World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

LIMITATIONS OF CANCER TREATMENT WITH CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION THERAPY AND PROPOSED PLAN TO IMPROVE THEM

Kedar N. Prasad* PhD,

ABSTRACT

Widely used chemotherapy and radiation therapy have produced increased 5-year survival rate for most of the cancer. However, acute toxicity during treatment and enhanced risk of late adverse effects such as neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases exist. To improve survival rate further and reduce acute and late adverse effects of these therapies a novel a novel radiation delivery technology called FLASH radiation therapy (FLASH-RT) which can irradiate tumor and normal tissues in vivo at an ultra-dose rate of 40 Gy/s or more compared to conventional radiation therapy dose rate of 0.01 Gy/s or more was developed. Although FLASH-RT protected normal tissue, but the tumor response was like conventional radiation therapy. Tumors irrespective of their type or sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation therapy require the uptake and metabolism of glucose and glutamine for survival and growth. To improve tumor response rate and reduce both acute and late adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, we propose that supplementation with a micronutrient mixture containing high doses of multiple antioxidants which would kill cancer cells but not normal cells by inhibiting the uptake and metabolism of glucose and glutamine. This micronutrient mixture would also enhance the growth-inhibitory effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy on cancer cells, while protecting acute and late adverse effects of these therapies. Intestinal dysbiosis promotes the development of cancers and reduces the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation therapy and enhances their acute toxicities. Therefore, we also propose that supplementation with probiotics with prebiotics which would reverse the effects of intestinal dysbiosis and improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

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