Next Gen

Once again I learn more from my patients than I have from the medical literature. Most of the medical stuff I read in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Green Journal, The Lancet, and the Journal of the American Medical Association involves obscure medicines for end-stage diseases or political editorials.There is very little in the mainstream medical literature about diet, exercise, sleep, and stress. It’s all about chronic disease management, not improving health. The phase angle machine that can measure your fat, muscle, bone, etc. as well as provide a measurement of your basic cellular health didn’t come from these journals. The alpha stim device which can help anxiety, depression, and insomnia didn’t come from these journals. Ditto for the vitamin scanner and the vascular reactivity test. One of my patients brought me a test that can tell you which metals you are allergic to before you have a joint replacement. Another of my patients keeps challenging me with the energy medicine machines which I thought were a little too new for me until I discovered that NASA uses these machines in all space flights. So too, I discovered the services from RGCC from one of my patients.

Right now, most people go to the cancer doctor and get standard therapies that are based on large clinical trials. We usually treat this cancer with 4 cycles of one combination or other of chemo drugs etc. There is a company called Foundation ONe that will use cell-free DNA samples or tissue taken from your cancer to guide the Oncologist in choosing which chemo or therapy to use depending on the bloodwork.

Until now this was the best you could expect. Right now, most people find their cancers either by routine screening, i.e. mammograms and colonoscopies, or by scans that show tumor growth when the tumor is big enough to be seen. By the time you can see a tumor on a scan we are talking about billions and billions of tumor cells. Until now this was the best you could expect.

Now, however, there are new kids in town. There are two companies that now offer a chance to have your blood taken and look for cancer cells before it shows up on scans. Although I think it’s very much cancer-specific, most experts would say that early detection saves lives. If that’s the case then finding cancer before it shows up on scans or before it becomes clinically apparent should make a difference. The two companies use different technologies but both say they can detect a variety of cancers from just a sample of your blood. One company is based in America and is called GRAIL and their product is called Galleri. Up to 70% percent of cancer deaths are caused by cancers we don’t have screens for, i.e. pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, etc. It’s too new to be covered by insurance and, of course, it isn’t perfect but if you test negative it’s very reassuring and if you test positive you can pursue the possible diagnosis. There are 50 different types of cancer this test can detect. There is no perfect test and false positives and negatives occur just as in mammograms and colonoscopies. Of course, these tests do not replace the traditional screens at least for now.

The other company interests me even more. It’s called RGCC and they are out of Greece. They too, offer a blood draw test for cancer but they are not just looking for genetic material that suggests cancer – they are actively looking for cancer cells. The cutting-edge tech that has evolved dramatically in recent years is used to isolate any cancer cells and study them. This has benefited not only patients that want to be screened for cancer but for patients who have had cancer in the past, and it’s an independent way to study your cancer cells. Let’s say it’s been 5 years since your breast cancer diagnosis and the doctor says you are disease-free – maybe they say you are cured. This blood test will check for the presence of any circulating cancer cells…not just your prior breast cancer but any new or different cancers that may have developed.

Then, they give you actionable information about your specific cancer cells, how they react to different chemotherapies as well as how they react to a host of natural substances you might use to augment your treatment like green tea extract or turmeric.

This is precision medicine at its best! The RGCC group also offers cutting-edge, personalized, RNA-based therapy, not only therapy for cancer but for chronic viral illness and even Lyme disease but that’s going to have to wait for another column. The RNA message in the Covid vaccines turns on protein production and creates an immune response. The RNA message in the RGCC injection turns off protein production in the cancer cells, and only the cancer cells, and causes those cancer cells to die.

So, the downside is the cost. Neither test is covered by insurance yet but they are both under a thousand dollars and can buy you a lot of peace of mind. Say your mom and grandmom and sister all had breast cancer…besides just mammals and ultrasounds, would you get this test? Your best friend dies of prostate cancer…you are not curious about you? For you, if it would help you, the future is now…

Until next month….get well and stay well.

Check out the links below and discuss with your healthcare provider.

https://grail.com/clinical-expertise/
https://www.rgcc-group.com/

T BARRY MD

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