For Which Cancer Types Should I Avoid Kaempferia Parviflora (Thai Ginseng) Supplement?

Highlights

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

Is it okay to take Kaempferia Parviflora 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 Kaempferia Parviflora extracts or nutritional supplements may benefit Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma patients on Docetaxel treatment over Psyllium nutritional supplements. But Kaempferia Parviflora supplements or Kaempferia Parviflora extracts offer less benefit if on Radiation treatment for Primary Adamantinoma compared to Caraway. Similarly, taking nutritional supplements Kaempferia Parviflora may benefit healthy individuals who are at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene BRCA2 over Mistletoe. But avoid nutritional supplements Kaempferia Parviflora when at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene KRAS.

The takeaway being – cancer, genomics, treatments and other personalized factors will influence decision making to questions like: Are extracts or nutritional supplements Kaempferia Parviflora beneficial and should not be taken? Why should Kaempferia Parviflora be not taken? Who should not take Kaempferia Parviflora? What are side effects of Kaempferia Parviflora with Radiation chemotherapy? What are the benefits of Kaempferia Parviflora for cancer? Can Kaempferia Parviflora 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 Kaempferia Parviflora? Should you take it when at genetic risk of cancer for mutation of gene BRCA2? Should you take it when at genetic risk of cancer for mutation of gene KRAS? Should you take it when diagnosed with Primary Adamantinoma? Should you take it when diagnosed with Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma? Should you take it when on Docetaxel treatment? Should you continue taking it if you change your treatment from Docetaxel to Radiation? 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 Kaempferia Parviflora 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 Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma or Primary Adamantinoma, 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 Kaempferia Parviflora.

So the question is that are all genetic risks and cancer indications to be considered uniformly when making decisions on the use of Kaempferia Parviflora extracts or nutritional supplements? Are the biochemical pathway implications of genetic risk for cancer due to mutation of gene BRCA2 the same as due to mutation of gene KRAS? Are the implications of Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma the same as Primary Adamantinoma? Is it one and the same if you are on treatment with Radiation or Docetaxel?

Kaempferia Parviflora – An Extract or Nutritional Supplement

Kaempferia parviflora, also known as Krachaidum or Thai ginseng, is a medicinal plant found in tropical areas like Malaysia. Its root is known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Traditionally, Thai ginseng was used for a variety of health conditions including the following (Dalin Chen et al, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med., 2018):

• Inflammation
• Obesity
• Ulcers
• Gout
• Colic disorder
• Abscesses
• Allergy
• Osteoarthritis
• As aphrodisiac

Kaempferia Parviflora supplements contain many active ingredients including Kaempferide and Pinostrobin at different concentration levels. The molecular pathways which are regulated by Kaempferia Parviflora include Apoptosis, Oxidative Stress and Hypoxia. 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 Kaempferia Parviflora individually or in combination is an important decision to be made. When making decisions on the use of supplement Kaempferia Parviflora over other nutritional supplements – do consider all these factors.

Who Should not take Kaempferia Parviflora Supplements and Why?

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

1. Will Kaempferia Parviflora Supplements benefit Primary Adamantinoma patients undergoing Radiation treatment?

Primary Adamantinoma is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like ARHGAP45, PI4KB and SDSL leading to biochemical pathway changes in Oxidative Stress and Inositol Phosphate Signaling. A cancer treatment like Radiation 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, Kaempferia Parviflora supplement should not be taken for Primary Adamantinoma along with treatment Radiation. Kaempferia Parviflora supplement impacts the biochemical pathway called Oxidative Stress 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 Kaempferia Parviflora Supplements benefit Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients undergoing Docetaxel Treatment?

Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like FRG1BP, TP53 and PCDH11X leading to biochemical pathway changes in Cell Cycle Checkpoints and Apoptosis. A cancer treatment like Docetaxel 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, Kaempferia Parviflora supplements should be considered for Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma along with the treatment Docetaxel. Kaempferia Parviflora supplement impacts pathways/processes like Apoptosis which either obstruct drivers of Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and/or improve Docetaxel treatment effect.

3. What about Kaempferia Parviflora Supplements for Healthy Individuals with KRAS 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. KRAS is one of the genes generally available in panels for cancer risk testing.

KRAS mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like Oxidative Stress, MAPK Signaling, PI3K-AKT-MTOR Signaling and RAS-RAF Signaling to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Kaempferia Parviflora should not be taken when the genetic panel identifies mutation of KRAS for Lung Cancer. Kaempferia Parviflora impacts pathways/processes like Oxidative Stress and creates adverse conditions with KRAS.

4. What about Kaempferia Parviflora Supplements for Healthy Individuals with BRCA2 Mutation associated Genetic Risk?

BRCA2 is one of the genes available in panels for cancer risk testing. BRCA2 mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like Hypoxia and DNA Repair to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Kaempferia Parviflora supplements may be considered when the genetic panel identifies mutations in BRCA2 for Breast Cancer. Kaempferia Parviflora impacts pathways/processes like Hypoxia and creates a canceling effect in those individuals with BRCA2 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 Kaempferia Parviflora 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

• Isolation, identification, and biological evaluation of HIF-1-modulating compounds from Brazilian green propolis.
• Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes.
• Role of KEAP1/NRF2 and TP53 Mutations in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma Development and Radiation Resistance.
• cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
• The role of selected flavonols in tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor-1 (TRAIL-R1) expression on activated RAW 264.7 macrophages.
• Alteration of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway is key to acquired paclitaxel resistance and can be reversed by ABT-737.
• cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
• Neuroprotective effects of Kaempferide-7-O-(4″-O-acetylrhamnosyl)-3-O-rutinoside on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.