Environmental Toxicants and Hidden Pathogens: Acting as Potential Causes Associated with Cancer Causation and Recurrence

The completion of cancer therapies offers a time of potentials; to re enliven, recover, rejuvenate, and reengage in those pursuits that were put on hold during treatment.

It requires directing past ambitions and considerations into the present moment, to reimagine and direct them so as to achieve the goals that you want now and wish to create in the future.

One objective to support these intensions is assessing any modifiable factors that can potentially reduce the risk of cancer’s initiation or reoccurrence. Toward this end, a focus should include the interactions occurring between the outer environment and their influences on our inner terrain.

In current times, it is impossible to avoid hazardous exposures in moving through our daily lives. One requires discriminative decisions , from shampoo and soap to cosmetics to toothpaste; what to eat with decisions on nutritional value, varieties of foods, the quality of the nutrients, the additives and preservatives, the amounts of sugar and types of fats, its sourcing and preparation, and cost; our modes of transportation and the fuels and components of our vehicles, ; the air we breathe, outside and inside, and the water we drink; the types of materials and environment within of our work, school and living spaces, the electronics required to connect with friends and family and gain information.          

These all possess a duality, walking the edge between the needs and essentials for everyday life and the pervasive presence of potentially harmful substances incorporated into all those aspects that touch our lives.

And these potential threats are now recognized as long term exposures that are associated with cancer causation and recurrence. Many have gone unrecognized, and even more are unregulated, and most difficult to avoid. So, the emphasis of this article is to inform, and enlighten your choices to reduce the risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Executive Summary

  • Environmental toxicants and hidden pathogens are increasingly recognized as potential causes associated with cancer initiation and recurrence. This article emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing these factors to reduce cancer risk. It suggests that while modern cancer treatments are essential, addressing these underlying factors could significantly impact both prevention and the risk of recurrence.

  • Our daily lives involve constant exposure to potentially hazardous substances, from personal care products to food additives, air pollution, and water contaminants. While many of these are essential for modern living, they also pose long-term health risks. The article stresses the need for discriminative decisions in our daily choices, from the products we use to the food we eat and the environments we inhabit.

  • The body's "inner terrain" or internal environment plays a crucial role in defending against cancer. A strong terrain can reduce risks from degenerative diseases, maintain immune protection, and support detoxification pathways. The article compares this inner landscape to cultivating an orchard or farm, requiring planning, effort, and the right balance of nutrients and care.

  • Carcinogens can initiate cancer through direct DNA mutations, but also through epigenetic changes - alterations in gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. These epigenetic shifts are often influenced by long-term exposures to environmental chemicals, heavy metals, and chronic infections. The article uses an analogy of translating a manual to explain the difference between genetic mutations and epigenetic changes.

  • Chronic inflammation and the excess production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are two key mechanisms implicated in cancer development. These processes can lead to DNA damage, impaired cellular function, and the promotion of cancer growth. The article describes these as "imperceptible ripples" that, over time, can have long-term damaging effects.

  • The article discusses the NRF2/ARE pathway, a cellular response system designed to neutralize the effects of ROS and protect against potential DNA damage. While this system is crucial for maintaining cellular health, it can be overwhelmed by chronic stress and inflammation. The article also mentions various antioxidants that can support this pathway.

  • Environmental toxins discussed include air pollution (both outdoor and indoor), herbicides like glyphosate, water pollutants, and various heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Each of these can contribute to cancer risk through different mechanisms. The article provides detailed information on sources of exposure and potential health impacts for each toxin.

  • The article also covers other potential carcinogens such as pesticides, fungicides, petrochemicals, solvents, and xenoestrogens (chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body). It includes lists of foods that are more or less likely to be contaminated with pesticides, and discusses the widespread presence of certain chemicals like perfluorocarbons (PFAS).

  • Persistent, enduring pathogens are highlighted as another potential cancer risk. These include certain bacteria (like H. pylori), viruses (such as Epstein-Barr and HPV), parasites, and fungal infections. These pathogens can create chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, potentially altering gene expression in ways that promote cancer. The article explains how some pathogens can evade the immune system and antibiotics, leading to chronic infections.

  • The importance of dental health is emphasized, with chronic gum disease linked to increased cancer risk. The article notes that dental disease is often underappreciated as a source of chronic infection.

  • Lifestyle factors, such as excessive alcohol consumption and smoking, are also noted as significant contributors to chronic inflammation and ROS production. The article mentions that even some over-the-counter drugs, when used excessively, can contribute to oxidative stress.

  • The article suggests various laboratory tests that can be used to assess an individual's exposure to toxins, immune function, and oxidative stress levels. These include comprehensive GI stool testing, heavy metal testing, and measures of oxidative damage to DNA. It also mentions tests for specific antibodies that can indicate the presence of hidden infections.

  • The authors argue that understanding and addressing these environmental and pathogenic factors could play a significant role in both cancer prevention and reducing the risk of recurrence. They suggest that this approach offers a conceptual framework for providing significant supportive care in cancer treatment.

  • While not directly treating cancer, the article proposes that uncovering and addressing these underlying issues could provide valuable supportive care in cancer treatment and prevention. It emphasizes the need for a holistic approach that considers these factors alongside conventional cancer treatments.

The Inner Terrain

The body’s terrain or inner landscape is an interior environment that needs cultivation, parallel to an orchard or farm. To achieve success, in either, requires a synergy or interaction between planning and effort, the right balance of enough time invested, both emotional and physical, perseverance, aspiring to success, and understanding and applying the basics for healthy growth, followed by fortifying and enriching, adding the right nutrients, in the correct amounts, adequate water and sunlight, and care in preventing damage from harmful external agents. Both require tending with the plan to ultimately achieve the best return on investment, and while success is not guaranteed, there is the willingness to adjust and keep trying.

So, whether constitutionally gifted and/or individually developed via lifestyle choices, a strong terrain provides an individual the opportunity to:

  • Reduce the risks from degenerative diseases

  • Maintain immune protection and balance to

  • Defend against potential threats from environmental exposures, infections, and cancer via the immune response.

  • Allow recovery and repair from illness, trauma, and disease occurrences.

  • Remove allergens

  • Support detoxification pathways

  • Encourage normal circadian rhythms

  • Maintain quality cognition

  • Adopt and manage stressful life challenges

  • Experience a higher level of energy

In looking at the development of cancer, specifically, supporting and maintaining a robust  terrain can offer a strong defense against cancer initiation, progression, and recurrence.

So, let’s look deeper!

Carcinogens have long been recognized as potential initiators of cancer, and known to be associated  

  • Mutations that directly change the DNA

But additional scientific evidence also demonstrates that there can be:

  • Alteration in the expression of the DNA, without changing the DNA, called Epigenetics

  • Both processes result in aberrant manifestations of the genetic code

Research suggests that these epigenetic shifts are commonly influenced by long term continual exposures to multiple types of environmental chemicals, heavy metals and chronic persistent lurking infections.

To compare direct changes to DNA versus epigenetic changes imagine DNA being the instruction manual for putting together some apparatus that is written in Chinese. The concept related to mutations suggests that when the steps in the instructions were written, they were written incorrectly and then translated incorrectly, so the apparatus couldn’t be assembled correctly.

Epigenetic change would imply that the original Chinese manual of instructions was correct, but when it was translated into English, some steps in the translation were incorrect, also resulting in erroneous directions and outcomes.

The recognition that there are toxic agents responsible for cancer promotion has existed since the early twentieth century.  But besides their ability to directly damage DNA, studies have established that these causative triggers can affect the expression of DNA indirectly by epigenetic alterations resulting from their creation of Chronic Inflammation and the excess production of oxidative free radicals called Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).

These two mechanisms are implicated not only in cancer, but many degenerative diseases, and autoimmune illnesses and their effects are notoriously subtle; not like the impact of a Tsunami wave but imperceptible ripples, in minute amounts, that are persistent and unrelenting -----but with long-term damaging effects capable of initiating cancer. Because of the recognition of these secondary effects leading cancer research centers are developing treatments to potentially neutralize ROS.

Let’s examine The Basics of the connections between the triggers, their downstream effects and epigenetics.

Inflammation is a universal response to injuries ranging from minor scrapes to major traumas, infections, allergic reactions, toxicants and other foreign molecules. There is an acute alert, a call to action by our front-line innate immune system and their chemical messaging for reinforcements bringing a strategic attack plan by the adaptive immune system.

Everyone is familiar with the symptoms of acute inflammation, heat, redness, swelling, pain, and limited function that are generated, but it is under appreciated that these responses also generate metabolic byproducts called reactive oxygen species. With resolution of the inflammation, healing and repair ensues and the oxidative chemicals are neutralized.  If the insult persists, the consequence is often ongoing chronic inflammation, chronic tissue damage, and the continued production these oxidative free radicals.

Our protective normal Inflammatory response plays a significant and beneficial role in:

Normal Inflammation

  • Recognizing allergens as foreign and removing them

  • Mobilizing the immune system to fight infections

  • Neutralizing toxicants

  • Initiation of the repair process

However

Chronic Inflammation that persists from the continued stimulation of the immune system in the presence of triggers incites undesirable long-term effects including:

  • A prominent and significant source of, reactive oxygen species, ROS, which are associated with cancer initiation

  • The promotion of bone loss

  • Impairment and dysfunction of immune system, ranging from long term fatigue and deficient functioning to overstimulation and potential autoimmune disease.

  • The breakdown of connective tissue

  • The promotion of arterial diseases; heart attack, hypertension, and stroke

Oxidative Free Radicals are reactive molecules created from cellular metabolism that use oxygen and some include hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl and superoxide molecules and nitric oxide free radicals.  These molecules have an imbalance of electrons and are unstable causing them to combine and alter other molecules, potentially affecting their function and inciting long term damage.

They are generated during the normal cellular functions of:

  • Nervous system communication

  • Blood vessel relaxation

  • Mitochondrial energy production

  • The initial detoxification pathway of foreign substances, for the metabolism of drugs and toxins.

  • The byproducts from white blood cell activity against pathogens

  • Normal metabolic processes of digestion, respiration, and cardiac function

  • DNA injury and repair.

The creation of balanced amounts of ROS are essential for cellular replication, immune efficiency, and the removal of aging or damaged cells, and is controlled and monitored by our antioxidant response system (ARE) to assure homeostasis and balance is maintained within the body. See below

Chronic Reactive Oxygen Species:

  • Encourage more chronic inflammation

  • Impair wound repair

  • Disrupt mitochondrial activity.

  • Impede cell membrane function

  • Damage DNA

  • Reduces synaptic growth and encourages of amyloid deposition in the brain.

  • Promote the breakdown of connective tissue and weakening of structural integrity.

  • Produce significant amounts of more ROS.

  • And can be aggravated and accentuated by:

  • Mental stressors

  • High sugar, fat, and processed foods

  • Excessive exercise

  • Excessive Alcohol

  • Air pollution

  • UV light

  • Nutrient deficient diets

  • Aging

The control of ROS uses the:

NRF2/ARE Pathway

To neutralize the effects of ROS and protect against potential DNA, lipid and protein damage is the cellular response complex called the NRF-2 /ARE pathway; the nuclear factor E2 related factor system and the antioxidant response element. It is designed to maintain the balance between oxidants (ROS) and antioxidants. This pathway is initiated by NRF 2 when there is an alert of excessive oxidative stress. It is designed to rebalance ROS and protect against potential DNA damage. On activation it enters the cellular nucleus and activates the ARE which enhances the expression of genes that participate in detoxification, growth factors, transport proteins and can assist in repair from oxidative injury. So, the ARE is an essential for maintaining ROS homeostasis under normal conditions and under extreme conditions can help prevent cellular damage.

There are antioxidant supplements that have a direct effect on reactive oxygen species; Vitamin C is a free radical scavenger; Vitamin E neutralizes lipid oxidative stress and glutathione detoxifies reactive oxidative molecules. The phytochemical sulforaphane found in brassica vegetables can activate NRF2.

There are dozens of dietary antioxidants; green tea, ginger, quercetin, fruits and veggies, pomegranate, raspberry, turmeric, and rosemary to name a few.

This NRF-2/ ARE pathway has been documented by twenty years of research for its ability to reduce cancer development from ionizing radiation and chemicals. However, these systems can be overwhelmed or depleted in situations of chronic inflammation and chronic oxidative stress making them less efficient and protective.

Epigenetics and its association with ROS

Specific epigenetic alterations of gene expression can occur from environmental toxicants and chronic hidden pathogens creating excessive ROS.

Studies have shown these excessive oxidative free chemical radicals (ROS) to be associated with cancer initiation as their effects can modify, or damage specific genetic sequences and break strands of DNA, resulting in errors in the DNA coding of RNA messengers needed for the removal of aged or abnormal cells  

Examples of Significant Epigenetic Effects include:

DNA methylation participates in in the remodeling and stabilization of DNA and is an epigenetic mechanism that regulates and controls gene expression. Scientific evidence suggests excessive ROS affect gene expression by potentially causing either increased or decreased changes in methylation, each of which affect different DNA sequences and result in different consequences.

  • Hypermethylation occurring in an area that normally promotes a specific result, inhibits its action, and in cancer, hypermethylation is associated with the inhibition of tumor suppressor gene expression.  

  • Hypomethylation, acts in an opposite way and is associated with the stimulation and activation of oncogenes which promote the expression of cancer growth, which are normally silenced. 

Methylation effects can also produce changes affecting embryonic development, immune function, aging, osteoporosis and atherosclerosis. A simple example of the profound epigenetic effects of methylation in development can be demonstrated in experiments with the Agouti mouse.  When bred with a deficiency of methyl groups, the results are the creation of offspring that have yellow fur and develop obesity and diabetes. If during gestation the moms are given methyl supplementation, the offspring are then born with brown fur, they are slim and healthy, and don’t develop diabetes. This is the result of methylation of the DNA which initiates a specific epigenetic change in the expression of the gene affecting these traits.

  • Histone modification-DNA is many meters long and must be folded and coiled to fit into the cellular nucleus. To achieve this compressed size, it winds around histone proteins, and forms chromatin which limits gene accessibility. Histones have chemical interactions with a variety of molecules, but ROS can regulate this process resulting in modification of genetic expression, which are associated with several cancers.

  • Cellular Replication

  • Nuclear DNA is not replaced in each newly created cell during replication but is precisely copied and transferred to the next generation of new cells.  Accurate replication is essential for genes to work properly in the regulation of normal cellular functions, and injury or damage requires nuclear self-repair to maintain this precise duplication. Excessive oxidative stress can create damage that overwhelms and disrupts this process resulting in the abnormal cell replication and potentially an abnormal cell, cancer.

It also appears that these listed forms of epigenetic modification are known to play a role in chemotherapy drug resistance, and current research is designing approaches to control methylation and histone proteins as potential approaches in cancer therapies.

The results therefore of the cascade of initiators and their downstream effects are left unaddressed in western oncology, but if allowed to continue can potentially encourage changes that fuel cancer progression. Later in this article a discussion of specific laboratory testing available to uncover these threats will be listed which can then provide a direction for reducing their impact.

Environmental Burden and Chronic Lurking Pathogens

The advanced diagnostic tools, surgeries, and therapeutics in cancer treatment are essential in removing cancer, but an important consideration has been focusing on recognizing and treating root issues that are associated with the initiation and progression of cancers, with the goal being to diminish their impact and support extended survival.

While the types of recognized toxins and now chronic infections are discussed, understand this an overview, and designed to show their link to potential epigenetic gene expression that connects reactive oxygen species and inflammation with an association to cancer causation.

Often evaluations of toxicant reference ranges are designed by toxicologists based on levels that pose an acute threat. Most testing reveals low levels of many that are present but considered a non-lethal threat. However, scientists recognize that while these levels are small, they are often persistent and when experienced over lengthy periods can lead to accumulations that trigger lasting effects resulting in dangerous epigenetic changes from chronic inflammation and ROS.

Our environmental exposures may come from:

Air Pollution, Outdoor

Contains:

  • Among other things, incomplete combustion by- products of carbon-based fuels including oil, gas, kerosene, wood, charcoal along with particulates, and coal, used as an energy source in power plants

  • Combustion byproducts from vehicles compose three quarters of the air pollution near roadways, so If you are a runner or bicycle enthusiast running close to roadways, it is unhealthy!

  • Forest fires generate high levels of lung particulates causing inflammation and oxidative stress and altering immune macrophage functions.

  • Industrial and agricultural emissions

Air Pollution, Indoor

  • From cleaning agents, building materials, insulation, radon, and mold. Consider air purifiers especially for the bedroom.

Herbicides

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide and kills any type of plant it encounters.  It does so by inhibiting proteins that allow a plant to grow. As a harvest drying agent, it kills the leaves allowing for faster drying. It is commonly used in wheat, barley and oats and is the active ingredient in Roundup. In foods, can be present in sugar beets and sugarcane, corn, soy, and wheat, often even when organic. When ingested in our foods it destroys gut microbes, chelates microminerals and inhibits many liver detoxification enzymes.

While the EPA feels there is no hazards from it, the International Agency on Research for Cancer considers it a probable carcinogen and suggests there is a link to Non-Hodgins Lymphoma. It has been banned in France, the Netherlands, Germany and Vietnam.

Water Pollution

Related to groundwater contamination poses potential exposures to multiple toxicants, and infections from microorganisms found in municipal water systems and well water contamination.

It is important to use water filtration systems for drinking water. Reverse osmosis is potentially the best for removing ninety-five percent of chemicals and can be paired with activated charcoal, which is also a component in air purifiers for air contaminants.

Heavy Metals, there are many metals that pose risk for chronic diseases. Only those with an association to cancer are discussed here.

Trace minerals are considered micronutrients whose actions catalyze many chemical reactions to create energy, regulate blood sugar, assist in bone and cartilage generation, hormone production, and help muscle function. Adequate amounts can be obtained from quality dietary sources unless there is a deficiency.  Heavy metals have the ability to substitute or replace trace minerals slowing or preventing normal chemical reactions.

  • Antimony is probably unfamiliar to many. It is not a carcinogen but can cause excess ROS which affects DNA repair and is potentially associated with cancer only when the antioxidant response systems are overwhelmed. It is used in bullets, night and infrared googles, semiconductors, circuit boards and lithium batteries.

  • Arsenic is a naturally occurring metal, its inorganic form is found in groundwater and poses a high toxic threat. while the organic form is found in foods. Markedly elevated levels of inorganic arsenic are associated with cancer of the lung, liver, prostate, and skin.

    • Fortunately, it is not a forever chemical and the organic forms, found in foods, are considered low in toxicity as they have a very short half-life in the body, as they are in and out quickly. Their primary sources are groundwater, fish, and rice. Rice however, if grown in environments where the ground water contains high levels of inorganic form, is dangerous over the long term. Exposure can be reduced by washing rice in purified water before cooking and using that type of water in cooking.  Organic arsenic is also found in commercially raised chicken feed, but the dosage used can vary and while capable of excretion, continuous ingestion of fast-food sources results in frequent exposures.

  • Diets high in brassica vegetables and black and green tea, based on animal studies, were shown to reduce cellular toxicity from arsenic.

  • Cadmium a toxic metal used in manufacturing of batteries (nickel-cadmium recycling industry), in metal smelting which uses chemicals and heat applied to mined ore to extract base metal, for metal coatings, and pigments. It is more readily absorbed if there are deficiencies of iron, zinc, and calcium. Exposure for the general population is primarily from tobacco smoke and foods, especially tofu products and roasted sunflower seeds grown in high phosphate fertilizers contaminated by cadmium. Blueberries are useful in reducing cell damage.

    • It is highly toxic causing kidney, lung, and prostate cancer and is also associated with breast, bladder, and pancreatic cancer.

  • Hexavalent chromium found in the earth’s crust in different oxidative states. The hexavalent form was the substance that was the basis of the lawsuit in Erin Brockovich where it was used as an anti-corrosive, but it is also commonly used in antifreeze, porcelain, ceramics, wood preservatives, paint pigments, and in leather tanning. These sources combined with automobile emissions and waste incineration pollution can potentially contaminate ground water. This metallic form results in the production of ROS which are mutagenic and cause damage to DNA and epigenetic changes associated with lung , sinus and nasal cancers.

  • Gadolinium is a rare metal that is used in a significant percentage of MRI’s. While there is no association to cancer directly, it can induce inflammatory cytokines and creates reactive oxygen species.

  • Nickel is a major carcinogen in exposed workers causing nasal and lung cancer.

  •  Radon is a radioactive gas produced with the decay of uranium, radium and thorium in the soil and rock and is associated with lung cancer. it occurs naturally in many areas of the country, and testing of crawl spaces can document elevated levels, as remediation can reduce levels significantly.

  • Asbestos is a fibrous silicate mineral found in the soil and rocks. Its exposure comes from inhalation of fibers, usually trapped in the lungs. It is used in building construction due its strength in floor tiles and roof shingles, hot water and steam insulation, automobile brakes, and cement products.it is known to cause mesothelioma or the lining of the chest or abdomen, lung, ovarian, and larynx cancers.

  • Mercury, lead, aluminum, gadolinium, cobalt all can cause significant oxidative radicals.

Fungicides

These products are commonly combined with insecticides. They are sprayed on the soil or crops and even used to treat seeds. Fruits and veggies are the usual, but soybeans are also treated.

Triazole is the chemical used and several products are produced by various companies. It is considered a probable carcinogen and is associated with liver cancer in rodents.

It is interesting that in 2000, the EPA proposed that companies not use new triazole products but rather monitor them until more studies were performed, but the companies refused, and eventually the EPA dropped it. There is more interest now in restoring the ban.

Also with the use of fungicides in agriculture, there are fungal infections that can infect people, and these fungicides are contributing to increased resistance to antifungal drugs that are used for human disease.

Pesticides

The World Health Organization in 2014 categorized pesticides as probable carcinogens.

While there is ongoing research, it is impossible to emphatically state that all classes of these types of chemicals are carcinogenic, but it has been shown that exposure to pesticides in farm workers has caused increased risk of chromosome alterations and increased risk of Hodgkin’s disease in young workers.

Since many fruits, vegetables and fish are at risk for toxic load, food choices require knowledge of the safest ones. It is wise to use plant/mineral wash fruits /vegetables to clean dirt, wax and contaminants or  at a minimum use  moving water at the sink. Look for farmers markets in your locale and ask about how they grown!

Try to choose foods, even if nonorganic that are less sprayed with pesticides

Dirty Dozen-heavily sprayed

Apples, Peaches, Celery, Pears, Bell Pepper, Strawberry, Cherries, Carrott, Lettuce, Kale, Nectarine, Imported grapes

Clean Dozen

Cabbage, Avocado, Eggplant, Pineapple, Kiwi, Asparagus, Mangoes, Sweet Peas, Onion, Sweet Corn, Papaya, Watermelon

Best Wild Fish, not farm-raised

Clam, Salmon, Perch, Ocean Hake, Alaska Salmon, Sardines, Shrimp, Haddock, Tilapia, Crawfish, Oyster, Pollock

Farmed seafood has industrial chemicals like polyvinyl chloride, PVC, chemicals for coloring, antibiotics, and pesticides.

Petrochemicals

Petrochemicals are chemicals derived from the refining of petroleum, coal, and the incomplete combustion by-products of carbon-based fuels, including oil, gas, kerosene, wood, and charcoal.

  • Petroleum drilling and refining processes expose workers to an increased the risk of melanoma, mesothelioma, and multiple myeloma.

  • Coal when burned for indoor heating is carcinogenic, as is the soot from incomplete combustion when burning wood, plastic, and trash.

  • Diesel engine exhaust is associated with lung cancer.

  • Formaldehyde gas is associated with leukemia, nose, throat, and sinus cancers

  • Vinyl chloride, a petroleum product, is a colorless gas used to make PVC pipe and cable and wire coatings. It increases the risk of primary liver cancer, brain, and lung cancer, from smoking combustion, and lymphoma and leukemia.

Solvents

  • Chlorinated solvents: trichlorethylene (TCE), Perchloroethylene (PCE) are found in cleaning wipes, tool cleaners, spray adhesives, and paint removers. They are known to cause kidney cancer and increase the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and are suspect in liver cancer.

  • Styrene is found in toys, cups and plates, tires, carpet backing and fiberglass products. There are limited studies but there appears to be a risk of leukemia and lymphoma in workers. It can be found in all people with urine testing.

  • Benzene is considered a solvent and is currently mainly synthetically made from crude oil. It is used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and found in gasoline, glues, adhesives, paint stripper and in cigarette smoke. It increases the risk of leukemia and other blood cancers.

  • Ethylene oxide is an organic compound used to produce several industrial chemicals but >50% is used to produce antifreeze. Exposure increases risks leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and stomach cancer.

  • Butadiene is an organic chemical used to make synthetic rubber but generates exposure via forest fires, car exhaust and cigarette smoking. There is an association, without conclusive proof of increased risk of blood cancers, respiratory and stomach cancers.

Perfluorocarbons (Perfluoroalkyl compounds) or PFAS and PFOS, were synthetic chemicals created in the 1950’s. They are used in such common items as nonstick cookware, waterproof, breathable clothing, carpet sealants, coatings that resist heat, oil, stains, and grease, and for cleaning in the semiconductor industry. They are also found in firefighter foam and insecticides. It is universal in the groundwater, locally caught fish, and even dust. They can be found in 100% of people.

It disrupts thyroid function, blood sugar regulation and mitochondrial energy production, creating oxidative stress.

The EPA has banned it in 04/2024 as it is considered a carcinogen associated with breast, prostate, and bladder cancer.

Xenoestrogens

There are many chemicals that are estrogen mimics, called xenoestrogens (foreign estrogens), that have estrogen activity, and can act as endocrine disruptors. The pesticides DDT, DDE, and dioxin are xenoestrogens, and while banned in the US for decades, still contaminate our groundwater, and the plants and animals that use it. Studies indicate it can affect stem cell differentiation and long-term, increase cancer risk.

Xenoestrogen activity is related synthetic chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA) found in plastic disposable water bottles, food wraps, and cash register tapes, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) found electrical devices but while banned since 1979, can still be found in groundwater in some areas, and in the mycotoxin Zearalenone.

  • Bisphenol A has been shown to induce epithelial (ductal) breast cancer development and is associated with growth and invasion or aggravation in colorectal, prostate, ovarian, and cervical cancers.

  • Parabens are endocrine disrupting chemicals that are found in everyday items, being used as a preservative in cosmetics, drugs and even foods and pesticides. Exposure is primarily through personal care products and can be found universally in most products used on the face and hair; Seventy percent of OTC type products contain this ingredient. They also have some estrogenic activity which remains on the skin and parabens also inhibit the cell enzymes that would break them down.

  • Parabens have weak estrogen activity and can increase estrogen via local steroid conversion. In menopausal women, this could be an unopposed estrogen source. and when unopposed is carcinogenic. Studies are ongoing related to paraben crosstalk with Estrogen/Progesterone receptors and Epidermal Growth Factor (HER-2) as to its association with increased breast cancer risk via pro-oncogenic expression of these growth receptors.

For further references, please go to Cancer.org

Persistent, Enduring Lurking Pathogens.

Most people perceive an infectious disease as-- an exposure, an illness, and then recovery. However, even with powerful antibiotics, antivirals, and antifungals some pathogens cannot be completely removed, and the infection resolved. It is being recognized that some of these infectious agents have adapted by developing genetic alterations that make them less affected or even resistant to antibiotic treatments and/or able to become quiescent and hide, until favorable conditions allow them to reactivate and growth again.

The result is that these lurking pathogens or hidden infections can generate chronic inflammation and oxidative stress which, as discussed earlier in the article, can epigenetically alter gene expression that can cause DNA damage, activation of oncogenes and silencing of tumor suppressor genes and impair cell death of abnormal cells.

Testing is available to assess antibody levels to different infectious agents so as to discriminate active pathogens, as well as measure the overall strength and effectiveness of the immune system.

In integrative medicine, therapies can be instituted to complement western medicines to enhance immune responses and offer natural western and Chinese herbs that are anti-infective.

Types of Potentially Chronic Bacterial Infections

It is shown that part of the white blood cell immune response is to generate ROS which assist in destroying bacteria, but some bacteria are able to actually neutralize ROS by creating changes in their genes, making difficulties for even antibiotics to be effective.

  • Some chronic tick-borne diseases include, Borrelia species (Lyme), Bartonella, Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasma. –have the potential of disarming some immune attacking molecules, forming protective communities around themselves, called Biofilms, and changing form to protect it in unfavorable environments, often making resolution difficult and sometimes unattainable

  • Mycoplasma Chlamydia, Streptococcus

  • Helicobacter pylori, H. Pylori, is a bacterium that grows in the stomach and small intestine and can persist for extended periods in its host. Some strains are carcinogenic and causative in gastric cancer and is now associated with colorectal cancer, and a form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma called MALT lymphoma. This lymphoma interestingly will decrease in size when treated with antibiotics.

There are other chronic bacterial infections like mycobacterium tuberculosis that can remain latent for literally decades before activating with often fatal disease.

Dental Disease

is underappreciated as a source of lurking infections. It is a common source of persistent chronic bacteria, especially with long standing gum disease which increases cancer risk by 15-20%. Also, it is not uncommon to trace issues with chronic fatigue and immune suppression to existing infections from asymptomatic infections in root canal disease.

Viruses associated with cancer:

  • Herpes family viruses include, herpes simplex virus 1 &2, HH6, HH7, HH8, varicella, cytomegalovirus, CMV, Parvo, EBV, Epstein Barr, HH4 all cause chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
    Information suggests 10-15% of cancers are related to persistent viral initiators that are able to regulate human pathways the by dysregulating our own cellular genes that normally control cell cycle growth and programmed cell death of abnormal cells.

  • Epstein Barr is associated with Burkett’s Lymphoma and increases risk of nasopharyngeal cancer.

  • Human T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1)

  • Kaposi sarcoma -associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or HH8 of the herpes virus family

  • Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCP), Merkel cells are touch related cells in the skin and are associated with neuroendocrine cancer.

  • Human Papilloma virus (HPV) associated with cervical cancer, head, and neck cancer, and vaginal, penile and anogenital cancers.

  • Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C associated with liver cancer

  • Viral induced surges of ROS are now associated with childhood lymphocytic leukemia

  • Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) has three acquired related cancers; cervical, aggressive B cell non Hodgins Lymphoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma as well has higher risk for lung, anal, liver and oropharynx.

Parasites

Schistosoma haematobium is a parasite found in water supplies in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and is associated with bladder cancer.

Fungal Infections are Infections from a Fungus, a Mold or Yeast

Most people think that if mold is present, it is visible where it is growing. Actually, the culprits in mold disease are the invisible toxins that molds release into the air. They are called Mycotoxins and are a toxicant to the body. Common species that are tested include Ochratoxin, Trichothecenes, Gliotoxin, Aflatoxin, Citrinin. These pathogenic toxins occur in homes and commercial buildings secondary to water damage.  Often, they are unseen as the mold can be growing in the drywall behind the tile in the bathroom, or in the walls from an old water leak. It even grows in concrete cracks. These are the toxins emitted into the air by the mold, and few realize their impact in depressing immune function and long-term acting as carcinogens. In the general population 75% of people exposed to mycotoxins are able to expel them from the body, but 25% have a genetic variant that limits this ability. Symptoms associated with mycotoxins are multiple, and recovery from other lurking infections is inhibited due to their ability to lower immune responses. Mycotoxins are associated with cancers of the liver, breast, and cervix.

Yeast is also a fungus, but not a mold, and often exists normally in the body in the mouth, GI tract, skin, and vagina. It interacts often in mutual benefit with bacteria but in situations of immune weakness, vascular disease, or diabetes it can become opportunistic pathogen often growing out of control. It is now a concern as contributing to the initiation of colon, prostate, cervical and breast cancers, and further investigation underway. 

Other Causes of Chronic Inflammation and ROS

  • OTC drugs are often underestimated. Excessive use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) are associated with cardiovascular disease from the induction of ROS. A chemotherapy drug doxorubicin also creates excess ROS and cause cardiac damage secondary to cancer treatments.

  • Lifestyle choices of excessive alcohol and smoking

Based on the information presented, there appears to be a direct connection between specific initiating chemicals and infectious agents and their establishment of an environment of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress---which are shown to initiate and promote cancer. 

Available Laboratory testing can include:

  • Comprehensive GI stool testing to evaluate, good healthy bacteria and the bad actors, candida, parasites, enzymatic functions, fat digestion and gut immune competence

  • Heavy metal testing

  • Vitamin and mineral adequacy

  • Mitochondrial function

  • Immune activity

  • Toxic load

  • Detoxification strength

  • Antibodies reflecting the presence of hidden infections

  • 8-OHGua, 8 hydroxylation of guanine, is a measure of oxidative damage to DNA, which affects specific DNA base pairing. It also can be used as a measure of the effects of antioxidant supplements on oxidative damage.

Indeed, while not directly treating cancer the value of uncovering these problems offers available supportive therapies which can impact both primary disease prevention and potentially reduce the risk of recurrence of many cancers. Simply put, if these causative agents are factors for the development or sustaining of cancer their awareness having and

understanding of this conceptual framework can potentially provide significant supportive care in cancer.

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