For Which Cancer Types Should I Avoid Asafoetida Supplement?

Highlights

Nutritional supplements and extracts like Asafoetida 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 Asafoetida supplement and why should not take them?

Is it okay to take Asafoetida 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 Asafoetida extracts or nutritional supplements may benefit Primary Yolk Sac Tumor patients on Cisplatin treatment over Butyric Acid nutritional supplements. Similarly, taking nutritional supplements Asafoetida may benefit healthy individuals who are at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene KMT2D over Fava Bean. But avoid nutritional supplements Asafoetida when at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene ERCC3.

The takeaway being – cancer, genomics, treatments and other personalized factors will influence decision making to questions like: Are extracts or nutritional supplements Asafoetida beneficial and should not be taken? Why should Asafoetida be not taken? Who should not take Asafoetida? What are side effects of Asafoetida with chemotherapy? What are the benefits of Asafoetida for cancer? Can Asafoetida benefits 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 Asafoetida? Should you take it when at genetic risk of cancer for mutation of gene KMT2D? Should you take it when at genetic risk of cancer for mutation of gene ERCC3? Should you take it when diagnosed with Primary Yolk Sac Tumor? Should you take it when on Cisplatin treatment? Should you continue taking it if you change your treatment from Cisplatin? 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 Asafoetida 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 Yolk Sac Tumor, 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 Asafoetida.

So the question is that are all genetic risks and cancer indications to be considered uniformly when making decisions on the use of Asafoetida extracts or nutritional supplements? Are the biochemical pathway implications of genetic risk for cancer due to mutation of gene KMT2D the same as due to mutation of gene ERCC3? Are the implications of Primary Yolk Sac Tumor the same? Is it one and the same if you are on treatment with Cisplatin?

Asafoetida – An Extract or Nutritional Supplement

Asafoetida or Ferula asafoetida is the dried latex exuded from the roots of Ferula plant, native to Afghanistan and Iraq. Asafoetida or “hing” is usually dried and ground into a powder, and is commonly used as a spice in Indian cuisines. It is also considered to have medicinal properties due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial effects (Gholamreza Kavoosi et al, J Food Sci., 2013). Following are some of the potential health benefits of asafoetida:

• May help reduce bloating and improve digestion. (K N Mala et al, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med., 2018)
• May help reduce blood pressure (Mohammad Fatehi et al, J Ethnopharmacol., 2004)
• May help reduce blood sugar (Ahmed Saber Abu-Zaiton et al, Pak J Biol Sci., 2010)
• May help reduce Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Emily J Peckham et al, Cochrane Database Syst Rev., 2013)
• May help reduce memory loss and nerve damage in the brain (Vijayalakshmi et al, Indian J Pharmacol., 2012)

Asafoetida supplements contain many active ingredients including Umbelliprenin and Linoleic Acid at different concentration levels. The molecular pathways which are regulated by Asafoetida include DNA Repair, Oncogenic Cancer Epigenetics and RAS-RAF 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 Asafoetida individually or in combination is an important decision to be made. When making decisions on the use of supplement Asafoetida over other nutritional supplements – do consider all these factors.

Who Should not take Asafoetida Supplements and Why?

There is no easy way to answer the question “For which cancers should I not chooseAsafoetida nutritional supplements”. Just like the same chemotherapy treatment does not work across patients, for similar reasons Asafoetida 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 Asafoetida should be avoided or not and why.

1. Will Asafoetida Supplements benefit Primary Yolk Sac Tumor Patients undergoing Cisplatin Treatment?

Primary Yolk Sac Tumor is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like TP53, KRAS and CBL leading to biochemical pathway changes in DNA Repair, Cell Cycle Checkpoints, Apoptosis, G-protein-coupled Receptor Signaling, Growth Factor Signaling and CBL Signaling. A cancer treatment like Cisplatin 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, Asafoetida supplements should be considered for Primary Yolk Sac Tumor along with the treatment Cisplatin. Asafoetida supplement impacts pathways/processes like DNA Repair which either obstruct drivers of Primary Yolk Sac Tumor and/or improve Cisplatin treatment effect.

2. What about Asafoetida Supplements for Healthy Individuals with ERCC3 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. ERCC3 is one of the genes generally available in panels for cancer risk testing.

ERCC3 mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like Oncogenic Cancer Epigenetics and DNA Repair to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Asafoetida should not be taken when the genetic panel identifies mutation of ERCC3 for Skin Cancer. Asafoetida impacts pathways/processes like Oncogenic Cancer Epigenetics and creates adverse conditions with ERCC3.

3. What about Asafoetida Supplements for Healthy Individuals with KMT2D Mutation associated Genetic Risk?

KMT2D is one of the genes available in panels for cancer risk testing. KMT2D mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like RAS-RAF Signaling and Oncogenic Histone Methylation to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Asafoetida supplements may be considered when the genetic panel identifies mutations in KMT2D for Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma. Asafoetida impacts pathways/processes like RAS-RAF Signaling and creates a canceling effect in those individuals with KMT2D 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 Asafoetida 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

• cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
• Cell-of-Origin Patterns Dominate the Molecular Classification of 10,000 Tumors from 33 Types of Cancer.