DLBCL with liver cirrhosis(HBV)

[princekim]

1. 

I am not a cancer patient but a son of one looking for support and to hear stories from other patients.

My mom(65 years old) was diagnosed with diffused large B cell lymphoma(DLBCL, left upper arm) a month ago.

 

DLBCL was discovered during liver transplantation preparation due to liver cirrhosis.

So, liver transplantation is aborted.

Chemotherapy is not possible because her liver failure by cirrhosis is severe.

Doctor said, radiotherapy will not be treated because there’s no possibility of complete recovery. And he stopped all active treatment.

 

He said her life expectancy would be less than 1 month.

 

Is there any possible way to treat it?

Any new drug, or experimental treatment methods?

 

 

2. current condition and medical history 

current>

#. r/o PRES

#. r/o stercoral colitis

#. r/o PSE

#. pancytopenia

r/o BM involvement

r/o LC progression

r/o hematologic dz

 

#. Approx. 9.3cm sized enhancing mass with inner hemorrhage or necrosis,

Lt. upper arm

d/t DLBCL

 

underlying>

#. HBV-LC with multiple nodules, decompensated, child C10

#. HCC
- s/p outside RFA #1 (3.2015.)

#. h/o recurrent SBP

#. E.varix Gr II with RCS

-s/p EVL(21.11.2017.)

#. Rt. femur fracture(6.2017.) : bedridden state

# POP

-s/p pessary

# colon cancer

-s/p Rt. hemicolectomy(2011)

# Inguinal hernia

-s/p hernia repair(2013)

 

3. Blood test

 

CRP 3.45<3.98<0.5<0.65<1<2.74<2.57<3.73<2.05<1.70<2.20<1.99

T.Bil.

4.2<4.6<5.3<6.7<7<7.1<6<5.4<4.1<3.7<2.5<2.4<2.8<3.5<3.4<3.3<2.7<2.7<3.2<2.8<3.4<3.4<2.8<3.2<3.0<3.3<4.0

PT INR 2.61<2.68<3.01<2.4<1.81<2.08<2.1<2<1.94<1.96<1.92<2.13<2.01<1.95<2.01<1.96<1.97<2.21<2.05<2<2.07<1.75<2.02<1.77<1.78<1.62

 

CBC

27/12/2017 0.87-8.8-26k ANC 592

26/12/2017 0.88-8.4-23k ANC 739

25/12/2017 1.19-7.9-31k ANC 879 < RBC 1

25/12/2017 1.15-8.4-8k ANC 863 < LDPLT 1

24/12/2017 1.85-9.2-29k ANC 1571

23/12/2017 1.61-9.6-41k ANC 1304

22/12/2017 0.81-7.8-36k ANC 654 < RBC 1

22/12/2017 0.97-8.1-17k ANC 770 < LDPLT 2, FFP 3

21/12/2017 0.77-7.8-39k ANC 624

21/12/2017 0.94-8.4-10k ANC 790 < LDPLT 2, RBC 1

20/12/2017 1.01-9.7-13k ANC 879

[Ken_PA]

As long as it's not doing harm, it might be worth a try. I'd clear it with a doc first. I'd also use the same dosage. It's possible that failures to have benefit were because of not high enough dosage. But I'd start small and build up to the 8g/day.

Yes, please let me know how it goes. Eve if it has a palliative effect (easing symptoms), that's better than nothing.

[Ken_PA]

next: Would curcumin be effective against DLBCL in particular? I found a preview of a master's thesis on that very topic: https://search.proquest.com/openview/e2d69d5b8ee99188d73d55e55a574f6a/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Milizia, Christina. Weill Medical College of Cornell University  Would you like to try and call her?

[Ken_PA]

Well, she's discussing using curcumin as an 'adjunct' to regular drug therapy. But she does say it is pro-apoptotic, which means it helps to encourage cancerous cells to destroy themselves, as they should do.

[Ken_PA]

..and once you know that curcumin helps encourage death of cancer cells, there is no need for you to waste time reading the fine details of the how and why of that.

[princekim]

I'm really impressed with your knowledge. And thank you very much indeed. I don’t have enough time and knowledge to read and understand all of the references. But I'd like to try out carefully. If it works, I will let you know.
Thanks again.

[Ken_PA]

next: Is high dose curcumin safe for your mom? This is an abstract only.
"Curcumin and liver disease." 2013
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23303639

It does seem to day that curcumin has been used to protect and/or treat the liver. But the abstract doesn't mention dosage.

[Ken_PA]

Btw, it's generally better to take the whole plant (such as turmeric) because other compounds in there might be helpful. But then on the  other hand, when taking the extract (curcumin), you know you are getting more of a standardized dose and sometimes it's hard to get enough of the most active ingredient without taking the purified extracts.

But offhand, I don't see any reason to necessarily take the exact same brand that the woman in the story took.

[Ken_PA]

It's possible that the curcumin/turmeric might be more effective in people with very aggressive cases of blood cancers. That's generally but not always true with chemo drugs.

Please let me know if there's any way I might be of any more help to your mom and you. It's very admirable that you are helping her this way. Best wishes to her.

[Ken_PA]

Side effects of such high doses might include diarrhea and nausea.

[Ken_PA]

This doc is good for overviews: https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/02/05/why-pepper-boosts-turmeric-blood-levels/

Here is a full text journal review, but it's 2014. There might be some more recent.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3918523/#__sec9title

[Ken_PA]

Here is the site for tracking clinical trials, unfortunately no studies are being done in lymphoma. The 1 has been withdrawn for some reason and was only looking at quality of life improvement -  which of course is some benefit anyway. But it's in a very different kind, a T-cell lymphoma.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=Lymphoma%2C+Non-Hodgkin&term=curcumin+OR+turmeric

[Ken_PA]

1st off, here is the case report which is in a very top journal, BMJ. So this isn't something flaky.

http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2017/bcr-2016-218148.full.pdf

She was 57 and had advanced multiple myeloma, which is another blood cancer. Tx was failing and she was ineligible for a clinical trial because her infection fighting cells were already too low. Note that there had already been at least one *small* trial done with curcumin in which no MM patient got better.

She took the 8g of curcumin with bioperine (piperine) which is from black pepper, for better absorption. I believe that piperine also inhibits breakdown of curcumin by the liver. For some reason she was not taking it with fat, which as far as I know, she should have done for better absorption.

Here's another report in popular press: http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/25/curry-spice-helped-woman-67-to-beat-blood-cancer-6803851/

[Ken_PA]

Hi, here is this case which would be extremely rare.

https://hiddenart.co.uk/2017/11/28/how-our-ceo-dieneke-ferguson-beat-her-incurable-cancer-through-curcumin/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5230201/Pensioner-used-turmeric-fight-blood-cancer.html

The odds are tiny but it's a possibility. Turmeric/curcumin is a known anti-inflammatory and probably also pro-apoptotic. I can help to try to track down the case report if you are still reading here.

[Ken_PA]

You'd also want to know about best absorption techniques, which is not simple.

[princekim]

Thank you, Ken.
I’m still here. And I want more information. Please give me more details.