My Second Circulating Tumour Cells Oncotrace Test
I was wrapping up my HBOT session yesterday when I looked at my e-mails and noticed a message from my oncology G.P, Dr Peter Eng. I had been anticipating, albeit vaguely anxiously but not with too much trepidation, the results of my latest Oncology test that was due back any day. They had arrived back from the lab.
The test is called the RGCC CTC Oncotrace and this new one was a follow up to the original test that I had done in late January after I first discovered that I had cancer. I had undergone over 3 months of intense treatment including radiotherapy and a fistful of alternative treatments and protocols. I’ve talked about all of these in earlier posts.
The test isn’t recognised or really even known about by the mainstream oncologists. From where I stand, their primary concern is to get rid of the immediate tumour and immediate danger. Nothing wrong with that. But and it’s a big BUT, what about the potential for any tiny cancer cells metastasising somewhere else in the body and bringing the full blown return of this chronic, systemic disease. I sure as hell don’t want that happening to my body.
From my understanding, once you have cancer it’s there to stay. You have to constantly and diligently manage it 24/7 to keep it under control.
No matter how healthy you appear there is always the chance of the cancer taking off again. After having spent countless hours trying to understand this beast, that one simple datum makes perfect sense to me and I would be a fool to think otherwise. I have to stay in control and do whatever is needed to keep the malignancy and proliferation at bay.
There is a small section of the cancer community that believe that cancer metastasises due to the circulating tumour and cancer stem cells. This is becoming a point of focus in the newer research.
The goal is to stop these peripheral CTCs (circulating tumour cells) and CSCs (cancer stem cells) from causing the metastatic spread of cancer cells and tumour creation.
It appears to me that metastatic cancer is responsible for most cancer deaths.
From my research it appears that it is accepted by the scientific community that the primary tumour is made up of stroma.
STROMA – fibroblast (monocytes, lymphocytes, blood vessels and more).
It is the supportive tissue of an epithelial organ, tumour, gonad, etc., consisting of connective tissues and blood vessels.
The malignant cells are not all the same and are composed of different sub-groups and sub-clones with different features and abilities.
These are the Cancer Tumour Cells (STC).
Some of these cells become Cancer Stem Cells (CSC).
Only a few of these cells will potentially develop the ability to metastasize. This will then allow them to “invade” the surrounding tissue, pass into the blood circulation and perform the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and thus create the circulating CSCs (cancer stem cells). I haven’t got my head around that yet! Damn, I wish I had taken more interest in biology when I was younger!
The cancer stem cells now have the information and ability to form micro-colinization and micro-metastases and have the potential to later develop into potent micro-metastases.
This is why cancer returns. And that is exactly what I don’t want.
The RGCC CTC test measures countless aspects of your cancer. This is a whole subject in itself and I will add some links to this post to attempt to explain it but if you don’t know the basics it is mind bending and will hurt your brain.
The bottom line for me is that the percentage of “cancer cells” was 3.2 cells per ml at the end of January 2021 and the latest test results from the end of May show a percentage of 2.7 cells which is about a 15% reduction.
Plus my C Reactive Protein is still very, very low.
This is a good sign.
The goal is to get this figure down to 2 cells per ml so I have approximately another 25% to go.
On a positive note my blood tests indicate that my thyroid is in a good range. My iron is good. My kidneys and liver function appear to be very good.
My “C Reactive Protein” (CRP) marker is lower than 1 (one) which is a very good sign as this is a reflection of inflammation in the body and a person with out of control cancer might be up around 500 (according to Dr Eng).
So far so good. The treatment and all the hard work is paying dividends and these results prove it.
It has been recommended to me to continue my treatments of both HBOT (minimum of twice a week) and IV (intravenous infusions) of Vitamin C, Curcumin plus a few other substances for 10 weeks.
So I still have a lot of work to get the cancer cell percentage down below 2.
Overall I am continuing to work my butt of.
A few months ago I did a post on this blog called “The Three of Us” in which I wrote about Mind, Body and Spirit. I hadn’t realised until yesterday that the principle that I wrote about is what is guiding me in my battle against cancer. I asked Dr Eng yesterday to say it out loud to me … “Once you have cancer you have it for life.” His answer was yes, that’s the way it is. You just have to look at your body as you would your little brother and take good care of it. He has an action where he touches two fingers against his forehead to remind himself. You see, he also fights against cancer. He’s 83 and doing great.
I’m not my body but I am very, very attached to it and without it life would be miserable, a total non event if you know what I mean. So I will care for it and be thorough and diligent in doing so.
I am in a constant state of nutritional ketosis which theoretically means my insulin is stable, as are the glucose levels in my blood. Those two go hand in hand. I generally have an eating window of 6-8 hours with no snacking. Therefore I fast for about 18 hours each day. No sugar, no fructose, no grains, no junk food, a decent amount of cruciferous veggies and leafy greens, some grass fed meat, some nuts and seeds, MCT oil and butter. A good balance of macro-nutrients. Every glucose blood test I do shows 3.8 – 4.4 ml and my ketone tests sit at around 4. I have recently started to take melatonin which has been shown to help with cancer. I am taking metformin which regulates blood sugar.
I am exercising every day, having a 90 minute infrared sauna and then jumping into a very, very cold pool afterwards, usually in the dark. Sometimes I think I’m crazy! I am doing HBOT (oxygen therapy) twice each week and I am about to start another 10 weeks of IV and the other therapies recommended by Dr Eng. This will be round 2. I am getting enough good, high quality sleep based on the biometrics supplied by my Oura ring. I am also keeping my stress levels as low as I possibly can.
My weight is stable and overall I am feeling very fit and energetic.
My next big hurdle is to work out how I will fund my continuing treatment. I have a few ideas but nothing concrete yet. Based on current figures the next stage is going to cost around $25,000 over 10 weeks. But I just have to remember that it is a small price to pay for a long and healthy life. Fingers crossed.
There you have it for now. The next mountain is the money and then another 10 weeks of hard yakka to get the circulating tumour cells down below that magic percentage of 2.
