For Which Cancer Types Should I Avoid Chitrak Supplement?

Highlights

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

Is it okay to take Chitrak 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 Chitrak extracts or nutritional supplements may benefit Primary Sebaceous Carcinoma patients on Radiation treatment over Folic Acid nutritional supplements. But Chitrak supplements or Chitrak extracts offer less benefit if on Avastin treatment for Primary Solitary Fibrous Tumor compared to Quercetin. Similarly, taking nutritional supplements Chitrak may benefit healthy individuals who are at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene CREBBP over Vitamin D3. But avoid nutritional supplements Chitrak when at genetic risk of cancer due to mutation of gene ALK.

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

So the question is that are all genetic risks and cancer indications to be considered uniformly when making decisions on the use of Chitrak extracts or nutritional supplements? Are the biochemical pathway implications of genetic risk for cancer due to mutation of gene CREBBP the same as due to mutation of gene ALK? Are the implications of Primary Sebaceous Carcinoma the same as Primary Solitary Fibrous Tumor? Is it one and the same if you are on treatment with Avastin or Radiation?

Chitrak – An Extract or Nutritional Supplement

Chitrak or Plumbago zeylanica is a shrub with antioxidant properties which grows in tropical and subtropical climates in places like Australia and India. It is also known as Ceylon leadwort, doctorbush or wild leadwort. It is widely used in Ayurveda for various health conditions due to its antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and neuroprotective effects. (Arpita Roy and Navneeta Bharadvaja, Curr Pharm Biotechnol., 2018) Chitrak/Plumbago zeylanica is considered to be a good gastrointestinal flora normaliser. Some of the purported uses/benefits of Chitrak/Plumbago zeylanica includes:

• May help  improve digestion problems
• May help  reduce pain in muscles and joints
• May help improve cough and cold
• May help improve inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis
• May help reduce blood sugar levels
• May help improve liver health
• May help remove natural toxins from the body
• May help boost metabolism

Chitrak supplements contain many active ingredients including Plumbagin at different concentration levels. The molecular pathways which are regulated by Chitrak include Notch Signaling, MYC Signaling and Histone/Protein Acetylation. 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 Chitrak individually or in combination is an important decision to be made. When making decisions on the use of supplement Chitrak over other nutritional supplements – do consider all these factors.

Who Should not take Chitrak Supplements and Why?

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

1. Will Chitrak Supplements benefit Primary Solitary Fibrous Tumor patients undergoing Avastin treatment?

Primary Solitary Fibrous Tumor is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like BRD4, FLI1 and KMT2C leading to biochemical pathway changes in MYC Signaling, Chromatin Remodeling, DNA Repair, Oncogenic Histone Methylation and Amino Acid Metabolism. A cancer treatment like Avastin 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, Chitrak supplement should not be taken for Primary Solitary Fibrous Tumor along with treatment Avastin. Chitrak supplement impacts the biochemical pathway called MYC 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 Chitrak Supplements benefit Primary Sebaceous Carcinoma Patients undergoing Radiation Treatment?

Primary Sebaceous Carcinoma is characterized and driven by specific genetic mutations like ANKRD11, KDM6A and SOX9 leading to biochemical pathway changes in Notch Signaling, Suppressive Histone Methylation and Extracellular Matrix Remodelling. A cancer treatment like Radiation 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, Chitrak supplements should be considered for Primary Sebaceous Carcinoma along with the treatment Radiation. Chitrak supplement impacts pathways/processes like Notch Signaling which either obstruct drivers of Primary Sebaceous Carcinoma and/or improve Radiation treatment effect.

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

ALK mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like MYC Signaling and Growth Factor Signaling to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Chitrak should not be taken when the genetic panel identifies mutation of ALK for Central Nervous System. Chitrak impacts pathways/processes like MYC Signaling and creates adverse conditions with ALK.

4. What about Chitrak Supplements for Healthy Individuals with CREBBP Mutation associated Genetic Risk?

CREBBP is one of the genes available in panels for cancer risk testing. CREBBP mutation causes biochemical pathways/processes like Histone/Protein Acetylation to get impacted. These pathways are direct or indirect drivers of cancer molecular endpoints. Chitrak supplements may be considered when the genetic panel identifies mutations in CREBBP for Follicular Lymphoma. Chitrak impacts pathways/processes like Histone/Protein Acetylation and creates a canceling effect in those individuals with CREBBP 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 Chitrak 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

• The role of tumor microenvironment in resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy.
• cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
• beta1 integrin targeting to enhance radiation therapy.
• cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
• Mutational landscape of metastatic cancer revealed from prospective clinical sequencing of 10,000 patients.
• KATching-Up on Small Molecule Modulators of Lysine Acetyltransferases.