How alarmed should the patient be when malignant cancer cells are found?
In the newly published book, The Biology of Cancer, Dr. Robert Weinberg of the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, MA, points out that in experiments with mice carrying malignant tumors, perhaps a million cancer cells are seeded into the circulation each day, “yet the visible metastases formed in such animals may be counted on the fingers of one hand” (courtesy of a N.Y. Times article). The survival of the metastatic cancer cells is precarious and often depends on inflamed tissues to gain hold, and even when affecting other tissues, most of these cancer cells remain dormant or die. Adjunct therapies to support the health of the patient, regulate inflammatory and immune systems, etc. are thus potentially very beneficial. If you follow where research has led us in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, you should be able to design a sound treatment protocol and feel assured that the malignancy is being kept under control. Your treatment plan must be comprehensive, and should involve all a
