About Cancer

Chronic inflammation appears to underlie most, if not all, the chronic diseases of today, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, chronic kidney disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Accumulating evidence suggest that chronic inflammation plays a critical role in cancer development.

Inflammation is the human body's response to severe tissue damage, whether it is a result of physical injury, ischemic injury, infection, exposure to toxins or other kinds of trauma. Inflammation can suppress tumor by increasing an anti-tumor immune response, nevertheless, it often appears to induce tumor development.

Inflammation Is Linked With The Four "Big Killers"

Many forms of cancer are linked to chronic inflammation. There is now proof that chronic inflammation is related to the increased risk of the four 'big killers', i.e. colon, lung, prostate, and breast cancer.

Colon cancer: Several clinical trials showed that long-term inflammation of the intestines increased the likelihood of developing polyps and a majority of colon cancers are derived from polyps in the colon. Clinical studies also showed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, reduced recurring polyps and the risk of colon/colorectal cancer and in healthy subjects as well as in high-risk patients.

Lung cancer: The lung is a site for frequent inflammatory insults. Studies have shown increased risk of lung cancer among individuals with lung infections such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or inflammatory lung diseases. Clinical data also confirms that people with increased inflammatory markers are associated with added lung cancer risk whereas use of anti-inflammatory drugs are associated with reduced cancer development.

Prostate cancer: Proliferative inflammatory atrophy (PIA) is a lesion that commonly appears in the prostate. It is noted that inflammation in PIA is associated with increased cell death and DNA damage in renewed cells.

Breast cancer: Breast cancer studies show that inflammation is associated with increased risk of metastasis and aggressive tumor behavior. Recent studies also suggest protective effects of anti-inflammatory drugs in breast cancer.

Studies have shown that inflammation is a critical component at all three stages of tumor development: initiation, progression, and metastasis.

Chronic Inflammation Acts As Cancer Initiator

Emerging evidence suggests that persistent inflammation promotes genetic instability. Studies show that inflammation induces the release of free radicals and toxic molecules that can damage cells and cellular DNA. This type of DNA damage can cause genetic alterations or mutations that lead to the uncontrolled cell dividing, the characteristic of cancer.

Chronic Inflammation Is The Fuel For Cancer Growth

Inflammation helps the survival and expansion of premalignant cells. Many inflammatory mediators act as a tumor promoter, stimulating the proliferation of both untransformed and tumor cells. Tumor cells also produce diverse substances that attract inflammatory cells.

Once inflammatory cells gain access to the tumor, they turn out to be the source of cytokines, proteases, and growth factors, which cause tissue disruption and metastasis, two major processes of cancer advancement. As some researchers have described, DNA damage is the match that ignites the fire, and inflammation is the fuel that feeds it.

Chronic Inflammation Causes Cachexia And Poor Survival

Cancer cachexia, frequently appear in malignancy and end-stage cancer, is linked to more than 20% cancer deaths. A majority of cancer patients suffers gradual loss of body weight due to loss of fat and skeletal muscle. These cancer patients have a shorter survival time. Response to treatment is also poor in cancer patients with cachexia.

Now there is proof that cancer cachexia may be the result of systemic inflammation. Cancer patients with cachexia have high levels of inflammatory markers in their body (i.e., C Reactive Protein) and the magnitude of CRP level determines the survival rate in cancer patients.

The systemic inflammation also has predictive value in cancer of the pancreas, renal, urinary bladder, lung, colorectal, and gastroesophageal cancers. The use of anti-inflammatory agents helps cancer patients to enjoy a better quality of life with less weight loss and better performance.

Recognizing Chronic Disorders Associated With Chronic Inflammation

Unlike acute inflammation showing redness, swelling and pain, chronic inflammation is invisible. You don't see it or feel it. However, it is well recognized that many chronic disorders are associated with chronic inflammation:

--Cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

--Metabolic disorders such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver disease.

--Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

--Skin disorders such as psoriasis, dermatitis, and acne.

--Inflammatory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and arthritis.

Control Inflammation For Cancer Prevention

The importance of inflammation has already led to clinical trials of anti-inflammatory cancer treatments. The belief is that anti-inflammatory drugs would interrupt inflammation-tumor cross-talk which promotes DNA damage and initiates gene mutation. By reducing the fuel that feeds tumor to grow and spread, anti-inflammation drugs may prevent premalignant cells from turning entirely cancerous or slow down the process of an existing tumor from extending to distant sites in the body.

The results from clinical studies using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) show that people who regularly use NSAIDs have a reduced risk of developing cancer than people who don't take the drugs. But NSAIDs are not the ideal treatment as they have serious side effects like gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers. Recent studies also suggest that treatments with newer NSAIDs, i.e., selective COX-2 inhibitors, are associated with increased risks for severe cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.

Cooling Inflammation With Natural Anti-inflammatory Remedies

There are alternative solutions to cool chronic inflammation. A large number of botanical plants have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Many of them have been carefully studied and a large pool of valuable data is readily available.

Anti-inflammatory herbal remedies offer several advantages:

--Target a broad panel of inflammatory cytokines as apposed to a single inflammatory molecule, thus a more suitable approach for complex chronic diseases.

--Do not suppress or melt down body's natural (innate) immune responses and protect integrity of immune-responsive tissues.

--Promote a balanced immune response, the critical defense system against stress, infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion.

--Help restore body's ability to make natural antioxidants, the most effective disease-fighting and anti-aging molecules in the body.

Because chronic inflammation speeds up cancer development and prevents cancer cure, cooling inflammation may go a long way to reduce the risk of cancer.