The best science-based anticancer nutrition books, DVDs & websites

Above photo: My wife and me with Keith I. Block, M.D. at the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment April of 2013. My wife was in a downward slide from cachexia (32 lb. weight loss, loss of appetite, profound and growing weakness plus symptoms of lymphedema and nerve damage from long term chemo, about 30 lesions formed around her lungs) despite the use of some very expensive chemo drugs (Lepatanib aka Tykerb cost $11,000 a bottle of 120 tablets…about a months supply). As we started to adopt the nutritional changes recommended by Dr. Block in his book Life Over Cancer (I’m holding my copy in the above picture) many of her symptoms began to subside. The answers are out there. The hard part is finding them in the mountain of possibilities.

I’ve scanned hundreds of books, audio books, CDs, websites, blogs and products to find resources to help my wife in her battle to manage her stage 4 cancer and have begun posting below a growing list of a very select few of the best of the best books, audio books, DVDs, and other products.

 

1. Life Over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment

If I had cancer and could only have one book to use in my battle this would be that book. Dr. Block has dealt with late stage cancers for over 32 years, co-founded the Block Center for Integrative Treatment, and is considered by many to be the father of integrative cancer care. Here are a few of the sixteen reviews of Life Over Cancer by medical and cancer professionals found in the book:

“Life Over Cancer is the compilation of Dr. Block’s three decades of research and development of his optimal model of integrative cancer treatment. As Chief of Surgical Oncology from a major medical institution, I have sent many patients to the Block Center. They experienced less treatment toxicity, improved treatment response, better quality of life, and improved outcomes. In my opinion, Dr. Block’s clinic is unique and what I consider to be the top integrative oncology center in the US. It is where I would go if I was ever diagnosed with cancer.”— N. Joseph Espat, M.D. Professor and Chief, Surgical Oncology Roger Williams Medical Center

“Life Over Cancer is a must- read for anyone combating this disease. It provides genuine hope, as well as the evidence, rationale, and instructions in how to live a healthier, fuller life with cancer, while providing a broader array of treatment options that improve quality of life.”—Nick Vogelzang, M.D., Director, Nevada Cancer Institute Professor of Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas 

“Keith Block is one of the great pioneers of integrative oncology. This important book is essential reading for patients and health professionals alike. Block’s approach is indicative of much of the future of this critically important field of medicine.”—Michael Lerner, Ph.D., President, Commonwealth Cofounder, Commonweal Cancer Help Program 

“Life Over Cancer provides countless strategies to enable the patient to regain some of the lost sense of control that a diagnosis often carries, empowering them to be a true partner in their fight for life. Dr. Block’s counsel and guidance have assisted countless medical professionals hoping to provide their own patients with a comprehensive integrative approach to care.” —Donald I. Abrams, M.D., Chief of Hematology-Oncology San Francisco General Hospital Prof. Clinical Medicine, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, UCSF 

“How refreshing to come across this thoughtful book.…With the boldness of a carpe diem, this evidence-based integrative approach should serve as a wake-up call for oncologists to overcome their obsession with treating cancer as an isolated target and to pay attention to the cancer patient whose own faculties need to be harnessed as agencies to win this war.”—Azra Raza, M.D. Director of the Myelodysplatic Syndrome Center St. Vincent’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, New York, NY Former Chief Hematology-Oncology University of Massachusetts

“Life Over Cancer is a training manual for cancer patients, their families, cancer nurses, oncology pharmacists and oncologists. [It] provides patients with insight and a series of concrete steps to help them live better and longer, despite a cancer diagnosis. —William JM Hrushesky, M.D., Senior Clinician Investigator, Medical Oncology Professor, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of South Carolina , WJB Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia SC

“Patients who have taken the Life Over Cancer sojourn have generated an impressive track record. While we have much to comprehend about the inner workings of cancer it is reassuring to know that personalized state-of-the-art care is within reach.—Debu Tripathy, M.D. Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine Former Director of the Komen / UT Southwestern Breast Cancer Research Program President and CEO, Physicians Education Resource  “To this day, the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment remains the best and the only truly comprehensive integrative cancer center in the country. This generous book is the exact blueprint for that program and the recipe for its success: hope and science.”—Mark Renneker, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor, Unviersity of California, San Francisco, Medical School It isn’t a quick read at over 550 pages. I spoke with Dr. Block personally when we visited his clinic April of this year and he said that the essence of the book can be found in chapters 1, 4, and 13. I also found chapters 14 through 19 extremely helpful in understanding the biochemical conditions in the body that can support proliferation of cancer cells and steps that can be taken to counteract those conditions. I’m an Amazon affiliate for any orders through the above link to the book. If you order through our link thank you for your help with covering my wife’s ongoing conventional cancer treatment.

 

2. Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds

I was referred to this book by Elyn Jacobs–a professional cancer coach–because she felt it would help me in my efforts to try and manage my wife’s stage 4 cancer. (Thanks Elyn!) Elyn has an excellent blog (elynjacobs.wordpress.com) loaded with numerous resources if you’re searching for links to science-based books on cancer treatment, podcast interviews with numerous cancer specialists, article links, etc. to aid you or a loved one in a cancer battle. She is a cancer survivor herself and has devoted her life as a professional cancer coach to guiding people through the confusing, sometimes overwhelming cancer maze.      In the process of getting her doctorate at The University of California at Berkeley, Kelley Turner was surprised to learn of the case of someone with advanced cancer that went into complete remission. According to conventional medical dogma this is simply not possible. Curious, she dug deeper and eventually found that there were over one thousand similar documented cases of unexplained spontaneous remission. And this doesn’t count the numerous examples she found of spontaneous remissions experienced but never reported by physicians. Dr. Turner would eventually devote her life to studying the nine factors shared by such extraordinary spontaneous remissions and write Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds Reviews for Radical Remission:

“Radical Remission is a treasure trove of BIG TRUTH about the incredible healing power available to each and every one of us!” (Christiane Northrup, M.D., ob/gyn physician and author of the ,New York Timesbestsellers Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause)

“Radical Remission shows how we can shift the odds of remission in our favor. What I like most about this book is balance. Turner does not ask anyone to abandon conventional therapy, but instructs us on how to add healing factors that are often overlooked.” (Larry Dossey, MD, author of One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters)

Never before has anyone with Dr. Turner’s credentials dared to research the million dollar question: why do some patients get better from seemingly “incurable” illnesses? Dr. Turner has uncovered the holy grail those who want to optimize their chances for cure have been seeking. Bravo, Dr. Turner! (Lissa Rankin, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Mind Over Medicine & host of the National Public Television special Heal Yourself: Mind Over Medicine)

Radical Remission is a personal and deeply moving exploration of the power of the human spirit and innate wisdom of the body to overcome catastrophic illness. Persons with cancer and their families and friends will find it especially helpful. (Andrew Weil, M.D.)

This book is filled with important information for everyone, whether struggling with cancer or not. She is giving the world a gift at such an important time as so many are feeling like they can’t take their lives into their own hands. Kelly empowers us all to do exactly that. (Colleen Saidman, cofounder and codirector of Yoga Shanti)

Kelly Turner delivers the message people addressing cancer — or seeking to prevent it — need to hear. Turner’s book gives you the support you need — from science, tradition, and common sense — to make powerful lifestyle changes that will tip the scales in your favor. (Pamela Miles)

Kelly Turner is studying phenomena that is the very research and story sharing that will step us forward into solving the cancer plague. Kelly Turner writes as an accomplished scientist and as a compassionate human being to inspire us to question deeply the roots of our illnesses. (Rodney Yee, author of Moving Toward Balance)

An important book for all cancer patients. Radical Remission is filled with hope, science and possibilities. (Kris Carr, New York Times bestselling author)

From the back cover:   Discover the nine keys that can unlock your pathway to dramatic healing. Kelly Turner, Ph.D., a researcher and psychotherapist who specializes in integrative oncology, gives the reader the results of her research on over a thousand cases of Radical Remission—people who have defied a serious or even terminal cancer diagnosis with a complete reversal of the disease. The results of this study, which focused on seventy-five factors, include astounding insights of the nine key factors that Dr. Turner found among nearly every Radical Remission survivor she has studied and an explanation of how the reader can put these practices to work in his or her own life. Every chapter of Radical Remission includes dramatic stories of survivors’ journeys back to wellness. The realization that the possibilities for healing are more abundant than we had previously known gives people concrete ways to defy the overwhelming prognosis of terminal cancer. This is a book for those who are in the midst of receiving conventional cancer treatment, who are looking for other options because that treatment has done all that it can, or who seemingly have no options left but still feel that the future holds the possibility of hope. Kelly Turner’s Radical Remission shows that it is possible to triumph over cancer, even in situations that seem hopeless. Encompassing diet, stress, emotions, spirituality, and other factors that profoundly affect our health and well-being, Turner’s discussion of how our choices can cause the seemingly miraculous to happen will open your eyes to what is possible when it comes to lasting healing.

I’m an Amazon Affiliate for any orders through the above links to Radical Remission. If you order through these links thank you for your kind help with my efforts to cover my wife’s chemo expenses.  

3. Eating Right for Cancer Survival

If you’re not into reading, this DVD is a good way to get some understanding of cancer and the nutritional steps patients can take to make their biochemistry less supportive of cancer cell proliferation. It also includes short segments demonstrating healthy recipes that do the same. It’s a long DVD (4 hrs. 30 min.) but is broken up into several bite size presentations by Neal Barnard, MD on subjects like: how foods fight cancer, cancer-fighting compounds and immune-boosting foods, foods and breast cancer survival, foods and prostate cancer survival. My wife and I viewed one segment at a time along with a recipe demonstration over a few days and it was an interesting painless way to get a cancer fighting education. NOTE: Dr. Barnard is a vegan and presents the science from that viewpoint. My wife and I aren’t vegans but we still learned a lot of simple, doable strategies we could adopt and gained a deeper understanding of the causal roots of cancer.

I’m an Amazon affiliate for any orders through the above link to the book. If you order through our link thank you for your help with covering my wife’s ongoing conventional cancer treatment.  

4. Anticancer: A New Way of Life

The autiobiographical story of of Dr. David Servan-Schreiber’s two bouts of brain cancer along with the results of his extensive research to find answers to the question of why the occurrence of cancer seems to be rising and steps that people can take to avoid or manage the illness. It’s well researched with over thirty pages of notes of the sources of data and studies he used to reach his conclusions. His sharing of his struggles in dealing with cancer adds flesh and bone to what could have otherwise been dry statistics and figures. Unfortunately after an almost twenty year battle with brain cancer Dr. Servan-Schreiber succumbed to his illness. Some sceptics would say this is proof that his approach is not valid. I disagree. His first tumor was the size of a walnut. Almost twenty years is a long time to survive with brain cancer that far along (in a layman’s opinion). I believe without his research and the steps he took to slow and help manage his illness he would have died much sooner.

I’m an Amazon affiliate for any orders through the above link to the book. If you order through our link thank you for your help with covering my wife’s ongoing conventional cancer treatment.  

5. Coping With Cancer magazine

A magazine filled with encouraging information and articles by the cancer community (patients and doctors) on coping with cancer. I saw it recommended on a R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation resource page. This is not an affiliate link but I think it’s a helpful resource that cancer patients should know about. You can also type copingmag.com/cwc/ directly into your browser box above and go directly their website. http://copingmag.com/cwc/

6. Chicken Soup For the Soul titles related to surviving cancer Replenish your fighting spirit, hope and vision of what’s possible in slowing, reversing and managing late-stage cancers One of the greatest challenges for late stage cancer patients is keeping up their fighting spirit. Below are a few books from the Chicken Soup For the Soul series. I’ve ordered two of them for my wife and she’s found them a source of encouragement. I’ve also posted some brief videos on Stage 4 Living about amazing long term survivors of late stage cancers (see the top of this page for the page entitled “Long Term Late-Stage Cancer Survivors”. Sometimes just knowing that others have survived years and even decades after being told they have no hope can be encouraging.

I’m an Amazon affiliate for any orders through the above links to the books on Amazon. If you order through our links thank you for your help with covering my wife’s ongoing conventional cancer treatment.  

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES FOR THE NEWEST SCIENCE-BASED ANTICANCER NUTRITION 1. The blog of Keith I. Block, M.D. Dr. Keith Block has dealt with late stage cancers for over 32 years and is considered by many to be the father of the integrative cancer treatment movement (complementing conventional care such as surgery, radiation and chemo with cutting edge, science based anticancer nutrition and lifestyle strategies). He authored the leading book on integrative cancer treatment for use by laymen (Life Over Cancer) and is the co-founder of The Block Center for Integrative Treatment in Skokie, Illinois. In his blog you have access to his writings on various cancer related topics such as: cancer prevention, cancer treatment, the latest science, the latest medical findings, and healthful, tasty food-recipes, patient stories and Ask Dr. Block. http://lifeovercancerblog.typepad.com/life-over-cancer-blog/page/2/ 2. nutritionfacts.org The leading cause of health related death isn’t cancer, heart disease, or some other illness. It’s ignorance of the facts about health and what we can do to through diet and lifestyle to avoid these killers. People who are informed can greatly reduce their (or their loved-ones) chances of dying from the leading nutrition-related killers (such as cancer). Where do you find time to get a basic education on nutrition and health? Nutritionfacts.org is a nonprofit organization led by Dr. Michael Greger who devotes his life to scouring through the over six thousand studies of nutrition studies done each year and bringing them to the public for free through over eight hundred brief (two to five minute) videos and many brief blog posts. In his videos he often shows viewers the studies he read to arrive at his conclusions. By investing just a few minutes at a time you can save a lot of time, a lot of money (my wife’s last chemo med. cost $11,000 a bottle of 120 tablets) and possibly your life or the life of a loved one. http://nutritionfacts.org/ 3. Latestagecancer.com This is Rick Shapiro’s blog. Rick lost his Father to cancer and created his excellent blog with it’s resources and links to the latest cutting edge developments on cancer treatment as part of his mission to do his part in the fight against cancer. He admits he doesn’t post a lot but I can say that what he does post is thoughtful, rigorously thought through and contains helpful information. Rick is an admitted extreme sceptic. This scepticism serves his readers well because the desperation of cancer patients has brought out a horde of product sellers and folk remedy promoters (some sincere but wrong and some criminal in their knowingly selling expensive, useless products to desperate people). Unfortunately people fighting late stage cancer don’t have the time or resources to waste on false hopes. http://www.latestagecancer.com/