For Which Cancers Should I Avoid Ellagic Acid Supplement?

Highlights

Nutritional supplements and extracts like Ellagic Acid have benefits and are used by cancer patients and those at-genetic risk of cancer. There is limited or hardly any clinical data available for use of nutritional supplements and foods in cancer patients. Generating clinical evidence of efficacy for cancer through a randomized clinical trial is further infeasible due to variations in genetics and cancer chemotherapy treatments across cancer patients. Hence a different and new approach is needed to find out for which cancers you should not take Ellagic Acid supplement and why should not take them?

Is it okay to take Ellagic Acid extracts or supplements for all cancer indications and any chemotherapy treatment? A common belief but a myth is that everything natural can only be of benefit and do no harm. For example, the use of grapefruit with certain medications is not recommended. Another example is the use of spinach with some blood thinning medications can cause adverse interactions and hence to be avoided. For cancer, nutrition including plant-based foods and supplements can influence outcomes and hence an extremely important decision which needs to be made. Hence NIH-National Cancer Institute has a website for nutrition for cancer care for patients which are generalized recommendations and not personalized for cancer indication and treatments.

A frequently asked question by cancer patients and those at-risk is “What Foods and Nutritional Supplements could be beneficial over others for me?”. “Who should not take an extract or supplement and why?”. Generic guidelines like eating only plant-based-foods or avoiding all sugar or adopting a keto diet is a good start but not actionable and personalized enough.

To find answers to questions on extracts and nutritional supplements and foods requires knowledge of contained active ingredients; genetic mutation prevalence for cancer indication; understanding of underlying cancer biology; chemotherapy treatments and mechanism of actions of active ingredients.

Taking Ellagic Acid extracts or nutritional supplements may benefit Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary patients on Dacarbazine treatment over Soy Bean nutritional supplements. But Ellagic Acid supplements or Ellagic Acid extracts offer less benefit if on Pembrolizumab treatment for Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma compared to Eleuthero. Similarly, taking nutritional supplements Ellagic Acid may benefit healthy individuals who are at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene KRAS over Soy Bean. But avoid nutritional supplements Ellagic Acid when at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene MEN1.

The takeaway being – cancer, genomics, treatments and other personalized factors will influence decision making to questions like: Are extracts or nutritional supplements Ellagic Acid beneficial over {suppm_name2} and should not be taken? Why should Ellagic Acid be not taken? Who should not take Ellagic Acid? What are side effects of Ellagic Acid with Pembrolizumab chemotherapy? What are the benefits of Ellagic Acid for cancer? Can Ellagic Acid help fight cancer and so on.

Whenever there are changes in chemotherapy treatments or cancer tissue genetics – the nutrition may change and hence needs to be re-evaluated. Do consider factors like cancer indication, ongoing chemotherapy treatments and nutritional supplements, age, gender, weight, height, lifestyle and genetics for personalization of nutrition.

Brief Overview

Use of nutritional supplements – vitamins, herbs, minerals, probiotics, and other specialty categories are increasing. Supplements are high concentrations of active ingredients which are also found in different foods. Difference between supplements and foods being that foods contain more than one active ingredient at much lower concentrations. Every active ingredient in an extract or nutritional supplement or food has a unique mechanism of action which can influence nutrition decisions.

These are some example questions which nutrition planning should help answer for you. Should you take supplements Ellagic Acid? Should you take it when at genetic risk of cancer for mutation of gene KRAS? Should you take it when at genetic risk of cancer for mutation of gene MEN1? Should you take it when diagnosed with Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma? Should you take it when diagnosed with Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary? Should you take it when on Dacarbazine treatment? Should you continue taking it if you change your treatment from Dacarbazine to Pembrolizumab? So a general explanation like – it is organic and plant-based or it increases immunity is not sufficient information for making a decision of use of Ellagic Acid extracts and nutritional supplements.

Cancer

Genetic variations across cancer patients can be different and hence no two cancers are alike. The improved availability of “personalized to genetics” chemotherapy treatments and cancer disease monitoring via blood and saliva have been significant factors to improve outcomes. The earlier the lifestyle and treatment intervention – the better the influence on outcome. Genetic testing has the potential to assess cancer risk and susceptibility early. But for at-risk individuals besides regular monitoring in most cases there are no therapeutic treatment intervention options available. After diagnosis with cancer such as Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary or Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma, the treatments get personalized to tumor genomics and factors like staging of disease, age and gender. During cancer remission (after treatment cycle is complete) – monitoring is used for assessment of any relapse and accordingly decide on next steps. A large majority of cancer patients and those at-risk may take nutritional supplements like Ellagic Acid.

So the question is that are all genetic risks and cancer indications to be considered uniformly when making decisions on the use of Ellagic Acid extracts or nutritional supplements? Are the biochemical pathway implications of genetic risk for cancer due to mutation of gene KRAS the same as due to mutation of gene MEN1? Are the implications of Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary the same as Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma? Is it one and the same if you are on treatment with Pembrolizumab or Dacarbazine?

Ellagic Acid – An Extract or Nutritional Supplement

Ellagic Acid supplements contain many active ingredients including Ellagic Acid at different concentration levels. The molecular pathways which are regulated by Ellagic Acid include PI3K-AKT-MTOR Signaling, WNT Beta Catenin Signaling and Vitamin D Signaling. These biochemical pathways directly or indirectly regulate specific cancer molecular endpoints like growth, spread and death of cancer cells. Because of this biological regulation – for cancer nutrition, the right choice of supplements like Ellagic Acid individually or in combination is an important decision to be made. When making decisions on the use of supplement Ellagic Acid over other nutritional supplements – do consider all these factors.

Who Should not take Ellagic Acid Supplements and Why?

There is no easy way to answer the question “For which cancers should I not chooseEllagic Acid nutritional supplements”. Just like the same chemotherapy treatment does not work across patients, for similar reasons Ellagic Acid in comparison with other nutritional supplements may be beneficial or not. Along with which cancer and associated genetics – the ongoing treatments, lifestyle habits, height, weight and food allergies are all factors in deciding if Ellagic Acid should be avoided or not and why.

1. Will Ellagic Acid Supplements benefit Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma patients undergoing Pembrolizumab treatment?

Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like GRIN3A, TMEM26 and TP53 leading to biochemical pathway changes in WNT Beta Catenin Signaling, Cell Cycle Checkpoints and Apoptosis. A cancer treatment like Pembrolizumab works through a specific pathway mechanism of action. The goal is to have a good overlap between the treatment and cancer driving pathways for a personalized approach which is effective. In such a condition any food or nutritional supplement which has a contrary effect to the treatment or reduces the overlap should be avoided. As an example, Ellagic Acid supplement should not be taken for Primary Mucinous Stomach Adenocarcinoma along with treatment Pembrolizumab. Ellagic Acid supplement impacts the biochemical pathway called WNT Beta Catenin Signaling which either promotes drivers of the disease and/or nullifies the treatment effect. Some of the factors which should be considered when choosing nutrition are type of cancer, treatments and supplements being taken currently (if any

2. Will Ellagic Acid Supplements benefit Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary Patients undergoing Dacarbazine Treatment?

Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like ERBB2, KMT2C and H3-3A leading to biochemical pathway changes in PI3K-AKT-MTOR Signaling, Growth Factor Signaling, MAPK Signaling, Oncogenic Histone Methylation and Amino Acid Metabolism. A cancer treatment like Dacarbazine works through specific pathway mechanisms. The goal is to have a good overlap between the treatment and cancer driving pathways for a personalized approach. In such a condition any food or nutritional supplement which supports treatment action or improves the overlap should be considered. As an example, Ellagic Acid supplements should be considered for Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary along with the treatment Dacarbazine. Ellagic Acid supplement impacts pathways/processes like PI3K-AKT-MTOR Signaling which either obstruct drivers of Primary Cancer of Unknown Primary and/or improve Dacarbazine treatment effect.

3. What about Ellagic Acid Supplements for Healthy Individuals with MEN1 Mutation associated Genetic Risk?

Different companies offer panels of genes to be tested for assessing genetic risk to different cancers. These panels cover genes associated with cancers of the breast, ovary, uterus, prostate, and gastrointestinal system and others. Genetic testing of these genes may confirm a diagnosis and help guide treatment and management decisions. Identification of a disease-causing variant may also guide testing and diagnosis of at-risk relatives. MEN1 is one of the genes generally available in panels for cancer risk testing.

MEN1 mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like Vitamin D Signaling and Oncogenic Histone Methylation to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Ellagic Acid should not be taken when the genetic panel identifies mutation of MEN1 for Neuroendocrine Cancer. Ellagic Acid impacts pathways/processes like Vitamin D Signaling and creates adverse conditions with MEN1.

4. What about Ellagic Acid Supplements for Healthy Individuals with KRAS Mutation associated Genetic Risk?

KRAS is one of the genes available in panels for cancer risk testing. KRAS mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like MAPK Signaling, PI3K-AKT-MTOR Signaling and RAS-RAF Signaling to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Ellagic Acid supplements may be considered when the genetic panel identifies mutations in KRAS for Lung Cancer. Ellagic Acid impacts pathways/processes like PI3K-AKT-MTOR Signaling and creates a canceling effect in those individuals with KRAS mutation.

* Other Factors are also included like BMI, Treatments, Lifestyle Habits

In Conclusion

It is important to remember that cancer chemotherapy treatments and nutrition are never the same for everyone. Food and nutritional supplements like Ellagic Acid are chosen by you and can influence outcomes.

“What should I eat?” is a commonly asked question by cancer patients and those at-risk. The answer to this question depends on cancer indication, underlying genetics, current chemotherapy treatments, food allergies, lifestyle information, and food preferences.

The addon.life approach to nutrition personalization uses knowledge of active ingredients contained in foods and nutritional supplements, cancer biology, chemotherapy treatment action and genetic mutation prevalence across cancer indications. addon.life team of clinicians, clinical scientists and engineers are experts in cancer biology focusing only on nutrition personalization for cancer patients and those at-risk.

What food you eat and which supplements you take is a decision you make. Your decision should include consideration of the cancer gene mutations, which cancer, ongoing treatments and supplements, any allergies, lifestyle information, weight, height and habits.

The nutrition planning for cancer from addon is not based on internet searches. It automates the decision making for you based on molecular science implemented by our scientists and software engineers. Irrespective of whether you care to understand the underlying biochemical molecular pathways or not - for nutrition planning for cancer that understanding is needed.

Get started NOW with your nutrition planning by answering questions on the name of cancer, genetic mutations, ongoing treatments and supplements, any allergies, habits, lifestyle, age group and gender.

References

• Indeno[1,2-b]indole derivatives as a novel class of potent human protein kinase CK2 inhibitors.
• HER kinase inhibition in patients with HER2- and HER3-mutant cancers.
• Immune activation and response to pembrolizumab in POLE-mutant endometrial cancer.
• cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
• Mutational landscape of metastatic cancer revealed from prospective clinical sequencing of 10,000 patients.
• Insulin induces drug resistance in melanoma through activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway.
• Identification of ellagic acid as potent inhibitor of protein kinase CK2: a successful example of a virtual screening application.