Integrative Cancer Care at The Block Center
As if confronting a potentially fatal disease were not daunting enough, many cancer patients also have to contend with a host of debilitating side effects induced by chemotherapy and radiation treatment. These range from fatigue and hair loss to life-threatening pneumonia and emboli or a crippling wasting of lean muscle mass.
Today, however, more cancer care specialists are recognizing the value of integrative programs that incorporate specialized diets, health-promoting herbs and nutrients, and mind-body therapies to increase the efficacy of conventional cancer treatment while limiting its harmful side effects.1,2
At the forefront of this emerging model of integrative cancer care is Dr. Keith Block, who has long maintained that nutrients and phytochemicals provide critical support for cancer patients. At the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment, patients benefit from customized treatment regimens designed to boost immunity, mitigate side effects, help prevent the loss of muscle mass (cachexia), maximize the efficacy of chemotherapy, and stop the spread of cancer.
In this article, we describe how Dr. Block’s newly released book Life Over Cancer and approach to integrative cancer care are providing patients with a “survivor’s edge” by enhancing quality of life, reducing toxicity, and improving patient outcomes. This approach charts an exciting new future for comprehensive cancer treatment.
Unique, Individualized Cancer Care
Located in Evanston, Illinois, the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment was founded in 1980 by Drs. Keith and Penny Block. This research-based treatment center combines the best of conventional cancer treatment modalities with complementary non-drug therapies such as personalized nutritional supplementation, customized exercise, therapeutic diet, massage, and training in yoga, meditation, and mind-body stress care. The Center seeks to provide comprehensive, integrative cancer care through individualized treatment regimens aimed at restoring the biological integrity of the patient and forming the foundation of a long-lasting recovery.
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The Block Center’s approach to cancer care begins with a detailed patient assessment, including biochemical, molecular and gene-based profiles and clinical evaluations of nutritional and physical status, quality of life, and well-being. These data are used to create an individualized care plan that emphasizes patient involvement and includes a customized nutritional regimen, with therapeutic physical, psychological, and emotional interventions. Since each patient’s biology is continually changing, treatment options are constantly reviewed and revised based on the most current diagnostic and medical data. This means that every component of care is individualized to match a patient’s unique biology, disease and treatment specifics, and personal and family needs.
“We provide detailed education for each patient, including a strong biological understanding of their comprehensive clinical treatment plan and hands-on training,” Dr. Block tells Life Extension. “It’s not enough to simply prescribe—patients need to be trained and equipped to carry out a therapeutic regimen. We believe patients must be active participants in their care—that is, they must ‘own’ it.”
Block Center’s Cancer Rehabilitation Program
According to Dr. Block, “We won’t start chemotherapy with a patient who is not fit enough to withstand and benefit from the treatment. Otherwise, it is unfair to the patient and gives the cancer a decided advantage. The disease already has a head start, so cancer patients must be physically, psychologically, and nutritionally strengthened to be able to take it on.”
This rehabilitation program, which is tailored to each patient and is monitored throughout treatment, is regularly modified according to the patient’s changing condition, and continues until full recovery. Patients on conventional chemotherapy often suffer from post-treatment symptoms such as fatigue, “chemo brain” (changes in memory and attention following chemotherapy), physical weakness, and depression. The Block Center’s rehabilitation program enables patients to better tolerate chemotherapy, and to regain and rebuild their resilience. Conventional treatments can lead to a burden of toxic metabolites. On entering the blood, these complexes can trigger inflammatory cascades resulting in increased mutation and thus more aggressive cancer cells. This can lead to treatment resistance and a greater potential for progression and recurrence. Detoxification strategies are a critical aspect of addressing these metabolites and the rehabilitative process.
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Tagged as Cancer + Categorized as Health