Cancer treatment triggers body's immune system
By Dr. Melanie Bone
DrBonesCancerComforts.org
Special to The Palm Beach Post
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Again I am thrilled to report that a reader introduced me to a new cancer treatment: Low-Dose Naltrexone, or LDN for short.
In 1984 the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Naltrexone. It is a drug that blocks receptors for opiod narcotics - whether produced inside the body or given from an outside source.
What is an opiod narcotic, you ask? Opiod narcotics are the active ingredient in codeine, morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone and heroin. They are known to attach to receptors in your brain that result in the "high" feeling that makes them excellent for pain management.
The patient on opiods might still be able to feel the pain, but it does not bother them as much.
Internal opiods are produced in our bodies (in the pituitary and adrenal glands, for example), and we call them endorphins and metenkephalins.
Their production is increased by exercise, which is why that great feeling you get after a run or work-out is called a "high."
Naltrexone was introduced as an antidote for someone who is accidentally given or takes too much of an opiod.
A good example is in obstetrics. If the mother is given narcotic pain medication during labor and the baby is born a bit sleepy, a tiny amount of Naltrexone is given to reverse the effects of narcotics transferred through the umbilical cord. Likewise, street addicts found comatose are given the drug to "awaken" them from an overdose.
So how does a drug that interferes with opiods affect cancer? A psychiatrist in New York, Dr. Bernard Behari, determined that our immune system is sensitive to our internal opiods.
During our normal sleep-wake cycle, there are periods when our internal opiods, the endorphins and metenkephalins, are at higher levels.
He found that by giving patients tiny doses of Naltrexone, he "fooled" the brain into thinking that there were not enough opiods available, which led to increased internal opiod production.
By "up-regulating" the system, especially between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., he was able to get the immune system to work better.
At first Dr. Behari worked with HIV patients. Later, he transferred his study to the cancer arena. His work was pioneering.
Now there is complete acceptance of the role that the immune system plays in identifying and killing cancer cells.
It is associated with an increase in the "natural killer" cell population, which is a powerful branch of our immune system that may not work right in some cancer patients.
LDN works in other ways, too.
The endorphins it induces act directly on certain tumor cells, leading to a spontaneous "apoptosis" or early cell death.
The metenkephalins it induces attach to opiod receptors on tumor cells and causes an "anti-growth" phenomenon.
There are many Web sites devoted to LDN with links to the science behind it. I suggest LDNinfo.org or wikipedia.
By no means is LDN designed to be a one-drug-fits-all panacea. But it may be valuable in the oncologist's tool kit to use either in conjunction with other drugs or when most others have failed.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/health/..._col_0207.html
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