By Ally Woodrum

Mainstream or conventional medicine has a specific number of treatments that are used to treat cancer. These treatments are chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Depending on the type of cancer, some or all of these treatments are used. It is important to note that these are the only methods that the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) allows physicians to use. Recommending a natural or alternative cancer treatment to a patient can put a physician at risk of losing his license, and may result in criminal prosecution and a prison sentence.

This refusal to allow natural and alternative treatments is the reason the death rate for cancer has not gone down over the years, even though billions of dollars have been spent in "the war on cancer." Cancer treatment is expected to bring in approximately 125 billion dollars in 2010, and the use of natural (and inexpensive) cancer treatments is a threat to the cancer industry. So if you want to use any alternative cancer treatments, you will be researching these treatments on your own, and maybe travelling to a clinic in a foreign country to get treatment.

What do we mean when we talk about natural cancer treatments? There are a large number of different protocols and remedies that target cancer in different ways. Many are based on dietary changes and adding specific supplements and substances to the diet. These dietary changes are made to help enhance the immune system of the patient, so that the immune system will be able to fight and kill the cancerous cells.

Cancerous cells exist in everyone at all times. Our cells are always dividing and making new replacement cells. If the cell that is dividing has had any type of DNA damage occur, then the new cell that forms will have that same damaged or mutated DNA. Our immune system is designed to find and kill these mutant (cancerous) cells. But if the immune system has also been weakened or damaged, it may not be able to kill all the mutant cells. These mutant cells will continue to divide and reproduce, and a cancer tumor will form.

So it makes sense that the best way to begin fighting cancer is by boosting and strengthening the immune system. And there are many ways to do this, from improving the quality of the food eaten daily to adding specific herbs and other substances that have been proven over time to target specific types of cancers.

Other effective natural cancer treatments involve using very specific therapies to help kill cancer cells. In most cases these therapies are administered in a clinic setting, usually in a foreign country like Mexico or Germany. There also are a few clinics in the U.S. that have been successful using both mainstream and alternative treatments.

You will find that there are a lot of effective natural cancer treatments. It is important to research and find the one or two treatments that will mesh with your lifestyle and habits, so that you will be able to stick to your program. And remember, you definitely can use conventional cancer treatments and alternative cancer treatments at the same time. The natural treatments are gentle and designed to help build your immune system, and they will not interact with conventional treatments.

During anti cancer treatment (Conventional cancer treatment), it is difficult to protect the healthy cells of side effects caused by the drugs administered. Although the effects of treatment vary according to each patient and the medications used, all cancer patients suffer adverse effects of treatment that affect their skin, look and internal organs. An important part of the work of clinicians and patients is to precisely manage those potential side effects. The role of this article is to summarize the main side effects caused by different types of conventional cancer treatments and potential natural treatment (including nutrition, remedies and immunotherapy). Let’s start with the conventional methods.

There are four (4) types of anti cancer treatment:

1. Surgery – Surgery, the oldest form of cancer treatment, is used in cancer treatment either to remove only the tumor, or the entire organ. Cancer surgery offers the greatest chance for cure of cancers that have not spread to other parts of the body. However, no matter how successful a surgery can be, it provokes one or all the following side effects:
- Risk of wound infection
- Damage to internal organs and blood vessels during surgery
- Blood clots can form in the deep veins of the legs after surgery, especially if a person remains in bed for a long time
- Reactions to anesthesia or other medicines. Although rare, these can be serious because they can cause dangerously low blood pressures.

2. Radiotherapy - Radiation therapy is the use of ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. It can be administered externally (external beam radiotherapy) or internally (brachytherapy). Unfortunately, radiation can cause severe blood changes including drop in production of new blood cells, nausea, anemia and vomiting. Other short/long-term side effects of radiotherapy may include:
- Irritation and burning of the skin
- Infertility - radiation to the testicles can cause permanent loss of sperm production
- Fatigue is a common effect of radiation. It may be linked to anemia or weakened immune system
- Brain disorder - radiation therapy to the brain can cause changes in brain function that can lead to memory loss, lower sexual desire, etc.
- Skin disorder - radiation therapy can make your skin become tender or sensitive. Peeling of the skin may occur.
- Second cancers – the radiation itself can cause Second cancers (metastases)
- Erectile dysfunction - radiation therapy to the pelvis can damage the arteries and nerves that supply the penis and cause problems with erections

3. Chemotherapy - Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment, its effects affect both healthy cells as cancer cells. Generally, these effects depend to a large proportion of drugs prescribed and their dosage. The anti-cancer drugs quickly affect cell division. This means that the white blood cells, which fight against infection, are also affected. This combination of factors explains why patients are more prone to infections and fatigue or even anemia during cancer treatment. Similarly, this change of cell division causes hair loss or alopecia.

4. Hormonotherapy - Side effects caused by hormonotherapy depend largely on the type of treatment used and prescribed medicines.
The Tamoxifen can cause hot flashes, irritation or vaginal discharge, nausea and irregular menstruation.
During and after cancer treatment (conventional treatment)

Here are some advices that can help: Keep your diet low in saturated fats. Use mostly unsaturated fats such as fish oil and flax seed oil which are rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Eat fruits and raw vegetables abundantly; fruits and cruciferous vegetables reduce the risk of all types of cancers and their reoccurrences. Increase your intake of calcium; High intake of calcium reduces the risk of certain type of cancers. Maintain a normal weight; too much body fat is associated with a great number of diseases. Eat foods rich in antioxidant nutrients. Cigarette smoke, including second hand smoke, is the number one cause of lung cancer. Increase your fiber consumption; It is proven in several researches high fiber lower the chances of having colorectal cancers. Reduce stress, anxiety and depression by laughing, praying and singing; prayer is key to opening the door of impossibility.

Natural cancer treatment
Alternative cancer treatment is the use of herbal remedies to address the causes of the cancer (not just the symptoms) and boost the immune system to fight against pathogens and help the body heal itself. Taken regularly, certain natural herbal remedies may help to maintain the healthy functioning of every cell in your body and strengthen the immune system to ensure continued health and vitality. As we all know, a healthy strong immune system is a key element in protecting the body against infection or diseases like cancer, as well as in the promotion of recovery after illness and during cancer treatment.

Traditional And Natural Cancer Treatment Options
While there's a whole gamut of cancer treatment options available; which is the best one to use depends upon the type of cancer as well the stage that the cancer has reached. Though the prevailing trend is to resort to more traditional cancer treatment options, cancer patients are not restricted to them. There are a variety of alternative and natural options (some new, some old) for treating cancer.

Traditional Cancer Treatment Options
Traditional cancer treatment options are often referred to as cut, poison and burn (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation).

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy, which involves the use of chemical agents or drugs to destroy cancerous cells, forms the core treatment of malignancies. These drugs work by targeting fast-growing cells and the type and combination of drugs depends upon the type of cancer. Though chemotherapy has been proven to be effective, it can give rise to a host of side-effects including hair loss, fatigue, diarrhea, loss of appetite, anemia or low red blood cell count, neutropenia or low white blood cell count, mouth sores and shortness of breath.

Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy involves the use of high-energy ionizing radiation from varied sources including x-rays, gamma rays, protons and neutrons to shrink tumors and kill cancerous cells. It is used almost half of all cancer patients; either by itself or in combination with other cancer treatments. External-beam radiation therapy, which involves using radiation that is emitted from a machine outside the body is more common than internal radiation therapy, in which a radioactive material is implanted in the body near the tumor or cancer cells.

Surgery
Surgery often entails a biopsy, which is done for diagnostic purposes. The kind of surgery depends on which part of the body has been affected by cancer as well as the extent of the cancer. In breast cancer patients the options could include lumpectomy, in which only the lump is removed; segmentectomy, in which part of the breast is removed or mastectomy, in which the entire breast is removed.

Alternative Cancer Treatment Options
Traditional cancer treatment options form only art of the story. An increasing number of health professionals are now exploring alternative cancer treatment options that encompass the whole individual.

Nutrition Therapy
Maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet that includes foods rich in antioxidants and beta-carotene, is the best way to provide your body with the nourishment it needs to fight cancer. Proper nutrition helps minimize nausea and fatigue that are the main side-effects of traditional cancer treatments and are a critical component of the healing process.

Buah Merah or Red fruit, found primarily in the Indonesian island of Papua, has very high levels of anti-oxidants, beta-carotene and tocopherol and offers hope to all cancer patients. Beta-carotene and tocopherol have strong anti-carcinogenic properties and help by boosting the immune system and retarding the growth of cancer-causing cells. Buah Merah also contains Omega 3 and Omega 9 as well as linolenat, oleat, dekanoat and linoleat acids; all of which act as active medicinal compounds and also help in the prevention of diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

Naturopathy
Naturopathy is a system of treatment that focuses exclusively on using the healing powers of nature such as sunlight, water and air. Naturopathy is by and large a holistic kind of treatment and includes homoeopathy, ayurveda, therapeutic nutrition, hydrotherapy or botanical medicine.

Pain Control
Though, to a certain extent medication can be used to manage pain, Acupuncture is gaining popularity as a means to control the pain experienced by cancer sufferers. The pain could be brought on by the cancer itself or as a side-effect to the cancer treatment. Prevalence and severity of pain depend on the extent, location and type of cancer as well as pain threshold of the person afflicted by cancer.