Oncology

Naturopathic Oncology Care

Our approach to care incorporates a range of natural and integrative therapies designed to complement your medical treatment. By focusing on dietary recommendations, exercise, lifestyle adjustments, and targeted supplementation, we aim to enhance your overall well-being and support your body’s healing process. While we highly recommend patients continue to see their oncologist while receiving treatment, we recognize the autonomy of patients and their right to their health.

In addition, acupuncture is offered as a powerful tool for symptom relief, helping to manage pain, reduce nausea, alleviate fatigue, and improve overall quality of life.

Cancer can be addressed in many ways and is often best approached using a combination of western and alternative medicine. Some alternative methods include:

• High Dose Vitamin C: Can act as a pro-oxidant in tumor tissue, leading to the generation of hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals that damage DNA, lipids, and proteins in cancer cells—causing cell death. Additionally, it may impair cancer cell energy metabolism by depleting NAD⁺ and inhibiting glycolysis (via oxidative stress), leading to ATP depletion (“energy crisis”) that preferentially kills cancer cells.
• Alpha Lipoic Acid: Acts as an antioxidant in normal cells but appears to behave differently in cancerous cells, where it can exert pro-oxidative effects—potentially triggering oxidative stress that impairs cancer survival. It may hinder tumor growth or sensitize tumors to other treatments.
• Mistletoe Therapy: Can induce apoptosis or necrosis in cancer cells by disrupting protein synthesis, triggering mitochondrial membrane depolarization, and activating caspases, which leads to programmed cell death. It also exerts immunomodulatory effects by increasing cytokine release (e.g., TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, IFN-γ), activating immune cells (T cells, NK cells), and promoting immunogenic cell death—enhancing anti-tumor immune surveillance.
• Artesunate Therapy: In preclinical studies, artesunate provokes cancer cell death through multiple mechanisms, including mitochondrial damage, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, and induction of apoptosis.
• Circulating Tumor Cell Testing (CTC Testing): Detects intact tumor cells that have detached from a primary or metastatic tumor and entered the bloodstream. By periodically measuring the number and characteristics of CTCs, clinicians may monitor disease progression, detect early relapse or metastasis, and assess treatment effectiveness—offering a non-invasive alternative to repeated tissue biopsies.
• RGCC Oncogenic Testing: As offered by myrgcc.com, RGCC testing analyzes circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to characterize the tumor and assess sensitivity to various cytotoxic substances, including conventional drugs and natural compounds. By testing how a patient’s live tumor cells respond in vitro, RGCC aims to inform personalized treatment planning, therapy selection, dose adjustment, and ongoing monitoring.

Come see VP Health today and get started on your health journey!