IFP was found to be negative (-2.6 mm Hg), which is comparable to that in human skin or subcutaneous tissue. The histopathology of this tumor was benign. If this pressure difference between malignant and benign lesions can be confirmed in a large number of tumors, then the IFP could be used to aid tumor detection during needle biopsy. The value of IFP as a predictor of response to radiotherapy, photodynamic therapy, hyperthermia, and chemotherapy should be assessed prospectively....

Walnuts and urolithin-a can help the crucial need for healthy diverse microbiota

Anti-inflammatory gut microbiota strongly affect oncology outcomes
Ruminococcaceae and other bacteria improve relative survival around 3X
For immune response, akkermansia has remarkable evidence in immunotherapy

In conclusion, we demonstrated that severe mucositis is associated with worse OS outcomes in patients with locally advanced HNSCC treated with CRT. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing of fecal samples identified microbial compositions associated with an increased incidence of severe mucositis, including higher relative abundances of R. gnavus and E. clostridioformis. Gut microbiome profiling could thus serve as an additional diagnostic tool to assess the risk of severe CRT-emergent mucositis.

Citrus Pectin removes heavy metals such as copper and has its own anti-cancer mechanisms

Copper levels increase with head and neck cancer progression
Elevation of around a fifth in early stages increases to nearly 50%
Zinc levels decrease with progression, both linked to higher risk

Also when compared with controls, the levels of zinc decreased, while that of copper and copper/zinc ratio increased in people affected with H&N cancer and with the stage of the tumor. The results of the study suggest that levels of serum zinc were significantly lower and that of copper higher in H&N cancer patients than that in controls and also that it was dependent on the tumor stage. When analyzed cumulatively the results hint that zinc and copper, due to their role in free radical generation and prevention have an important role in cancer progression and possible prevention by...

Lactoferrin increases iron balance and reduces anemia rates, countering cancers use of iron

Stored iron measured as ferritin levels are reported with metastatic spread
Low levels here reported as 2.8X lower risk of metastatic progression
Stored iron as ferritin has long been seen to increased with disease progression

The present study reported that the expression levels of ferritin were significantly higher in the HNSCC with metastasis group compared with the HNSCC without metastasis group. This is the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that this phenomenon has been described. A study indicated that ferritin may regulate vascular remodeling and angiogenesis. It was also demonstrated that ferritin may block the antiangiogenic effects of cleaved high-molecular-weight kininogen (HKa) through specific binding to the antiangiogenic domain of HKa

Berberine evidence in metabolic health may help counter cancers use of lipids and sugars to grow

High risk at intermediate/advanced stages vs markers of insulin resistance
Those with elevated insulin resistance reported with 2.7X higher progression risk
Some positive indications with use of metformin may align with this

HOMA-IR is independently associated with disease-free survival in patients with HNSCC. We found an optimal HOMA-IR cutoff value for disease-free survival in patients with intermediate-advanced HNSCC…Kaplan-Meier curves showed lower disease-free survival rates in patients with high HOMA-IR than in patients with low levels. In patients with intermediate-advanced stage tumors, multivariate analysis revealed that those with an HOMA-IR >2.974 presented a 2.7 times higher risk of poor outcome

Curcumin has evidence for reducing levels of systemic inflammation used by cancers

Maintaining relatively low inflammation levels shown to improve outcomes
During oncology treatment for advanced stage disease, reductions of 80% reported
Aligns with large scale meta-analysis reporting 20-40% lowered risks

On-treatment CRP below 2 mg/dl, 4x the upper limit of normal (ULN), was associated with increased overall survival (OS), while on-treatment CRP below 3 mg/dl (6x ULN) was correlated with a higher disease control rate (DCR) and increased progression-free survival (PFS). CRP flare-responders and CRP responders showed a higher DCR and longer PFS than CRP non-responders. An NLR above 6 was a negative prognosticator for progression. In multivariable analysis, on-treatment CRP prevailed as the only significant prognosticator for OS

Astragalus actions include protecting and balancing immune responses often with clear effects reported

Large international analysis of case data and NLR
Lower neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios reduce risk levels 30%
All cause and progression risks are reduced about 40%

In summary, our results suggest that the elevated NLR is significantly associated with adverse OS, DFS, PFS, and CSS in HNSCC, which can serve as a cost-effective prognostic biomarker to help stratify patients and individualize the treatments. Notably, tumor site is demonstrated to be a major cause leading to the obvious heterogeneity among the included studies. However, our results failed to identify PLR as a predictive factor on either OS or DFS in HNSCC. In the future, multicenter prospective and randomized clinical trials are warranted to confirm such findings and promote the utilizatio...

Support us and get our essential pathfinder GUIDE. Impacts Analysis, Usage and doses, EXAMPLE plan and supporting comments

GUIDE

Pathfinder Element	Risk Reduction Factor	Anti-Metastatic	Reduces Side Effects	Research Study
Aspirin	>50%	Yes	Maybe	Link
Selenium, high dose	>50%	Probably	Maybe	Link
Zinc	>50%		Maybe	Link
Vitamin D3	26 - 50%	Yes	Maybe	Link
Red yeast rice/ statin	26 - 50%	Probably	Maybe	Link
Astragalus	Indirect - High	Yes	Yes	Link
Gut microbiome / Akkermansia	Indirect - High	Probably	Yes	Link
Lactoferrin	Indirect - High	Probably	Yes	Link
Egg and Oat functional foods	Indirect - High	Probably	Yes	Link
Citrus Pectin	Indirect - Moderate	Probably	Yes	Link
Urolithin A	Indirect - Moderate	Probably	Maybe	Link
Curcumin	Indirect - Moderate	Maybe	Maybe	Link
Berberine	Indirect - Moderate	Maybe	Maybe	Link
Urolithin A/ walnuts and gut health	Indirect - Moderate	Probably	Maybe	Link

Plan Item	Cancers	Background Details	Trial Doses Under Supervision	References
Antihistamines	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Gastric, Ovarian, Cervical, Pancreatic, Melanoma, Lymphoma, Esophageal, Bladder	Research indicates desloratadine for localized cancers or loratadine for metastatic. There are examples of ebastine or other alternatives in certain cases. Growing research evidence indicates improved oncology responses. Taken between meals. Low histamine before and during treatment is beneficial.	Active use in clinical trials is still in early phase, follow the dose recommendation for instance 5mg daily unless under medical supervision where higher 10mg doses are frequent
Aspirin	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Pancreatic, Melanoma, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Bladder, Gallbladder, Non Melanoma Skin, Gastric	Use of low dose 75 or 81mg "baby" aspirin is reported to benefit many cancer types across an average study group, and even all cause mortality. There are some indications of specific "responders" for instance those with existing inflammatory conditions or certain gene expressions. With food.	In a colorectal cancer trial responders were tied to the expression of particular genes (PI3KA). Doses were 160mg	LINK
Astragalus	Breast, TNBC, Lung, Colorectal, Liver, Gastric, Cervical, Endometrial, Pancreatic, Prostate, Kidney, Ovarian, Glioblastoma, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Bladder, Gallbladder, Thyroid	A typical astraglaus membranaceus supplement may have 50mg of astragaloside IV the main active compound. Its possible with meals can reduce any stomach upset. Use of a standard dose to help immune system balance before treatment.	Here, Astragalus is added to standard oncology in lung cancer Doses are 2-3 tablets of 250mg AMe (Solgar, NJ, USA) minimum for 6 months in this example	LINK
Beta Glucans	TNBC, Lung, Liver, Gastric, Cervical, Pancreatic, Melanoma, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma, Leukemia	There are many options for mushroom or yeast 1,3/1,6 glucan and branded products include California Gold Immune Defense/Wellmune, AHCC, Biogen/ Yestimun, ImmiFlex, IP6 and many more. A pharma grade product, odetiglucan, is continuing in trials. Take on an empty stomach. Use a standard dose to help balance the immune system before starting treatments.	AHCC is used at 3x1g per day over several months during treatment. Beta glucans are used at 1-2g per day and higher.	LINK
Danshen	Breast, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Liver, Leukemia, Myeloma, Bladder	The most common chinese herbal medicine in oncology, also known as red sage. Premium brands such as MCS may recommend 1g twice daily as an ongoing dose. Its possible with meals can reduce any stomach upset. Start a standard dose a couple of weeks before treatment to help balance the immune system.	3 x1g daily between meals , over at least 90 days ideally longer to get maximum benefits according to reported patient outcomes, though even shorter dose period reduced risk	LINK
Green Coffee Extract	Glioblastoma	Supplements vary in terms of their chlorogenic acid content, it can be up to 50%. Quality brand might specify this level under their recommended intake. High dose commercial brands may be over 1000mg total, take before meals.	Analysis across trials reports metabolic health benefits start are higher at >500mg or daily. High chlorogenic acid content supplements eg Svetol have been trialed safely for 12 weeks at 200mg x 5 daily dose. As always, be aware of possible drug interactions	LINK
Red Yeast Rice Or statin	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Gastric, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Melanoma, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Esophageal	Red yeast rice is equivalent to lovastatin. Doses are essentially on the products, and there are many premium brands with guaranteed level of monokolin k around 3mg. A common theme is findings is those with improved cholesterol are "responders". With meals. Start cholesterol and inflammation reducing statins early.	Trial data is often case studies with multiple statins where lovastatin has average effects. Often atorvastatin and sometimes simvastatin come out on top. Research ususally reports intermediate doses ( 10-20mg) are effective but there are examples indicating higher doses under supervision.	LINK
Turkey Tail	Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Gastric	A typical premium supplement such as MCS recommend 700mg twice daily with food. Mushroom based glucans can help balance immune response so start them before your treatment.	Pharma grade turkey tail, e.g PSP/ PSK/ Krestin is typically used at 3x 1g daily during oncology, up to 36 months and more. Trials in breast cancer have also used 3,6 and 9g daily regimes in 6 week periods	LINK
Vitamin D3	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Gastric, Ovarian, Pancreatic, Glioblastoma, Melanoma, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Esophageal, Bladder	High dose commercial formulae can be 10,000IU. Which might be achieved by as little as 10 to 20 minutes in sunshine. Vitamin K2 is advised with D3. Take with some food containing fat. Its important to ramp these up before oncology treatments, and sustain the higher levels over time. Add magnesium for best absorption and metabolism.	The VITAL trial used 2000IU and discussed the potential of higher doses to increase responders especially higher BMI/ body weight. Whilst in prostate cancer there are trials demonstrating at least 10,000IU is required to see activity reducing PSA levels	LINK
Melatonin	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Kidney, Liver, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Pancreatic, Glioblastoma	Commonly used in 10 to 40mg daily range no reported side effects, typically an hour before sleep.	Moderate and high dose trials report no significant side effects even at 1000mg daily	LINK
Citrus Pectin	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Pancreatic, Non Hodgkin, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Esophageal, Bladder, Gallbladder, Thyroid, Gastric	Trials use a recommended dose up to 5g x3 daily and no significant side effects. Taken 30 minutes before or 90 minutes after food. Ideally, start PectaClear or similar products at least 4 week before treatment to reduce heavy metals. But sustain zinc with supplementation	Even in children age 5 to 12 the daily regime 3 x 5g was safe and effective for heavy metal chelation	LINK
Soy Isoflavones	Breast, Prostate, TNBC	Often dietary sources, tofu and soy based and no evidence of side effects. Supplements generally with food.	In a clinical trial setting up to 900mg with no issues	LINK
Fermented Wheatgerm	Prostate, Colorectal, Melanoma	Trials are with Avemar brand products with no significant safety concerns reported	Typical dose regimes may be aroung 9g daily over longer time periods for instance 12 months	LINK
Iodine	Breast, TNBC	General usage around 1000mcg or 1mg generally with food	Successful pilot studies in breast cancer use 5mg molecular Iodine daily for the duration of therapy	LINK
Lactoferrin	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Gastric, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Pancreatic, Glioblastoma, Melanoma, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Bladder, Esophageal, Gallbladder, Thyroid	200mg typical use daily , eg 10ml liposomal formula ideally 30 minutes before meals or 2 hours after. No side effects of note. Start this immediately to achieve and maintain healthy iron absorption, avoid deficiencies and reduce cancer related ferritin levels.	During oncology doses of up to 3g to 9g daily, even higher, have been used with significant side effects	LINK
Selenium	Breast, Lung, Kidney, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Pancreatic, Melanoma, Head and Neck	Supplements are 200ug doses and similar amounts from about 3 brazil nuts. Start buildin gup your levels immediately and keep them high during oncology. Selenium toxicity is a consideration for high doses over time, so seek medical advice. Ideally taken with meals.	This trial used 2500 to 4000ug 2x daily for 14 days then once daily in kidney cancer with no dose limiting toxicity	LINK
Vitamin B3	Liver, Gastric, Glioblastoma, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Non Melanoma Skin	Typically 500mg for nicotinamide (niacinamide) form of B3 taken ideally with meals	Do not differ from standard doses, here 500mg twice daily related to skin cancer	LINK
Akkermansia	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Kidney, Liver, Ovarian, Cervical, Pancreatic, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Gastric	Commercial products may be at 10B CFU typically 30 minutes before or 2 hours after food. Ramp up levels with diet and moderate supplementation before treatments, especially immunotherapy.	Under development. Results in oncology indicate this is one of many helpful guy bacteria. careful consideration and particularly following use of antibiotics. Diversity is crucial.	LINK
Berberine	Kidney, Liver, Cervical, Pancreatic, Non Hodgkin, Leukemia, Myeloma, Head and Neck, Esophageal, Gallbladder, Thyroid, Non Melanoma Skin, Melanoma, Bladder	A natural anti-diabetic used frequently at 400mg daily and above, shortly before meals	In metabolic health trials frequentlu use up to 500mg at 3 times daily .	LINK
Curcumin	Colorectal, Liver, Non Hodgkin, Myeloma, Bladder, Gallbladder, Non Melanoma Skin, TNBC, Breast, Prostate, Lung, Kidney, Gastric, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Glioblastoma, Melanoma, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Head and Neck, Thyroid	Doses from 500mg to 2000mg frequently seen. Piperine fron black pepper improves absorption, highly bioavailable formulae are available. Ideally with a meal containing fat.	Higher doses in trials are frequently 2 of 4 g daily (+40 mg piperine) during oncology for instance here at 3 periods of 30 days	LINK
Quercetin	Glioblastoma, Myeloma	Can be found in a healty diet. Supplements often 500 or 1000mg and can be taken with tocotrienols for enhanced absorption, a form of vitamin E . Some evidence that Quercetin should be pulsed on/off.	Clincial trials have safely used up to 5g daily in adults, and 1 to 4g for rare forms of paediatric anemia	LINK
Urolithin A	Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Gastric, Glioblastoma, Melanoma, Myeloma, Gallbladder, Head and Neck	Typical commercial brands run at 500mg once or twice daily, with or without food, some brands suggest with meals	Trials eg in anti-aging science use the same dose range	LINK
Oat and Egg Functional Food	Breast, TNBC, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Kidney, Liver, Cervical, Pancreatic, Glioblastoma, Melanoma, Head and Neck, Gallbladder	Follow supplier guidance on dosage and use. https://shop.lantmannenfunctionalfoods.com/? Lowering tumor fluid pressure helps treatments work, start these before your treatment if possible. Use egg based salovum for short term "pulse" during therapy and oat products for sustained use over longer time periods	This trial in glioblastoma used 16g egg based Salovum four times daily. It discusses lowering that regime in follow on trials.	LINK
Coffee	Breast, Prostate, Colorectal, Liver, Non Melanoma Skin	Most dietary studies use standard 8oz servings as a guide. In many cases the findings are that benfits increase with intake. But in some cases such as prostate cancer there are important details in the PATHFINDER	No, but chlorogenic acid and, separately, green coffee extracts are used at 400mg and up to 2000mg
Flax	TNBC, Ovarian	Crushed flaxseed alone or in foods around 1/4 cup daily	Doses up to 50g daily in clinical trials for various diseases. Here a fairly typical 30g regime in inflammatory liver diseases	LINK
Propolis	Breast	Typical supplements range from 400 to 1000mg	Here 400mg x3 daily help recovery from radiotherapy	LINK
Walnuts	Prostate, Colorectal, Melanoma, Head and Neck	Dietary food item shown even at low useage to be helpful even at a few oz per week	Here, 2oz (56g) daily showed measurable activity in breast cancer	LINK
Mushroom	Prostate	Both dietary sources and many commercial supplements normally taken with food	In this example some patients saw responses between 8 and 14g daily of button mushroom extract	LINK
Zinc	Kidney, Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial, Head and Neck, Non Melanoma Skin	Commercial supplements vary considerably . Moderate 20mg range generally advised	No
Intravenous HIgh Dose Vitamin C	Pancreatic, Glioblastoma	Commercial supplements vary. A moderate range around 20mg with food is generally accepted as safe.	Same as general guidance
Alpha Ketoglutarate	Melanoma, Kidney, TNBC, Non Hodgkin, Lymphoma	Typical usage is 1000mg daily with or without food, safety is good. Its especially important to ramp up and sustain your levels for maximum immunotherapy responses.	Larger doses of several grams have been safely used in various trials including here in bone disease at 6g daily	LINK
Horse Chestnut (Escin)	Thyroid	Common 300 to 600mg supplements contain 50 to 120mg of active compound, escin taken with food	Escin up to 150mg daily in vascular health. In oncology 0.6 mg/kg/day for 9 days, intravenous injection has been used, high absorption premium supplement would reacj this level	LINK

Treatment can include surgery and radio or chemotherapy. With progressing disease immunotherapy drugs such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda) or nivolumab (Opdivo) may be recommended. The overall risk reductions are on average in the 20 to 25% range, and for high responders with higher PDL-1 expresssion, more like 40% https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2025.1577509/full

Your PATHFINDER brings together research that may help slow down early phase progression considerably, including reducing metastatic spread and recurrence. And, with advancing disease, maximize the effects of chemotherapy or immunotherapy. The IMPACTS tab summarizes these and can lead to Many more Good days by helping these treatments work, reducing your risk for progression and by easing treatment side effects. If you do elect both chemotherapy and immunotherapy, you can continue to look for ways to increase the results and reduce possible toxicities;

Be sure to fully read and absorb the PATHFINDER and its Impacts summary
If you have metastatic sites take a look into the corresponding Pathfinder for those too, for inspiration.
Use the Supplement Library Index and filter on “Chemotherapy” and “Targeted drugs” for ideas.
The Foods Library can complement your plan, including anti-metastatic strategies and metabolic health
In the Lifestyle section gathers fascinating evidence for diets and exercise
The PLANS section may have information from what others are doing and have learned

Head & Neck

Help grow the community