It seems that many of us are are employing strategies that can almost take the risks of for instance cardiovascular and metabolic disease of the table and we may have significant control over things like sarcopenia, inflammatory disease, etc, also. At the same time, while decreasing our overall aging can help with cancer risks, it seems that caner risks still remain in a much larger way than several other key disease risks do even after one employs an aggressive battery of longevity strategies.
As such, I thought it could be good to discuss optimal strategies re the grim reaper of cancer. To make it manageable - and because of some of the recent discussion on the topic (that @RapAdmin offered to help import into this new thread) - I thought we could start with Colon Cancer.
According to the World Health Organization
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
By 2040 the burden of colorectal cancer will increase to 3.2 million new cases per year (an increase of 63%) and 1.6 million deaths per year (an increase of 73%).
The prognosis for colorectal cancer varies depending on the stage at diagnosis. Early-stage cancers have higher survival rates than advanced-stage cancers. Timely diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and regular follow-up care are important for improving survival rates and quality of life.
So hive mind of smart community members:
What are your thoughts on
(1)Prevention strategies?
Good sources/experts
Actual dietary, supplement, etc protools and strategies?
(2)How to optimally approach screening?
Pros and cons/risks with different methods of screening
How to think about the newer technologies/types of testing/screening
What are the ways to minimize risks of colonoscopies?
Whether you like Peter Attia in general or not, I thought this write-up by him provides a good synopsis of some key considerations:
And this short 3 min follow up (see either the note or listen to the clip):
Regiments based on mechanistic studies are not “no brainers”. If that was the case I could just drink Astralagus tea and my cells would never become senescent.
“But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.”
― Carl Sagan
Neo, For colon cancer my approach for decades has been to maintain the “so-called” healthy diet of lean protein, good fats and complex carbohydrates with enough fiber to avoid constipation. I tend to avoid cured meats because of the association of the curing agents with colon cancer. I’m not a fanatic about it, but I try to maintain this diet most of the time. I also take 2 baby aspirin nightly because of an association with decreased colon cancer risk, as well as helping me reduce the chance of a stroke or heart attack. Finally, colonoscopies with a doctor I researched are preferable to any of the tests such as ColoGuard with it’s (in my opinion) high false positive and false negative percentages. It’s just a once every 10 years test with a day and a half of inconvenience.
With skin cancer the obvious answer for me is to have a full skin check by a dermatologist once a year.
With prostate cancer I keep track of The PSA test values twice yearly.
For other types of cancers, I have no idea what to do. I just assume a healthy diet with plenty of exercise is the path to follow.
Some cancers (eg Prostate) are mainly as a result of splicing issues (aberrant splicing) for which the fix relates to acetyl-CoA levels in the nucleus. Chugging citrate fixes this.
Not all of my labs do PSA, but those that do have me under 1.00. Seems to substantiate my hypothesis.
I haven’t really looked at this much. My ferritin level is within the normal range, but at the lower end of it.
AIUI there is a tendency for ferritin to go up with age, but mine has gone down from above the normal range to low normal.
However, I am currently looking at other things when I am studying biochemistry/molecular biology. I don’t think there is a reason to worry about my ferritin levels.
The subgroup analysis showed that geographical location, method for assessment and sample size had an influence on the serum levels of ferritin in colorectal cancer and healthy controls. Further subgroup analysis stratified by geographical location indicated that subjects with colorectal cancer had lower serum level of ferritin than the healthy controls in eastern country (SMD =-1.956, 95% CI =[-3.750, -0.162], P= 0.033), but not in western country (SMD =-1.285, 95% CI =[-2.778, 0.207], P= 0.091) (Figure 3). The serum ferritin levels were lower in colorectal cancer than healthy controls measured by RIA and ECLIA (RIA: SMD =-0.700, 95% CI =[-1.262, -0.139], P= 0.015; ECLIA: SMD =-3.915, 95% CI =[-4.670, -3.161], P< 0.001), but not by TRXRF (SMD=-2.449, 95% CI =[-7.491, 2.592], P= 0.341). The further subgroup analysis found lower serum ferritin levels in colorectal cancer than healthy controls with sample size less than 90 (SMD =-1.956, 95% CI =[-3.750, -0.162], P= 0.033), but similar pattern was not found when sample size larger than 90 (SMD =-1.285, 95% CI =[-2.778, 0.207], P= 0.091). Summary of further subgroup analysis is given in Table 3.
The reason that low iron/ferritin levels might be an indicator of colon cancer is intestinal bleeding from the colon.
“To clarify the significance of serum iron and ferritin as indicators of iron loss caused by continuous bleeding, and, thus, to determine their value as markers of colorectal cancer, values for the two were compared in male patients with early and advanced colorectal cancer and age-matched male controls.”
Examining stool color; dark stools may be an indicator of bleeding. But, there are many other reasons your stool may be dark. But if your stools are continuously dark, I would at least get the fecal occult blood test.
“The fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is used to find blood in the feces, or stool.”
While not a perfect indicator of colon cancer, blood in the stool is a preliminary one that might be used by you to see if there is an immediate need for a colonoscopy.
Fecal blood tests are OK. However, Colonoscopies will catch and fix problems before you start bleeding. For instance, I found and removed several precancerous polyps which would have been can er by now. If I waited for blood to show up in my feces, it would be more problematic.
Yes, totally get what you mean, but colonoscopy is not a harmless procedure. There is a certain risk involved that should be considered too. A friend insisted on preventative colonoscopy at age 35, just to be sure in her words, she ended up having an emergency surgery after her intestinal wall was accidentally punctured during colonoscopy.
Yes, mine was punctured as well when removing a polyp. However they clipped it with the scanning apparatus and it was OK. How long ago was your friends puncture? I think new technology has made it less serious?
Also, punctures happen when they are cutting off the polyps, or that’s what happened in my case. If a polyp is detected, it’s best to get rid of it which always runs the risk of puncture unless you burn it off.
Few years ago, just before COVID, she is 39 now, her problem was that they did not notice the puncture during the procedure but she developed terrible pain and high fever some 12 hours later. She went to ER, she was given antibiotics and fluids, but after few days they decided to operate on her.
And I don’t want to say, skip colonoscopy, just that if there is an indication for colonoscopy do it. But try other noninvasive diagnostic procedures first if you don’t have any issues that would indicate colonoscopy is in order.
And I agree it can save lives. I have another friend, he was in his late thirties maybe early forties and had colonoscopy as part of his health bonus package payed by his employer and they found a large cancerous polyp and for sure colonoscopy saved his life or at least the surgery was a minor one compared to what he would need when his cancer would present with symptoms.
Ah. I think the technology has changed. I did my procedure in 2021 during COVID. They had a camera in real time broadcasting what was happening. The doctor and I watched as he snipped the polyp and it started bleeding. That’s when they knew they had punctured and then clipped the injury. The blood made it hard not to notice. I even got a DVD copy of the camera recording. (I always do that for malpractice reasons. Doctors do a better job when they’re recorded.).