That is wonderful! So happy for you.

Steve, Thank you for posting this remarkable update on the thread you started on this forum! It will be so encouraging to others looking for information on cancers other than GBM.
I just now put 2+2 dudes together because your story is so memorable

What does "2+2 dudes" mean?

Your story is so encouraging and your determination to regain your health is so inspiring. It is worth a lot more than all the talking heads who have it so wrong.

Jean

Your story is very similar to Steve on 2KetoDudes, in fact we both have the same user names. I emailed you a resource list? Or this is the the biggest coincidence ever

Yep, that's me. I use that handle all over the web.

It looks like my cancer is in full remission! Stabilized with chemo and keto, but metastasized sites on PET scans didn't disappear until after I went full carnivore (zero carb = ZC). See https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/c...06/26?u=sks23cu reproduced here:


Latest update of MyStory/Cancer: https://www.facebook.com/sks23cu/po...157643764729377 :

I am in remission from high volume aggressive metastatic prostate cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Summer 2011: diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer (Gleason score of 10 out of 10) at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington, MA, USA. Eligard treatments were started immediately (androgen deprivation). Eligard is a trade name for the generic drug leuprolide; later I would be switched to Lupron Depot another trade name for the same drug and stay on it until February 2018.

12/6/2011: First external radiation treatment, repeated every weekday for 8.5 weeks. Prostate removal not possible because cancer had spread a little beyond the prostate - T3N1.

Summer 2016: chemo therapy because cancer had metastasized to bone sites, mostly on spine.

At this time I was following a low carbohydrate high fat diet (LCHF) that had successfully put my type 2 diabetes in remission (that story: https://www.dietdoctor.com/healing-brain-well-pancreas ). The “high fats” are: animal fats and olive and coconut oils, but NO “vegetable oils”, (vegetable oils are highly industrially processed seed oils that are highly inflammatory: see Nina Teicholz - ‘Vegetable Oils: The Unknown Story’, https://youtu.be/Q2UnOryQiIY?t=1 ).

I experienced no nausea during chemo (b/c of LCHF?) so took no medication for it.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by too much insulin being secreted by the pancreas in response to high blood sugar (glucose); a metabolic disease. An alternate school of thought in cancer theory and research is that cancer is also a metabolic disease, not caused by genes.

So, after watching https://youtu.be/z3fO5aTD6JU?t=648 (Dr. Benjamin Bikman - ‘Insulin vs. Glucagon: The relevance of dietary protein’), I decided to double down on my diet/lifestyle and stop eating any and all carbohydrates to drive my insulin as low as possible; so no foods from plants - like our ancestors before agriculture was invented. I mostly eat grass fed and finished: beef, tallow, and butter, and pasture raised chicken eggs (in the wild chickens would eat insects, grubs, snails, etc. - NOT plant foods); sometimes bacon and bacon grease (lard). The beef is lightly cooked to preserve nutrients. Low carb communities call my diet zero carb (ZC).

After a few months my oncologist declared my cancer in remission, saying it was “remarkable” and to “keep doing what you’re doing.”

One side effect of hormone therapy is bone loss, osteopenia to osteoporosis, because of the extremely low sex hormones (testosterone in men). Lately my osteopenia has gotten worse. So, since I was in remission, I asked my oncologist if we could stop the Lupron injections. He wrote,

“Certainly we could consider intermittent therapy. You do have a very aggressive cancer, successfully controlled, so we would have to be very careful. … Note: it may take 6 - 12 months for testosterone to rise.”

So my last Lupron injection was on 2/21/2018, ending the use of any and all medications, except diet/lifestyle.

My 5/31/2018 PET bone scan showed that all the metastasized sites had disappeared!

All cells express appropriate hormone receptors on their surface membranes. Prostate cells express testosterone receptors and hormone/androgen deprivation therapy drives testosterone levels very low. But all cells express insulin receptors and cancer cells express an over abundance of insulin receptors because they need to collect a huge amount of glucose to drive their growth. (See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356071 , The Insulin Receptor: A New Target for Cancer Therapy)

That’s what I’m now targeting with my no-plant (zero carb) diet, an extremely low insulin level to deprive cancer cells of glucose. You could call it “Insulin Deprivation Therapy”.

Meanwhile, normal cells can get their energy requirements from fatty acids and ketones (which cancer cells can’t use because of their uniquely deranged​ / damaged​ metabolism).

Oh, I also have been doing light to moderate exercise every since my oncologist recommended it in 2011. It lowers insulin and glycogen stores, among other things. I walk 2-3 miles / day and take a couple of cardio and strength training classes at my local senior center. I’ve recently read and am starting to follow recommendations in this book on slow HIIT: https://amzn.to/2Ogmavg .

Remember, though, “you can’t outrun a bad diet”. So both are important for optimal health.

I hope others will be encouraged enough by my (highly successful) n=1 experiment to try it themselves. As with any n=1 experiment, if you experience any adverse effects STOP.

BUT, even if it works for you expect only negative reactions, sometimes very emotional, from doctors and dietitians. The best you will probably get, as did I, is “keep doing what you’re doing.”

Also, some people who reduce their carbs to keto or ZC levels find their cholesterol levels rise, as did I. But I’m not worried because World Health Data shows people with higher cholesterol LIVE LONGER; see https://youtu.be/wdznfiWvGq0?t=1026 , Dr Zoe Harcombe PhD - Facts About Food To Help Real Foodies Fight Back. Dave Feldman’s research is revealing the possible mechanisms for this lower mortality; see http://cholesterolcode.com, esp. http://cholesterolcode.com/hyper-responder-faq .

Not a public speaker, but I described my journey on Jimmy Moore’s podcast recorded at KetoFest 2018: Goto 25:47 on Episode 1416 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show" (Best to get it at https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/th...d324601605?mt=2 because the show notes have a truncated version).

This is a wonderful story of success. I wish more people understood the importance of lifestyle, especially diet, for optimal health. Congratulations!

Such an amazing story Steve! We're here pulling for you.

At my age, seems like at least 20% my friends are battling one or another form of cancer. Most are miserable due to surgery and/or drug treatments. I do have a couple of friends who are also very successfully fighting their cancers (one with chronic leukemia and one with stage 4 colon cancer) with very low carb diets. They're still out here enjoying life and seem to be doing as well or batter than their doctors expected.

I've already decided that IF I am ever diagnosed with any form of cancer, I'm going zero-carb and refusing all other treatments. I may or may not live any longer but I'm absolutely SURE I'll enjoy whatever time I have left much more than I would if I allowed doctors to poison me or cut me up in the hopes of killing my cancer.

Steve, thank you again for sharing your recovery story here, letting the world know there is a nutritional plan a patient can add to treatment plans.

Until someone knows the type of cancer diagnosed and range of standard of care, keep an open mind. Older women face an increasing risk for breast cancer as each year goes by, but it is now often caught at early stages where a lumpectomy, followed by radiation and hormone may be the only treatment. Refusing a quick treatment with a success ratio in the 95-98% range would be tragic, of the Steve Jobs proportion. Recent studies from Dr Seyfried, Champ, Scheck, etc are using Diet and fasting to stress the cancer environment that allows the chemo or radiation to be more effective. Dr Seyfried calls it Press-Pulse. It is what the Emperor of All Maladies author is now researching. So much is happening with metabolic treatments, but none of it is robust enough to replace standard of care if available. Dr Champ's update about Diet and cancer in 2018: http://colinchamp.com/the-ketogenic...-stand-in-2018/

Thank you for the update, Steve. Lots of information in your story about the positive impacts of rigorous lifestyle changes that resonate with me. Janet's frequent posts on combating cancer with a combination of complementary therapies is something I've been following with great interest. I'm at the point with my N=1 experiences and adjustments that I firmly believe that it makes sense to start lifestyle changes well before any clear signs of disease. Since lifestyle changes can help in combating existing disease, it's reasonable to assume the same approach is a very effective measure for prevention. We are all learning from our collective experiences.

While you can refuse to eat in a hospital (or any other "care" facility), the food they serve MUST be crafted by dieticians following the US Government's Dietary Guidelines, plant based and NOT low carb. Forget ZC.

In some states they can even force feed you that garbage to keep you alive and "healthy".

I believe a better strategy would be to go ZC now to try to prevent cancer and stay out of "care" facilities.

I responded to a similar comment on FaceBook recently, https://www.facebook.com/groups/574...158717005171959 :

Following quote from Cummins, Ivor; Gerber, Jeffry. Eat Rich, Live Long: Mastering the Low-Carb & Keto Spectrum for Weight Loss and Longevity (Kindle Locations 5623-5629). Victory Belt Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Thank you for those quotes, Steve. I think we are basically on the same page for using diet with treatment, esp. fasting and Keto before chemo to reduce side effects and enhance efficacy. And if keeping insulin levels low would prevent cancer from starting (and recurrence) what a powerful strategy for longevity.

I haven't read the Eat Rich book yet, have added that to my list.