Can Anyone Tell Me---

[nancy dip]

I live in the UK and you girls seem to be so much better informed than we are!! Can anyone tell me

1) for those of you who take fish oil and CoQ10 did you take it while on chemo or wait till you were on your year herceptin? Do you take it before, with or after food? Do you take fish oil and olive oil or only one of them Is there any particular brand of either that you would recommend?

2) Should ER+ avoid green tea?

3) we should eat lots of fruit and veg but cancer loves sugar and fruit contains lots of sugar??? Am confused.

4)Is it true that most recurrences are in the first 2yrs after diagnosis? Or are there no "safety milestones" with this disease? (Iknow that with some cancers 5yrs is a safety milestone). THANKS NANCY

[Becky]

I took (and you can take) fish oil while on chemo. I only took CoQ10 with Herceptin alone as it is an antioxidant.

You can drink all the green tea you can. It does not matter if you are positive or negative for the estrogen receptor. However, there are schools of thought about flax seed and soy if you are ER+ since they contain phytoestrogens. However, a couple of servings a week won't hurt you - its just some might overuse and nobody really knows if it is okay (by overuse - using soymilk several servings a day, tofu - lets just say several servings per day might be too much).

Eat lots of veggies and fruit. Yes - fruit has sugar and sugar is "bad" but eat the fruit as part of the meal - like as your dessert. Combining it with the meal has it "mix" up in your stomach and slows the absorption of the sugar into your system (thereby lowing the glycemic index of the fruit as now it is a mixed up mash with your veggies, grains etc of the meal). Theoretically, one should not eat fruit alone so have it in the morning with yogurt and/or whole grain cereal - I think you get what I mean.

2-3 years is supposed to be the timeframe of the greatest chance of recurrence - especially 18 - 24 months. However, there is a lifetime chance but it is quite low after 5 years and relatively nonexistant (but not unheard of) after 10 years.

[R.B.]

You should talk to your advisor as to adjuvant supplementation to treatment.

Fish oil thins blood and has some other minor consequences for some.

1) for those of you who take fish oil and CoQ10 did you take it while on chemo - If you search http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
for DHA and your chemo treatment agent it should give you an indication if there is any evidence as to benefit or other wise. Several agents do show benefit with Fish oil (includes DHA), but you must check. You can do the same for CoQ10. I recently posted this. The link might help answer some of your questions.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=28474

or wait till you were on your year herceptin? See prior link -

Do you take it before, with or after food? I do not know which is best - reports from memory suggest CoQ10 should be take with "fat" eg food with "fat" in it which would include Vit E fish oil etc. If cost is an issue for CoQ10 this migh help. http://www.vitacost.com/

Do you take fish oil and olive oil or only one of them Trials show both have benefits for HER2


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum

HER2 (erbB-2)-targeted effects of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3), in breast cancer cells: the "fat features" of the "Mediterranean diet" as an "anti-HER2 cocktail".
Menéndez JA, Vázquez-MartÃ*n A, Ropero S, Colomer R, Lupu R.

Fundació d'Investigació Biomédica de Girona Dr. Josep Trueta (IdIBGi), Girona, Catalonia. Spain.

"it is reasonable to suggest that a low omega-6/omega-3 PUFA ratio and elevated MUFA levels, the two prominent "fat features" of the "Mediterranean diet", should be extremely efficient at blocking HER2 expression in breast cancer cells."


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum

Moreover, exogenous supplementation with DHA significantly decreased the expression of Her-2/neu-codified p185(Her-2/neu) oncoprotein (up to 78% reduction in BT-474 cells). Our results provide experimental support to the hypothesis that omega-3 PUFAs can be used as modulators of tumor cell chemosensitivity and provide the rationale for in vivo preclinical investigation. In addition, this is the first study demonstrating that omega-3 PUFA DHA downregulates Her-2/neu oncogene expression in human breast cancer cells.

Is there any particular brand of either that you would recommend? _ best quality you can get - If price is an issue the Boots extra strength top of the range bottled is good value. Check the label as to contents. Be aware of vitamin A and D content as A and D intake has its own issues. Different varieties are different mixes of fish and cod liver oil. Carlson is a good brand.

2) Should ER+ avoid green tea? I am afraid you will have to search this yourself. The general flow is that it assists for a number of cancers, but I have not seen anything specifically for HER +

3) we should eat lots of fruit and veg but cancer loves sugar and fruit contains lots of sugar??? Am confused. - Join the confused club. Everything has pluses and minuses. Whole fruit comes with a list of antioxidants and all sorts of other things many of which are thougth to be beneficial - antioxidants, etc. It also comes with sugar fructose etc. the body can handle small amounts of sugar and fructose quite happily. When the amounts start getting large the problems potentially start. So maybe look for low sugar fruits, check out fructose levels, for example apples are surprisingly high, cut down on juices significantly, watch out for "natural sweeteners" etc. plenty of variety - more green veg etc.

There are no absolute answers. The body is immensely complex and the more you read the more you realise how things intertwine and act on many different levels.

It is a bit of a "wade" but there is some useful material here http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24410&highlight=greek+diet

RB