Prevention tips for cancer

Hi everyone, I think the title sums up what this post is about so let's get to it.

Update/edit:
I wrote this because my grandmother was at the time terminally ill - within less than a day of writing this post she went from terminally ill to dead, which in my view makes this even more important - please see the charity links at the bottom of the post and support whatever you can.

Why it happens

Essentially, cancer is what happens when a cell decides to keep dividing when it shouldn't do and ends up disrupting healthy biological functions. This happens because biology is messy and DNA doesn't replicate perfectly every time in the same way a computer copies digital data. Neither does DNA stay stable over time in a lot of cases, so mutations crop up all the time - most of them harmless but a few of them very harmful indeed.

Logically, it makes sense to look at the causes of these mutations and then address how to prevent them occurring, and failing that how to prevent them doing damage, so here we go:

First problem - random copying errors

For the most part you can't actually prevent this, DNA is just not a perfectly reliable replicator - that's both the basic engine of evolution and a major flaw in biological life. Therefore all you can do for this one is prevent the mutations causing damage. To a certain degree cells can repair DNA damage, if they couldn't we'd all suffer from XP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeroderma_pigmentosum

The trick here therefore is to support the body's natural repair mechanisms and here folic acid is perhaps the cheapest and simplest solution if taken in sane doses - emphasis on "sane doses": folic acid can actually INCREASE the risk of certain types of cancer due to the role it plays in DNA replication in general. Put simply, folic acid helps DNA to replicate more accurately, but it also.... helps DNA replicate.

On the plus side, if you're at high risk for heart disease or depression then it is known to lower the levels of homocysteine (along with Vitamin B12 and others) and there's a reason pregnant women are strongly advised to take it. A cautionary note though: some medications given for depression and bipolar disorder can have odd interactions or cause you to require more folic acid: valproic acid (and related compounds like sodium valproate) comes to mind here. If you're on any prescription medications you should be in the habit of checking for interactions and side effects anyway but do NOT stop taking them if you have concerns: speak to your doctor about it.

For anyone concerned about health enough to read articles like this, this probably seems obvious and folic acid is found in reasonable doses in any decent multivitamin supplement, but if not my recommendations are for Centrum brand "A-Z" or the Life Extension Foundation's "Life Extension mix" - you should probably also join the LEF like I have too.

S-Adenosyl methionine comes to mind as another supplement that can help with DNA replication issues and methylation reactions in general: as a side effect it also works to treat depression and is so effective a main side effect is mania - this is one to ask your doctor about if you have a history of mental health problems. Abnormally low production of this compound in the body has been shown to increase the risk of alzheimers later in life - put simply, if you can afford to buy and use it on a regular basis then do so.

Moving on.....

In animals there's actually 2 types of DNA to think about: we often forget about those bacteria that crept inside an animal cell millions of years ago and setup shop: mitochondria. Because they used to be independent free-living bacteria they actually have seperate genomes of their own and problems with mitochondrial DNA actually occur far more often due to oxidative stress (put simply: free radicals are found in higher concentrations outside the cell nucleus and mitochondria find it harder to cope).

The role of mitochondrial malfunction in cancer is not as widely researched: most of the focus goes on the mutations in nucleic DNA. More attention should be paid though because while they do an essential job for any living cell (ATP synthesis) they also tend to produce the most metabolic side effects even when "healthy", spitting out loads of free radicals and increasing oxidative stress not just for themselves but for any other celluar machinery around them. Assholes.

What we need here is to keep mitochondria running at at least normal optimal levels: for that, on the supplement front CoQ10 (in the ubiquinol form if possible), Acetyl-l-carnitine and lipoic acid help a lot.

On the non-supplement side: aerobic exercise. I'm a hypocrite here as I should do more of it myself (as I imagine most people should) but aerobic exercise has been found to increase replication of mitochondria within cells. You may ask why this is a good thing when mitochondria spit out so many free radicals and the simple "dumbing it down" answer is that "young" mitochondria appear to function better than "old" mitochondria. The extra ATP production capacity can't hurt either (well, in theory it can - but you get my point).

Longer term a good way to keep mitochondria healthy is to move copies of the mitochondrial genome into the safer environment of the cell nucleus: something there's active research into. This is a pretty radical re-engineering of some of the basic components of life but the end goal is to not let the mitochondria screw up with their mutation-prone genes and let the nucleus produce healthier versions of them through ordinary protein synthesis.

As a side note: I once read an interesting discussion about engineering a sort of "mitochondria 2.0" that could express useful proteins and provide them to the rest of a cell by modifying present day bacteria.

On a practical level, right now you're stuck with asshole mitochondria - think of them as roommates that piss and shit on everything but also pay all the electric bills so you can't kick them out (bad analogy, I know) - all you can do is clean up the piss and shit as well as possible until you get new roommates or can afford the electric bill yourself (moving the genes inside the cell nucleus).

Go read some science: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27596602

Second problem - radiation damage

When I mention radiation damage and cancer I have to first give a strong anti-quackery warning: there's lots of nonsense out there on the subject after all.

Suffice to say though that personally i'm willing to have wifi, bluetooth and NFC devices implanted inside my body, take that as you will.

Instead of looking to your wifi network and your smartphone for dangers, look instead to the sun: UV light is the big one here, and to a lesser extent random background radiation from the afterglow of the big bang and random radioactive isotopes in the ground beneath you.

Most people don't need to worry about stuff like gamma or X rays but if you have an occupation where you're exposed to these things then naturally you should follow all the safety instructions and limit exposure. My dentist for example leaves the room when doing X rays.

On the supplement side of things, if you are in a high risk category (and I must stress: very few are) then taking potassium iodide might make sense - and if you're a hardcore prepper convinced that a zombie apocalypse backed by nukes is coming any day then holding a stock of this makes sense too - personally I consider that a tad paranoid.

So let's look at UV and random background radiation.

UV is so good at damaging DNA that it's often used for sterilisation. Knock out enough of the DNA basepairs in a living cell and it can't function properly (DNA is not just for replication - living cells use it to perform protein synthesis and this is a very active process).

The most practical and obvious thing to do here is to use sunscreen when going outside during summer (technically you'd get some benefit from this during darker times of year too but then you run into vitamin D deficiencies). Look for one that's got a high SPF rating: at least 30 should be used, it's generally considered pointless to use 45 or higher. If you get sunburn then you didn't use enough sunscreen - if this occurs stay inside, use an aftersun product and consume plenty of antioxidants while keeping it covered.

It should go without saying that tanning beds are a downright stupid idea.

Another thing that is less clear is the benefit of photolyase: this enzyme is one that us humans don't naturally produce and use, but plenty of other living things do and use it to repair UV-induced DNA damage. The reason for it being unclear is delivery mechanism: it's questionable whether simply rubbing it on with cream is effective against any other forms of cancer aside from skin cancer and as the most commonly available commercial form is in sunscreen it's probably not a good idea to use year round.

Since I lean towards transhumanist ideals I would say the best longterm solution here would be gene therapy to cause the body to produce this enzyme itself but that is naturally not really practical for most people yet.

What you can do is limit exposure and use protection, and sadly that is about it.

Third problem - environmental carcinogens

Don't snort asbestos guys, ok?
I put this lower down the list because it's simply too obvious: everyone knows smoking is bad for your lungs and as much as it gives you that delightful high (note to junkies reading: i'm joking, it doesn't) snorting asbestos is just a bad idea.

So many random things in the environment have some level of carcinogenic effect and so many random things are commonly thought to be a risk (but aren't) that your best defence here is to stop reading the daily mail so you don't stress out about it while avoiding the big obvious ones - which if I have to list for you, you need way more help than this article.

I will though address a pet peeve of mine: contrary to the opinion of many a stoner, cannabis smoke does not in fact "clean" your lungs. The stuff is only used medicinally in cancer patients because it helps cope with the side effects of chemotherapy (and personally I find that the risk of causing further damage makes this unethical when we have other antiemetics which aren't as risky).

Wrapping it up

With the exception of some even more radical approaches that I have not listed (since a lot of them are mostly speculative), the above is a good summary of cancer prevention - but the sad part is that there's no current way to actually eliminate the risk completely, only to lower it.

To me, cancer is just one of many problems that come with human aging and I fully support the quest to cure aging itself, not just the diseases cause by aging, hence my support of the work of the SENS Research Foundation - and therefore I would point people to the concept of WILT (See http://www.sens.org/files/pdf/Fahy-deGrey.pdf for details) as a possible ultimate solution.

Cancer is just one thing that robs us of good people, there are others of course, but it's an enemy we should fight with what little weapons we have anyway until we can defeat the real enemy of human mortality.

Sadly you'll notice a lot of the advice above boils down to "take your vitamins, exercise and wait for better technology" and for so many human flaws that is all we can do at present. It is still better than nothing though.

The laws of physics do not say anything about a biological being existing that's immune to disease after all. It's just a matter of holding on as long as possible and supporting the work of those working on the problem.

Perhaps then the best true preventative measure is to support scientific research, so please do so and visit the following links to support some reputable charities in this area - I can not directly vouch for any other than the SENS foundation though (and personally believe if you want to donate to something that'll make a lasting impact then they need your money more: more mainstream charities get plenty of funding and your donation while still making a difference won't have as big of an impact), this list is sorted in order of who I think needs your money more based on where the biggest impact will be:

http://www.sens.org/donate - SENS foundation - working on aging and funding research into 7 different problems identified as the root causes of age-related disease
https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/donate - Marie Curie foundation - this charity funds research and support for cancer patients and on the research front helped support CARBIO, an EU led project investigating the use of carbon nanoparticles for biomedical applications (put simply if you can bind a particle to cancer cells without touching healthy ones you can use selective drug delivery or targeted heating to kill off the cancer cells - this is a far more selective approach than existing chemo and radiotherapy and the sooner it comes into clinical practice the better)
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/get-involved/all-ways-to-help.html - not a research organisation, but provides both practical and emotional support to cancer patients and their families
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/donate - the main cancer research charity in the UK - very big and funds a lot of research but like other big charities does at times support the actual cause less than they should
https://iapps.aacrfoundation.org/WCM/AACRF/donation.aspx - American Association for Cancer Research - I don't know a lot about them but they appear to be fairly similar to Cancer Research UK and i've seen their name popup in quite a few academic papers

Even longer term, if you want to help defeat death itself (and I am very serious on this) then here are some organisations to support, ordered by how much of a practical effect I believe they're likely to have for people alive today:

http://alcor.org/donate/donate.html - Currently the most advanced cryonics provider on the planet and have funded some important research in the area, I also recommend signing up with these guys - it is often far cheaper than you imagine when funded by life insurance and your membership dues are tax deductible in the US. I'm signed up with these guys myself and believe their procedures are the most likely to preserve everything needed.
http://www.cryonics-uk.org/join.html - Volunteer organisation in the UK that provides standby services for cryonics patients (i.e give medication, cooling and life support immediately after legal death to keep as much brain tissue as possible intact). Disclaimer: I have an obvious interest in a stable and strong standby service being available in the UK in case something happens to me personally.
http://www.brainpreservation.org/donors/ - working on general ways to preserve the human brain, the last option for many if present day medicine fails - a person IS their brain and if you save the information content of the brain and a copy of their DNA you can at least in principle recover the person themselves
https://openai.com/about/ - Artificial Intelligence is important if we are to truly advance the limits of our understanding - some problems are simply beyond the ability of human minds
https://intelligence.org/donate/ - the Machine Intelligence Research Institute - I pondered whether to include this for reasons I won't go into, but these guys are one of the few working on AI safety (along with OpenAI) and another case of an organisation with limited resources
https://lifeboat.com/ex/donate - Disclaimer: i'm on their advisory board, this organisation addresses existential risks - things that could wipe out the whole human race - they have a reputation for addressing pretty much every risk you can think of and at times have some pretty crazy-sounding plans but crazy plans are better than no plans when it comes to the survival of our species
http://humanityplus.org/get-involved-2/donate/ - This is more of a case of philosophical support and advocacy than practical research, but that is important too - formerly known as the World Transhumanist Association - transhumanism is a philosophy that advocates overcoming human limits, including death and disease