Hi

Of course eating a balanced diet of good healthy food, low in red meat, low in fat, high in fibre, low in salt, low in alcohol is beneficial to your health. It may lessen your chances of getting certain types of cancer, but it will not cure cancer once you have it. You dont have to pay for a course to find out what a healthy diet is. Although Penny Brohn courses are free for those diagnosed with cancer a donation is expected. After all they are a "charity" :) . Of course its up to you and your wife. Wishing you both all the best Kim

 Thanks for the reply. Is there no definitive answer on this though? If diet has no affect, these people should not be allowed to say so. It just makes the whole thing even more confusing and painful otherwise.

Hi Alan ..... tell me about it! Some of these people do my head in.  As I told you in a previous post, I have actually stayed at the PBC but not particularly to learn anything - diet or otherwise - just needed some time out to talk to the doctors there and have a break in the quiet. I met some great people and we had a real laugh (and even some alcohol) so it's not some weird place honest!  They definitely never gave me the impression that they thought their diet suggestions cured or prevented cancer - just a mainly vegetarian, diaryfree diet - pretty sensible generally but lot of great recipes and tips on alternatives.  The doctors there are mainly from the cancer unit at the local hospital and would always talk of conventional treatments and suggest the diet as a supplement to help keep you as healthy as possible during chemotherapy and operations.  You can pick out helpful bits and ignore others but it's nice for the chef to make it for you and sit down at the table with others in our situation and have some banter. It was a great place - I was surprised. Kim is right that a donation is appreciated but there would be no qualms if you declined.  In fairness not many people would expect to stay in a beautiful manor house retreat, be fed  3 homecooked meals a day by an amazing chef, plus juices etc, massage, doctor appts, different therapies to try etc etc totally free. But it is highly subsidized and donations aren't obligatory as far as I am aware.

I hope you don't mind me asking what treatment your wife is being offered because as explained I have secondary liver disease and wonder if it is similar.

Look forward to hearing from you x

Hi Alan , I'm facing a difficult out come , but I believe a change in diet can only help . It's vital to get as much good nutritional food into your system as possible . I'm not going to start a controversy debate but be open minded . How can a body start to heal and repair its self with high sugar processed food . Have a look on line for a great book and see how you both feel about diet change ... It's helped me no end in my fight !! It's by Dr David servan schreiber anti cancer a new way of life , best wishes christelle

Again, although a healthy diet is obvious its just about avoiding fat, salt and sugar etc. There is no such thing as an 'anti-cancer' diet according to cancer experts. No specific food like high alkaline or anything else can help specifically with cancer, but these books do make that claim by their very titles. I just think we are being conned. Even the claim that giving up dairy is a good idea has no basis in actual science, and there is no link between red meat and cancer either as far as any proper evidence shows. Being faced with this terrifying illness as we are I don't think any of these   Unsubstantiated claims help. 

Sorry, rant over, and I do appreciate your replies as I feel this needs debating. Hopefully others will get involved as well. Thank you.

Hi again Alan

The big problem with knowing whether certain diets can help prevent cancer is the difficulty in doing a scientifically valid trial. It would probably take 50 + years and have to start from birth. So a lot of the evidence is anecdotal, it is known that a diet low in processed foods is beneficial in preventing certain bowel cancers. This is by comparing the general diet of whole nations, in this instance, developed countries and undeveloped countries that eat a high fibre diet. Likewise a mediterranean diet with lots of fish. fresh vegetables and fruit is beneficial in preventing heart disease, BUT it may not be the diet! it could be the custom of taking a break and having a snooze at midday. In India curry powder is said to have been developed as an aid to health, the Ayurvedic Churnas, over the millenia certain spices were noted to promote health and today one of those ingredients turmeric is rightly or wrongly being promoted as being an anti cancer substance.

Humans have been very successful in increasing their numbers, as we are able to eat most anything and survive. The key seems to be a varied diet, so that we receive the multitude of nutrients we require. The alkaline diets that are being promoted probably dont do anything as stomach acid production is just increased to counteract the change. If it were true those living in very hard water districts would have less cancer cases BUT they do not.

For what it's worth, for the past 35 years I have eaten a very healthy diet of home grown organic food from my allotments and organically reared meat (a relative has a small holding) plus when buying, have always sought out the best quality cleanest grown food (ie without chemicals) and without being processed. We bake all of our own bread with organic wholemeal flour from a local miller. I have not eaten dairy produce either for 30+ years but have had a small quantity of sheep and goat milk and cheese again from the small holding. However I still managed to get cancer, in ever other respect I have excellent health and until now have never been ill or on any medication. So in my case the good diet did not prevent cancer, however I believe it has helped me recover from my treatment quickly and at present I am in remission.

There is probably no harm in trying out different diets, or foodstuffs but just beware the many charlatains who prey on vulnerable people like us who suffer from cancer, promising us the "cure" where none exists.

I just read through your original post once again to try and understand exactly what you want to discuss Alan.  Personally, yes I think you would be wasting money on books that claim a diet change may cure liver cancer.   However, as Kim says I do wonder if some foods/chemicals contribute to contracting it.  I have read that the incidence of breast cancer in Japan/China where they do not eat dairy products is something like 1 person per 100, whereas it is around 1 in 8 here.  I have also read that this is not due to the milk itself but to the hormones that are now pumped into the cows to cause overproduction  - and with hormone related cancers, ie breast, ovarian, prostrate if feeds hormone receptive tumours.  Also preservatives put on vegetables etc to give them a long self-life or steroid/hormoness given to animals to maximise their meat production. I doubt i will ever know the truth of these findings in my  life-time as they will take years of research.

Personally I stay away from all this bumph and live life as i always have and would rather research up and coming conventional treatments for my diseaase, in which I have more faith and surity.  Many new targeted chemotherapy drugs are becoming available and new ablation tecniques for formally inoperable liver tumours are now also available privately (still awaiting NICE approval).  I have been lucky enough to have this treatment and can definitely substantiate their effectivenes.  Targeted radiotherapy is also being used on the brain to minimise overall damage and is helping many..  Maybe these are what you could be exploring for your wife's treatment as there are many people having their lives extended by their use.  Mine by around 2-1/2 years so far.

I do hope you can find whatever answers you are looking for and feel reassured that you have explored every treatment avenue, as there are far more around than we are often informed of.  If I can be of any hep with sharing the liver treatmets I have opted for, then please feel free to ask.

Thanks. I would be interested to know more about the private treatment that you mention?

I too, of course, wonder if diet and chemicals have an affect, but in light of finding no real evidence to suggest it I will stick to Cancer Research UKs healthy eating advice and that of the doctors.

The Asian diet is an interesting one, but as kimchoson said, just because they have fewer cases of cancer in the east, doesn't mean it's their diet - it could be the climate, or simply genetics.

I assume that someone is doing these tests over long periods of time? But maybe not.

Thanks for all your replies.

P.S. Christelle - I wasn't ranting at you, just generally.

Hi Alan .... will give you a quick run through of the liver treatments I have had and if you want to know more about any of them, I can let you know where to get the information you need.

My liver was extensively diseased initially and I underwent a liver resection, removing 65% of the liver where the large tumours were. The liver is a brilliant organ that regenerates and bulks up to almost full size again within a few months.  I then had another tumour grow around a year later which was growing around my hepatic vein and deemed inoperable.  I was unable to have a normal heat ablation because of the risk of damage to the vein and underwent Nanoknife ablation (IRE) which is done using electrical currents and does not harm the vascular system.  Another year passed and I had two further tumours - one in the same place and another on the portal vein.  I had Nanoknife again in June of this year.  Had I not have had these procedures and relied on chemo alone, I would have had a much shorter prognosis.

In hindsight - I would have done more research initially and tried Nanoknife or heat ablation in the liver before taking the step to a resection right at the beginning.  It would have left me more of the organ and its blood supply to play with at a later stage if you can understand what i mean.  A friend recently had seven tumours removed - some with heat ablation and some with nanoknife and had a very good outcome.  I have also heard of I think its called embolisation? Where chemo is put directly into the liver tumour - and I think there is something about it on the site here.

Do you know if your wife's team have discussed surgery/ablation with her?  Sometimes the NHS oncologists do not have a great knowledge of these procedures and you need to talk to a radiologist or liver surgeon about them. Guess they specialise in their own fields and dont always look outside of the box - plus as I have already said, Nanoknife is not available on he NHS at this present time.