Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. (fka RCPIQ)

[Buddhahead]

Inflammation 101: The Fuel That Feeds Cancer in Integrative Oncology Essentials, Published November 11, 2012 by Brian D. Lawenda, I am an integrative oncologist. I trained at Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School) in radiation oncology and through Stanford-UCLA (Helms Medical Institute) in medical acupuncture. I am the founder of IntegrativeOncology-Essentials.

Excerpts:
"Chronic Inflammation: Whereas acute inflammation protects us from our hostile environment, “chronic” inflammation (a prolonged state of low-level, smoldering inflammation, lasting months-to-years) can hurt or even kill us. This difference is one of the most important discoveries of modern medicine. We now recognize that chronic inflammation is involved in the development and progression of almost every chronic disease…including cancer. The role of chronic inflammation is particularly poignant in the autoimmune and chronic infectious diseases, where the involved tissues are flooded with persistent chemical and protein signaling to repair and grow. Chronic inflammation can also significantly reduce your body’s sensitivity to insulin, leading to persistently elevated levels of blood sugar, increased production of insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and obesity. All of these factors have been shown to increase the risk of cancer development, progression and recurrence. "

"The Role of Nuclear Factor Kappa-B (NF-kB) in Cancer When immune cells first detect any signs of tissue injury or stress, they activate a cellular protein, called nuclear factor kappa-B (or NF-kB.) This protein is the main ‘switch’ that turns on the inflammation in the tissues. Activated NF-kB signals the cell (via many pathways, including through the activation of inflammasomes) to begin to produce numerous proteins involved in inflammation and tissue repair. So far so good, as long as the growth signals are not happening in precancerous or cancerous tissues… During chronic inflammatory conditions, inflamed tissues are predisposed to developing and accumulating DNA damage at a greater rate than non-inflamed tissues. This is due to the production of large amounts of free radicals in inflamed tissues [in fact, billions of DNA mutations develop in our cells each day as a result of free radical injury and toxic exposures.] When these highly-reactive chemicals interact with DNA, they can create DNA mutations. As long as the cell is able to either repair these DNA mutations (most cells have built-in DNA repair mechanisms) or signal the cell to undergo a process of cell suicide (“apoptosis”), precancerous cells will not develop. However, during constant exposure to NF-kB directed signals (which happens during chronic inflammation), both apoptosis and DNA repair mechanisms are shut down. This leads to an accumulation of cells with genetic mutations. If these cells develop enough mutations, they can transform into precancerous cells and, eventually, cancer cells. In the presence of chronic inflammation, precancerous and cancerous tissues are signaled to divide, grow and even invade into surrounding tissues (including blood and lymph vessels, which gives them access to the rest of the body; this is referred to as “metastatic” spread.) These inflammatory signals also inactivate immune cells in the area, preventing them from being able to identify and attack the newly formed cancer cells. One of the sneaky things that cancer cells learn to do to ensure their own growth and survival, is that they can activate their own NF-kB. This enables them to turn on all of the same inflammatory proteins in the surrounding tissues, thereby hijacking the body’s tissue repair and growth mechanisms."

Article at:
http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2012/11/inflammation-101-the-fuel-that-feeds-cancer/#sthash.oQhXGIzl.dpuf