You may hear that certain foods or food supplements conflict with standard anticancer drugs. But what is the basis for this claim? One old theory is that many supplements contain antioxidants....
Increasingly, we hear about oncologists forbidding patients from using all supplements, claiming that these conflict with prescribed chemotherapy. Nowadays, they may ask for a list of a patient's...
It Started with Grapefruits In 1991, Canadian scientists discovered that the level of certain prescription drugs was affected by drinking grapefruit juice. The drugs were blood pressure...
Resources and Approach We spend a great deal of time looking for possible interference by foods and food supplements with anticancer treatments. Here are some free sources that we routinely...
Concern Over Harmful Herb-Drug InteractionsMuch of the concern over harmful herb-drug interactions revolves around a class of enzymes (or proteins) in the so-called cytochrome P450 family. These...
34 Food Product WarningsJapanese scientists have warned against the consumption of a wide array of ‘health foods.” In fact, they identified 34 food products that they say inhibit the P450...
Conflict between the Drug 5-FU and Polyphenols?We are often told that there is a conflict between the drug 5-FU and the polyphenols such as EGCG in green tea. Here, too, there is no unanimity...
SOY and TKIs Does soy intake increase the risk of cardiotoxicity or even death among those taking the kind of drug known as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)? These drugs include (listed...
Melatonin and CYP1A2 Inhibitors According to some sources, there is a moderate risk with CYP1A2 inducers. “Avoid concomitant use of melatonin and strong CYP1A2 inhibitors.” However, the reason...
A Danger Well FoundedAs to alcohol use, the danger is well founded. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has made the following recommendations, which seem sensible to us: To help prevent...
AHCC and Doxorubicin (Adriamycin®) and Ondansetron (Zofran®)We cannot review every possible interaction. But let us take as an example one item on our list. AHCC stands for Active Hexose...
Tempest In a TeapotScientists at the University of Southern California (USC) performed a laboratory study in which they concluded that a component in green tea, EGCG, rendered the drug bortezomib...