Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber
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Book Reviews of Anticancer: A New Way of Life
Book Review: MANDATORY Reading for Cancer Patients
Summary: 5 Stars
Overall, this is a superb book on cancer prevention and treatment. Regarding the technical content:
1. Servan-Schreiber advocates complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) approaches in addition to conventional treatments, not instead of them. Most people who have looked extensively into these matters agree with him (including me). While there may be rare instances of cancer cure or long-term survival using CAM alone, I believe that an integrative approach is the best option for most people.
2. His discussion of conventional treatments is very limited, so the book clearly focuses on CAM approaches.
3. He provides some useful background regarding cancer biology, but doesn't go into too much depth. In that regard, this book is clearly written for people who don't have a biomedical background. He correctly puts some emphasis on issues such as the role of chronic inflammation; immunosurveillance; glucose, insulin, and IGF levels; angiogenesis; and the need to target redundant biochemical pathways via combination therapy. Much of this relates to what he and others have called "terrain."
4. He provides some useful discussion on minimizing exposure to environmental toxins. I see this information as being most relevant to cancer prevention, rather than treatment or prevention of recurrence, but perhaps it plays a significant role in the latter also.
5. His discussion of diet is quite good and is consistent with the many other books on this subject. He reiterates the strong case that proper diet can make a huge difference, not just for cancer but also for health overall.
6. I was surprised to see that he has very limited discussion on supplements. There's very strong evidence that particular supplements can help with particular types of cancer, and most people familiar with the extensive literature on this subject advocate use of supplements, sometimes in fairly high doses (especially for aggressive cancers). For example, a randomized study by Lissoni et al (1996, PMID 8570130) involving glioblastoma patients (same type of brain tumor as Senator Kennedy) showed that adding the supplement melatonin to radiotherapy increased 1-year survival to 6 out of 14 patients, compared to only 1 out of 16 patients for radiotherapy alone.
7. His discussion of mind-body and psychosocial approaches is excellent and is much more extensive than what I've read in other cancer books. And I guess this shouldn't be surprising given that Servan-Schreiber is an MD/PhD neuropsychiatrist.
8. He correctly highlights the importance of exercise, which can make a very big difference (yet even people who recognize the importance of diet often don't pay much attention to exercise). One consideration to emphasize is that it's also important not to overdo exercise; for example, I don't think cancer patients should be trying to run marathons.
Beyond the technical content, what really takes this book to the next level, revealing it to be a labor of love, is Servan-Schreiber's personal story as a brain tumor patient himself. He thus authentically understands the human impact of cancer and he doesn't hesitate to share the fundamental life lessons he has learned from his own experiences and reflections, as well as from talking with other cancer patients. He even has the courage to confront the issue of mortality head on, and I found his perspective on this to be wise and quite helpful. Suffice it to say that I was nearly moved to tears several times during the course of this book (I lost my mother to a brain tumor not so long ago, so I know this journey all too well).
To summarize, Servan-Schreiber doesn't comprehensively address every aspect of cancer prevention or treatment, nor does he claim to, but he does cover a great deal of important ground addressing both the technical and humanistic dimensions of the issue. I therefore think that this book is MANDATORY reading for cancer patients and caregivers, and I highly recommend it to everyone else as well (for cancer prevention and general health). Regarding how to tackle this book, I suggest first listening to the unabridged audiobook (my local library has three copies) to get a sense of the lay of the land, and then reading the print version to absorb details and for general reference. Also be sure to check out the website/blog associated with the book.
Several related books which I also recommend are:
- Life Over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment
- Surviving Terminal Cancer: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won't Tell You About
- Foods to Fight Cancer: Essential foods to help prevent cancer
- Natural Strategies For Cancer Patients
- How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine
- Beating Cancer with Nutrition, book with CD
- Integrative Oncology (Weil Integrative Medicine Library)
- Natural Compounds in Cancer Therapy: Promising Nontoxic Antitumor Agents From Plants & Other Natural Sources
- Herbal Medicine, Healing & Cancer
Book Review: If you have cancer or want to avoid getting it...get this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband was diagnosed with
Stage III locally advanced inoperable cancer in March 2009. He has
completed chemo and radiation at MD Anderson in Houston and his
radiation oncologist believes it will be a "curative treatment." I
have been an avid amateur researcher/reader since my husband's
diagnosis (I used to read 1-2 novels a week -- I have read NO novels
since his diagnosis, and instead have spent my time reading about this
disease). I have previously recommended the book "Foods That Fight
Cancer" which is still my number 1 recommendation to people with
cancer. However, the book I am about to tell you about comes in at a
tie....
"Anti Cancer, A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD PhD". I
am about halfway through the book, but had to write to tell you all
about it, and to recommend, with all my heart, that you read it. I
have put an excerpt from the book below. I was reading it aloud to my
husband, but had to stop because of the tears.
From Chapter 6 -- The Anticancer Foods
"One Thursday evening, Richard Beliveau received a desperate call
about a friend with a serious cancer of the pancreas. Lenny lived in
New York. At Memorial Sloan-Ketttering Hospital -- one of the major
cancer centers in the US -- Lenny had been told that he had only a few
more months to live. Cancer of the pancreas, is, in fact, one of the
most ominous types of cancer.
Lenny was like a character out of a novel. A large man with a booming
laugh and legendary fits of anger, he had always loved poker and
gambling. He had been dealt a bad hand, but once more he was going to
try his luck up to the end. Did Beliveau have anything to suggest?
Lenny was ready to go to the ends of the earth to participate in any
experimental protocol his friend might recommend.
On the telephone, Lenny's wife could hardly speak. She mumbled about
having been together for 32 years, about having never been apart. She
could not imagine that it was going to end like that, so suddenly.
She pleaded for a bit of time.
Beliveau had the medical file faxed to him, and the next morning he
went through international databases for the most recent research
trials. But there were very few on cancer of the pancreas, and the
existing ones did not take patients at such an advanced stage. Heavy
hearted, he called back Lenny's wife the same evening to announce his
failure. She was in tears. She said she had hear about his interest
in food and cancer. She was going to care for Lenny "from A to Z,
every day, till the end," she said. He would do anything she told him
to, and if Beliveau had any suggestions, they'd try them all. They
had nothing to lose.
There was indeed nothing to lose. If his ideas were right, this was
the moment to give someone in need a chance to benefit from them.
Throughout the weekend, Believeau went over the Medline database. He
gathered articles from wide-ranging sources about foods that had a
demonstrated effect in fighting cancer. He calculated concentrations
of phytochemicals that could be obtained with quantities used in
cooking, evaluated their assimilation by the intestine and their
bioavailability to tissue. After two days of intense work, he
produced a first list of "foods that fight cancer" on which he would
later base a book. The list included, among other things, various
kinds of cabbage, broccoli, garlic, soy, green tea, turmeric,
raspberries, blueberries and dark chocolate. That Sunday night, he
called Lenny's wife to give her the list, along with key
instructions: "Cancer is like diabetes. You must look after it every
day. You have a few months; foods from this list must be eaten at
every meal over that period with no exceptions. They are not to be
eaten only occasionally. You must not depart from this list." He
also told her that all fats except olive, canola or flaxeed oil were
proscribed, so as to avoid inflammation-promoting omega-6's. He
recommended some Japanese recipes he know and particularly liked.
Lenny's wife took notes and promised to prepare these every day. It
was the one hope she could cling to.
In the beginning she called often. She scrupulously did what she had
promised, but she was frightened. Over the telephone she still wept,
" don't want to lose him...I don't want to lose him...." After two
weeks, her voice changed. "It's the first time he's gotten up in the
last four months," she announced. "Today he ate with a good
appetite." Day after day, the improvement was confirmed: "He's
feeling better.... He's walking.... He went out...." Beliveau couldn't
believe his ears. After all, it was cancer of the pancreas, a cancer
that strikes like lightening, one of the most aggressive. But there
was no doubt that something was changing in Lenny's exhausted body.
Lenny survived four and a half years. For a long time, his tumor was
stable and even regressed by almost a quarter. He went back to his
usual occupations and to his travels. His oncologist in New York said
he had never seen anything like it. For awhile it was as if Lenny
carried around his cancer without being sick, though his body
eventually succumbed. When Beliveau tells the story, he almost
blushes. "It was the first time that I'd made this sort of
recommendation. Obviously, it was a single case. It was impossible
to draw any conclusions. But all the same...what if it were possible?"
There's more, but you get the idea. I highly recommend the book.
Book Review: To protect yourself from Cancer, GET THIS BOOK!
Summary: 5 Stars
Cancer. The very word inspires fear in most of us, and despite a declared "War on Cancer" in the US begun way back in 1971, clearly we have lost the war. While charity events are constantly raising money for research, the medical industry is always encouraging use of screening tests for various types of cancer and drug companies push new and ever-more-expensive drugs, none of this has stemmed the tide of cancer. In this book - the most helpful book I've ever read on the subject of maintaining good health - the author, himself a doctor and survivor of brain cancer, looks in a new direction for an answer to "living with cancer."
In the view of Servan-Schreiber, cancer is a chronic disease which took on epidemic proportions after World War II because of changes in our environment. Cancer begins with micro tumors, which we all have, but some grow into bigger tumors that can invade other parts of our body, leading to disease and death. Or, they can remain small and harmless. Surprisingly, we can do a great deal to ensure that these micro tumors remain small and harmless.
I learned about this book from a Nutritionist who was part of a team treating my husband when he had a melanoma removed from his arm. She strongly recommended the book, so I looked it up on Amazon and ordered it. I'm glad I did. The book is just the right mix of the author's own story of the life events surrounding his cancer and the changes he pursued to keep himself alive despite a gloomy prognosis. I could totally identify with him when he explained that his Oncologist, in response to his question about what he could do to help himself, answered, "There is nothing you can do. Just go about your normal life." The author could not believe there was really nothing he could do to help himself get better, and that attitude on the part of doctors keeps people feeling helpless and hopeless. It seems to me that doctors are conditioned to do their tests, check their data and prescribe treatments, but they seem to know (and care?) nothing about how we can help ourselves to live healthier lives.
Fortunately for us, Servan-Schreiber, himself a physician, researcher and cancer victim, has amassed a huge amount of information in this book. Having to go from the lofty position of doctor to the helpless position of patient gave the author a new kind of empathy with other people struggling with illness. For himself, he made use of conventional treatments (surgery, chemo) and continued working as a physician. But he also began researching exactly how cancer does its damage, and found evidence that the immune system can sometimes defeat cancer's growth. He tells us about "mighty mouse," a lab animal who was supposed to die from the enormous number of cancer cells injected into him, but didn't die; instead, his own bodily resources defeated the cancer cells. Like mighty mouse, we too all have "natural killer" (NK) cells that fend off invading tumors. How can we encourage and strengthen our own natural defenses? We need to deny the tumors what they need to grow. The author's explanations are technical, but in understandable language.
In any discussion of cancer, most of the conversation is around treatment. But there is another area just as important and probably more so and that is what the author calls our "terrain." This is our own body and the way we treat it. Do we live in a healthy environment? Do we ingest only healthy food? Are we aware of the effects of these on our body? Do we help our body through movement or are we passive and unaware of the effects of our daily living on our body? The discussion of food is particularly helpful, since changing our diet is something we can all do. We can learn which foods and spices discourage cancer growth and which feed it. For example, eating more vegetables and less meat, and drinking green tea can keep us healthier. We can cook with virgin olive oil and get to know a yellow spice, Turmeric, which is a powerful antiinflammatory. Turmeric is a large component of curry, so we can learn to enjoy Indian food (Indians have far less cancer than we in the US, despite their exposure to numerous carcinogens in their environment).
Once a sarcastic critic of alternative healing methods, the author does an about-face as he discovers the power of meditation and mindfulness. When patients learn ways to reduce their risk of cancer growth, they feel less helpless and this itself promotes their own internal defenses. Feeling helpless is a strong marker for cancer growth. But becoming calm and aware can actually build defenses. He recommends regular practice of yoga or tai chi or similar practices to build inner awareness and strengthen the body. Having connections to others, dealing with emotions, and believing you have the ability to help yourself all point to a better outcome.
The book has a center section of color charts showing in detail which foods promote and which retard tumor development. There is also information on household products to avoid and what to substitute. This is a book to keep on the shelf and consult on a regular basis.
The book also deals with the ultimate inevitability of death. We all will die, whether we have cancer or not. The author relates a number of helpful stories of people who were able to find meaning in their final months of life through the methods explained in this book, which are not offered as a "magic bullet," but as a way of living that enhances each precious day of life, making us more aware of our own bodies and the beauty of the world around us, and helps us to connect to all living things. It is not "false hope," but, as the book's subtitle states, "a new way of life." A way of life in which we take control of our bodies, our feelings, our lives.
Book Review: Life changing
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a breast cancer survivor of over five years. To be honest, in those five years, I have not significantly changed my lifestyle in an effort to reduce my risk of cancer returning. I've switched to organic dairy products, but other than that, my diet and level of physical activity have remained unaltered since my diagnosis in 2003.
It was on Thanksgiving Day that I had that revelation. I was watching my 16-month-old daughter Averie gleefully bang away on the keys of my grandmother's piano that I realized, I have not significantly changed my lifestyle in an effort to reduce my risk of cancer returning. Now, I don't pig out on junk food (regularly), and I would not describe my lifestyle as sedentary. But I got cancer for a reason, and it's not because I had the BRCA gene. I realized needed to change my lifestyle if I wanted to keep cancer at bay and be around to see Averie grow up.
A friend had recommended Anticancer: A New Way of Life (ISBN: 9780670020348) by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD months ago, claiming that it had completely changed her understanding of cancer and the way she lived her life, so I decided to pick it up.
"Cancer lies dormant in all of us. Like all living organisms, our bodies are making defective cells all the time. That's how tumors are born. But our bodies are also equipped with a number of mechanisms that detect and keep such cells in check. In the West, one person out of four will die of cancer, but three of four will not. Their defense mechanisms will hold out, and they will die of other causes."
And so begins the most interesting, thought-provoking, and applicable book about cancer that I have ever read. Servan-Schreiber is a physician and brain cancer survivor of over 15 years. At the time of his diagnosis, was a researcher working on his PhD in neuroscience. Frustrated by his oncologist's reluctance to discuss any kind of lifestyle changes he should take to prevent a relapse, he began months of study on how to help his own body protect itself from cancer. He clearly opines that there currently are no alternative therapies that will cure cancer, and that it is unreasonable to try to cure cancer without the conventional treatments including chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and hormonal therapies. At the same time, he believes it is also unreasonable to rely only on these conventional treatments and deny the natural ability of our own bodies to defend against cancer.
The book begins with an explanation the circumstances necessary for cancer growth: inadequate immune response to cancer cells, inflammation, and the proliferation of blood vessels to the tumor itself. Servan-Schreiber takes these complicated biological processes, and explains them in a way that is easily understood. This description of the principles of cancer growth lays the groundwork for the rest of the book.
The remainder of the book outlines the four approaches that the author believes anyone can use to create a bodily environment which is inhospitable to cancer:
1. Rid our bodies of environmental toxins;
2. Exercise regularly to inhibit inflammation and boost immunity;
3. Strive for a psychological peace; and
4. Modify our diet to reduce the intake of foods that promote cancer growth, and increase our intake of foods that actively fight cancer.
Now, the first three I have no problem with. I am all about living greener, exercising, and searching for emotional harmony. But talk about changing my diet, and that's where I get discouraged. I've tried to diet in the past, and the results are always the same. I do well for about four days, then I throw up my hands when I don't see a change on the scale and run for the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. But this diet modification is not for weight loss (although a weight reduction would be likely following the changes Servan-Schreiber suggests), it is about food as medicine.
The author recommends increasing dietary intake of green tea, turmeric, mushrooms, berries, and certain herbs, and explains how the phytochemicals in each food fights cancer cell proliferation. The avoidance of corn or soy-fed beef and chicken, foods including refined sugar, margarine, and nonorganic dairy are among the foods listed as cancer promoters. I found these anticancer diet modifications to be completely doable, even by someone as resistant to the word "diet" as I am.
Anticancer is not a biology book, but one that puts the science of cancer into easily understandable concepts. It's a guidebook for those who wish to take an active role in preventing cancer in conjunction with conventional therapies. And it's a good read, not only for survivors, but also for those trying to avoid what I think are the three scariest words in the English language: "You have cancer."
About the review author: Tina Koral is a freelance writer and a five-year cancer survivor. Her memoir, If I Just Breathe (ISBN: 1440419922), is available for $14.95 on Amazon.com. More information is available at: www.tinakoral.com
Book Review: Why Don't We All Get Cancer?
Summary: 5 Stars
From: www.BasilAndSpice.com
Book Review: Anticancer: A New Way of Life (Viking, 2008) by David Servan-Schreiber
Both an informational book and an autobiography, Anticancer begins with the premise that all of us have cancer in our bodies, but not all of us will develop the disease. The author, David Servan-Schreiber tells his story of how he discovered his own brain cancer while testing an MRI machine, how he felt about his diagnosis, and what issues he faced. This autobiography is truly fascinating as Servan-Schreiber lowers the privacy walls surrounding his life, to allow us in. He has been a cancer survivor for 16 years. David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD, is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and cofounder of the Center for Integrative Medicine.
As a physician who has also been a patient himself, Servan-Schreiber wants the West to know what the recent discoveries in the world of cancer research are and how they can benefit us. The major points of Anticancer:
* The Western diet creates conditions for the disease.
* Our bodies are making defective cells all of the time.
* Each of us also has a body designed to fight the process of tumor development.
* Sugar and stress do feed cancer.
* There are physical effects from feelings of helplessness and unhealed wounds which affect our ability to restore our health.
Benefits of reading Anticancer: Servan-Schreiber explains:
* How to find the right blend of traditional and alternative care
* How to minimize environmental toxins
* How to reap the benefits of exercise, yoga, and meditation
* How to learn about ways to achieve life balance and good nutrition to combat it
* How to develop a science-based anticancer diet
Servan-Schreiber places a major emphasis on our food. Many cancer patients, relying on their oncologists' advice, believe that they can eat whatever they wish, thinking it will have no bearing on their wellness. Servan-Schreiber states that this simply isn't true. He outlines the importance of food and its synergy with the body showing the research behind eating well. Key topics include refined sugars, red meat, fats, organic, garlic, turmeric, and toxins.
Also included within the book's middle is an Anticancer Action Plan, for quick reference. The Plan highlights foods to eat regularly and is well designed. (The number one vegetable is garlic.)
Anticancer also discusses how to avoid toxins, the need for exercise, how our mind and body works together, how to overcome fear, talking about death, and notes the recent research into cell phone risks.
Anticancer should be read by everyone. It is a tool for cancer prevention, and a wellness guide for those living with the disease. Anticancer offers considerable scientific-backed research to support its lifetime living plan. The only negative--it wasn't published quickly enough. I have personally recommended this book to others who live with cancer.
5 Stars