115. Chemo Stumbling across Ellagic Acid: a Tasty Way to Prevent Cancer??

I was cleaning out some "stuff" the other day and came across an old publication dating from 1995: a news release from the Washington Red Raspberry Commission. The Commission had just funded preliminary research to investigate the incidence of Ellagic Acid in raspberries.  Ellagic Acid (a kind of tannin) had shown promise to inhibit cancer in animals.  The publication claimed that "Tests conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Ohio and the Cancer Research Institute have identified raspberries as the food item with the highest incidence of ellagic acid and that only blackberries were comparable (...).  The true test will be the protocol determined to test ellagic's ability to inhibit pre-cancerous and cancerous tumors in human subjects."  Naturally this information peaked my interest.  But since the article was so old, I decided to look for more recent info, and this is what I found on the good old US government website:  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6266224 published Nov.14/2018: "Experimental evidence of anti-tumor, anti-metastatic and anti-angiogenic activity of ellagic acid":

Table 1

Foods and beverages containing ellagic acid.

Food or Beverage		Mean Content	S.D. a	Reference
Berries	Black Raspberry, raw	38.00 mg/100 g FW b	0.00	[14]
	Blackberry, raw	43.67 mg/100 g FW	24.54	[14]
	Cloudberry, raw	15.30 mg/100 g FW	0.00	[15]
	Red raspberry, raw	2.12 mg/100 g FW	8.35	[15]
	Strawberry, raw	1.24 mg/100 g FW	0.80	[16]
	Red raspberry, jam	1.14 mg/100 g FW	0.00	[17]
Berry juices	Black Muscadine grape, pure juice	0.90 mg/100 mL	0.95	[18]
	Green Muscadine grape, pure juice	0.93 mg/100 mL	0.78	[18]
	Red raspberry, pure juice	0.84 mg/100 mL	1.10	[19]
Tropical fruit juices	Pomegranate, pure juice	2.06 mg/100 mL	1.53	[20]
	Pomegranate, juice from concentrate	17.28 mg/100 mL	0.00	[20]
Nuts	Chestnut, raw	735.44 mg/100 g FW	240.69	[21]
	Japanese walnut	15.67 mg/100 g FW	7.64	[22]
	Walnut	28.50 mg/100 g FW	4.95	[22]
Alcoholic beverages	Walnut, liquor	1.22 mg/100 mL	0.42	[23]
	Cognac	1.13 mg/100 mL	1.42	[24]
	Rum	0.21 mg/100 mL	0.00	[24]
	Scotch, whisky	0.82 mg/100 mL	0.32	[24]
Mushrooms	Fistulina hepatica	2378 mg/kg DB c	59,3	[2]

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^a S.D., standard deviation; ^b FW, fresh weigh; ^c DB, dry basis.

(Notice that you would have to drink 2 liters of walnut liquor to get the same benefit as eating 100g raw walnuts.  You may be out like a light and feeling a bit groggy afterwards though! 😄)

The newer article above also discusses the latest tests and findings related to ellagic acid being used to combat different kind of cancers. Of course the $1,000,000 question is: how is ellagic acid used by our body?  Does it get put to good use?  Or does it get eliminated quickly?  I highly recommend to  check out the article if it interests you.  But then again, the Memorial Sloan Kettering website on topic "cancer care: integrative medicine" says that "there is no evidence to support it's (ellagic acid's) use for cancer treatment".  Who do you (choose to) believe??

Back in a day or 2.  SanTeh! 😎

114. Chemo Keeping Track of CEA Level

I met with my oncologist yesterday.  We discussed the Nanoknife procedure and my blood test.  Despite Nanoknife having been around since 2009, I am only her third patient who has undergone this procedure, the 2 other patients were males.  When I asked how come there were only 2 other patients before me, she said that not many patients meet the eligibility requirements.  The outcome for both males was not that good (one patient was in his eighties and the cancer came back, the other one has pancreatic cancer). 

Also, since July, my CEA level has come down only 0.3 (0.1 per month) whereas before July it would come down 1.8 and 1.5 per month. (see posts nr 97 and 103)   The fact that it is coming down is positive.  But she does not have an explanation as to why there is such a minute change.  On Monday my CEA level was 7.5  It needs to be below 5 to be considered "normal".  She thinks that it may take a while longer to come down due to the recent Nanoknife surgery.  I told her that it drives me crazy to have to wait for a whole month for the blood test results, so she agreed to have blood work done every 2 weeks for the next 2 months instead of monthly.  Yes!!!  And I am to have another CT scan in a couple of months.  So more waiting time ahead.  But let's look on the bright side: at least I have time still, and I'm really grateful that I am taken care of!  

Back in a day or 2 with a more upbeat topic.  Take care!  SanTeh!

The lab results are in but I want to talk with my oncologist first before I am going to make any comments.  I have an appointment with her tomorrow. 

113. Chemo My NanoKnife Experience/ If at first you don't succeed...

Well, it has been 4 days since I underwent the NanoKnife Operation! 😅 

On Wednesday night about 10 PM I received a call from a lady anesthetist asking me questions about the medications I was taking.  No anesthetist has ever asked questions, let alone phone me, and at night yet.  She was also the first doctor I talked to before the procedure on Thursday and had a whole checklist of questions we went through.  She was very thorough and she put me at ease (somewhat).  I was impressed!  😅

Then the radiologist came and talked to me.  It was the same man I had been examined by in May.  He explained that the liver tumor had grown and that he could see it easily now and that he would be able to perform the procedure all right, but that he could not guarantee that he would be able to get it all.  Was I OK with that?  I said: sure, let's go for it.  And with that I was wheeled into the operating room.  There were at least 5 or 6 people in the room:  one ultrasound technician, 2 or so CT scan personnel, the anesthetist and the radiologist who also had an assistant.  I was to lie face up on the CT apparatus "bed" (Siemens) and hooked up to the ultrasound machine (Phillips) as well. (I am keeping track of the equipment now! 😏)  Then someone put an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth, the anesthetist said:  "You will go to sleep now", and it was lights out for me.  Easy Breezy😅

What happened next I can only deduce from what I see on my body.  I have 4 small lesions on my right side that are healed already and one slightly larger one that is oozing a bit still.  I imagine that these lesions are from the probes that reached into my liver.  NanoKnife is not the same as ablation; apparently ablation for liver lesions works with radiofrequencies or heat or cold, whereas NanoKnife "works on the principle of irreversible electroporation: a cell is subjected to a powerful electrical field using high-voltage direct current (up to 3kV); this creates multiple holes in the cell membrane and irreversibly damages the cell's homeostasis mechanism, leading to instant cell death." (source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  Irreversible Electroporation for Treatment of Liver Cancer)  The computer determines the perimeter around the tumor so some healthy cells are involved but not many.

I was wheeled into the recovery room at around 2PM but was so groggy and could not focus till about 8PM.  The amazing thing was that I felt no pain in the location of the operation.  What was a bother, but understandably so, was that I had a breathing tube in my nose and also a catheter.  Both were removed the next morning.  I asked for some Tylenol because I feared that the pain might kick in at any moment but that never happened.  😅

Even though there was no pain from the operation as such, it has taken a good 3 days to recover.  I have been laying in bed most of the time.  Today it finally feels like I am getting my energy level back, probably also because my appetite is slowly returning.

A week from today I am getting lab/bloodwork done.  I hope that the numbers will be starting to head in the right direction by then, although, from what I read, that it can take up to 1 month, so I may have to be a patient patient.😒

All the staff were wonderful!  I am so relieved and grateful that this is behind me now!!!  😅😅😅

Just to clarify:  The Nanoknife procedure was performed on me because the liver tumor was close to arteries and bile ducts which made it practically impossible to treat, iow I had no choice: it was either that or go on palliative treatment (more chemo, no thanks).

The 3 + 1 small "pinpricks" you notice right underneath the bra is where the Nanoknife procedure occurred.  But even though the invasion was minimal, it still took me a week to get back to normal, mainly due to having an upset stomach.  The site itself never gave me any problems.

I do not plan to post anything else till I get the results from my bloodwork next week.  Got some yard work to tend to!  Till then!  SanTeh! 😎

Sorry I haven't posted what I thought I would, but I have been preoccupied with the Nanoknife procedure I will be undergoing in a couple of days.  The surgeon phoned me today to confirm.  It will be done by the same radiologist who could not find the tumor on ultrasound  a couple of months ago.  I am just dreading it.  I am scared.   Yesterday I had lab/bloodwork done for the month.  Just checked the numbers and they are not good.  I hope to be back by the weekend with some good news.   

112. Chemo Biopsy Update: Going Under the (Nano)Knife

I got word that I am scheduled to go under the knife, undergoing the Nano-knife procedure that is, two weeks from today.  I do not have all the details yet.  The surgeon involved will be contacting me shortly.  I am excited about it because I am hoping that this will get rid of the tumor in my liver.  But I also dread it.  I am thankful however that it will be done under general anesthesia.  I will keep you informed and will write about it afterwards as to what it is like.  In between then and now, I may write some posts about nutrition and possibly also an amusing post.  I for sure could use one.  How about you?  Keep well!  SanTeh!