| |  | | Herbs for Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Rebecca
Posted on: April 29, 2003
My 72 year old father is currently on Coumadin and Aggrenox daily. This keeps him for suffering from the TIAs that he was having. We have just discovered that he has Squamous cell carcinoma in his othropharynx. It’s in a stage IV and has spread into his left lymph node. I’ve been researching herbs and supplements to help him. The problem is that most of the ones I’ve checked seem to have interactions with the Coumadin. I’m very frustrated by this. Do you have any recommendations? Also, are you familiar with Lecithin? Do you know if giving him that would be a problem? I just seem to keep hitting dead ends here!
This squamaous cell carcinoma arises from the thickened lining of the esophagus.
Antioxidants are used to inhibit the spread of cancer. As well as vitamin E, which is contraindicated with blood thinning medications, natural source vitamin C, beta-carotene and selenium are good antioxidants for this purpose. Do not use synthetic supplements, because they have been shown to be harmful, actually having a negative effect on the cancer. Consult an expert in this field when buying supplements.
Lecithin can help to protect the mucous membranes from damage, and helps to protect the liver, especially when it is overburdened by having to detoxify drugs. Although most of the lecithin in health food stores is made from soy beans, lecithin can be made from egg yolk. Egg yolks are high in vitamin K, which is contraindicated with blood thinning drugs because it promotes blood clotting.
Bee pollen and a greens supplement like chlorella provide high quality nutrients which help the immune system to fight cancer.
Dandelion root and milk thistle seed support liver function in detoxifying drugs and toxic metabolites. Echinacea promotes immune system function.
There are many herbs and supplements that may be helpful. I suggest that you refer to the books "Herbal Medicine, Healing & Cancer" by Donald Yance (available at Richters) and John Boik’s "Natural Compounds in Cancer Therapy" (published by Oregon Medical Press, Princeton, MN). Boik covers many of the leading herbs used against cancer today and he gives references to the medical research literature that backs up the anti-cancer claims.
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