Cancer: How Lifestyles May Impact Disease Development, Progression, and Treatment

Front Cover
Cancer: How Lifestyles May Impact Disease Development, Progression, and Treatment
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Cancer biology and pathology
	The distress of cancer
	Extrinsic influences on cancer
		The broad landscape
	Features of cancer development and progression
	Cancer processes
		Classification
	Sources of cancer
		Immune surveillance
		Avoiding detection: The garden of good and evil (mostly evil)
			Circumventing defenses
			Cancer’s active defenses
	Treatment resistance
	Metastases
	Ingredients for cancer growth and metastasis
		Nutritional and energy support
		Glucose and the Warburg effect
			Being unneighborly
	Impact of hormones and hormone receptors on cancer processes
	Inflammatory factors in the cancer process
		What inflammation implies
		Two faces of inflammation
		Mechanisms of inflammation
	Intrinsic vs extrinsic contributions to cancer occurrence
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 2 Cancer and immunity
	Changing times concerning diseases
	Fundamentals of immunity
		Functions of the immune system
	Innate and adaptive components of the immune system
		Innate immunity
		Innate immune function and cancer
			Diversity of immune cells
			Pattern recognition receptors and pathogen-associated membrane patterns
		Sterile inflammation
			Danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)
	Anatomy of the immune system: The lymphoid system
	Adaptive (acquired) immunity
		Development of B cells
			The antibody molecule
			Antigen neutralization by antibodies
		T lymphocytes
	Cytokines
		Chemokines
	Inflammasome
	Immune tolerance
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 3 Microbiota and health
	How it began
	Features of microbiota
		Beyond gut bacteria
		Gut viruses
	An evolutionary perspective
	Microbiota development
		Prenatal influences
		Early postnatal influences
		Microbial factors derived through breastfeeding
			Microbial factors derived through vaginal birth
	Microbiota and immune functioning
		Microbiota and inflammation
	Microbiota and illness comorbidities
		Microbiota, anxiety, and depressive disorders
	Identifying good and bad microbes
	The influence of environmental toxicants
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 4 Genetic and epigenetic processes linked to cancer
	Genetics and natural selection: The good and the bad
	From Mendelian genetics to molecular biology
	DNA and RNA
		Mutations
			Random mutations
			Inherited mutations
		Mutations of specific genes related to cancer
			Gene signatures
			A multihit hypothesis
		Carcinogens
	Epigenetic processes
		Predicting cancer based on epigenetic changes
			Aging
			Targeting epigenetic modifications in cancer therapy
		Intergenerational and transgenerational changes
		Limitations of data linking epigenetic changes to specific phenotypes
	Complex gene  ×   environment interactions
	Population-level genetics
		Sex variations in cancer
			Microbiota in males and females
		Ethnic variations in relation to cancer
	Precision (personalized) medicine
		Multiple markers across domains
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 5 Stressors: Psychological and neurobiological processes
	Attributions and misattributions of stressor effects on illness
	Features of stressors
	Chronic stressors and allostatic load
	Stress sensitization
	Identifying and responding to stressors
		Appraisals
		Heuristics, decision-making, and misappraisals
		Coping
	Resilience and vulnerability
	Neurobiological actions of stressors
		A systems perspective of stressor actions
		Hormonal processes
			Peripheral norepinephrine and acetylcholine
			Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) and cortisol
			CRH and cortisol associated with food selection
			Estrogen
			Prolactin
			Oxytocin
			Neuropeptide Y
			Endocannabinoids
	Growth factors
		Neurotrophins and brain functioning
		Growth factors linked to cancer
		Influence of stressors on growth factors
	Cellular stress responses
	Prenatal and early-life stressor effects
		Promotion of premature birth
		Hormonal consequences of prenatal stress
		Epigenetic changes related to prenatal stress
		Impact of prenatal infection
		Influence of early-life stressors
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 6 Stress, immunity, and cancer
	Blame it on stressor experiences
	Brain and immune system interactions
		Communication between immune processes and the brain
		The brain’s immunity
	Stressor influences on immunity
		Leukocyte changes elicited by stressors
		Acute versus chronic challenges
		Stressor-provoked responses to infection in rodents
			Sex differences in stressor-provoked immune responses
		Stressor-elicited immune changes in humans
		Stressor-provoked responses to infection in humans
	Cytokine variations associated with stressors
		Concurrent actions of pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines
		Stressor-elicited cytokine variations in humans
		Impact of early-life experiences
	Stress and microbiota
		Stress, psychological alterations, and microbiota
		Early-life experiences influence adolescent and adult microbiota
	Stressful events and cancer
		Immune processes linking stressful events to cancer
		Stress, hormones, and cancer progression
			Involvement of norepinephrine
			Cortisol
			Estrogen
			Oxytocin
	Influence of psychosocial stressors on immunity and cancer
		Studies in mice
		Studies in humans: Retrospective analyses
		Studies in humans: Prospective analyses
	Prenatal and early-life stressors in relation to cancer
		Influence of early-life stressors
		Influence of prenatal stressors
		Dealing with cancer in children
	Influence of diverse life stressors
		Job-related stress
		The distress of loneliness
		The distress of chronic illnesses
		Surgery as a stressor
	Psychological factors associated with cancer treatment
		Depression as a predictor of cancer occurrence
		The distress of cancer treatment
			Depression stemming from cancer diagnosis and treatment
		Treating cancer-related depression
	Linking neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders to cancer
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 7 Eating and nutrition links to cancer
	Then and now
	The digestive process
	Hormonal and brain processes underlying eating
		Leptin and ghrelin
		Insulin and related peptides
		Incretins
	Diets and weight loss
		Microbiota, short-chain fatty acids, fibers, and polyphenols
		Setpoint, diet, and fasting
		Impact of periodic fasting
	Diet and nutrition in relation to cancer
		Food constituents and cancer
		Fiber
		Nonmeat proteins and the Mediterranean diet
		Fats and meat proteins
		Balancing nutritional needs and starving cancer cells: The case of cancer cachexia
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 8 Dietary components associated with being overweight, having obesity, and cancer
	Being overweight or having obesity as a health risk
	Linking the development of obesity to cancer
	Relations between obesity, immunity, inflammation, and cancer
		Ties between leptin, ghrelin, and cancer
		Cholesterol involvement in cancer
	Genetic influences on obesity
	Dietary components in relation to cancer and its treatment
		Glucose
			The tyranny of fructose
		Fat and lipid metabolism
		Fatty acids
		Polyphenols
		Dietary amino acids
		Caveats concerning diet manipulations and cancer
			Vitamins and other supplements
			Further concerns regarding supplements
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 9 Microbiota in relation to cancer
	Finding the right microbial mix
		Foods associated with microbial changes
		Beneficial and nonbeneficial bacteria
	Microbiota in relation to cancer
		Epigenetic involvement in the effects of microbiota
		Influence of antibiotics and germ-free conditions
		Impact of fecal transplants
	Short-chain fatty acids
		Immune factors, cytokines, and free fatty acids
		Butyrate
		Propionate
		Acetate
	Influence of specific microbiota in diverse forms of cancer
		Colorectal cancer
		Breast and female reproductive system cancers
		Lung cancer
	Parasites and cancer
	The inflammatory link between microbiota and cancer
	Impact of the prenatal and perinatal diet
		Intergenerational and transgenerational actions
	The other side of microbiota: Is there value to prebiotic and probiotic supplements?
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 10 Exercise
	The broad effects of exercise
	Immune and cytokine changes associated with exercise
		Influence of moderate vs strenuous exercise
	Cytokine changes associated with exercise
		Myokines in relation to cancer
	Exercise and cancer prevention
	Impact of exercise on existent cancers
		Safety of exercise among cancer patients
		Variations of cancer progression produced by exercise
		Intensity of exercise in relation to cancer
		Mechanisms related to exercise benefits
		Influence of epigenetic changes stemming from exercise
	Impact of exercise on cancer features and side effects of treatments
		Cancer-related fatigue and quality of life
		Cancer cachexia
		Sleep disturbances
		Neuropathy
		Depression
	Fueling cancer progression
	Exercise and microbiota
		Microbiota changes and amount of exercise
	Sedentary behaviors
	The social element
	Roadblocks to exercise and how to get around them
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 11 Sleep and circadian rhythms
	A brief history of thoughts and research related to sleep
	Functions of sleep
		Consequences of sleep loss
	Links between sleep and other lifestyle factors
		Sleep and exercise
		Sleep and eating
	Neurobiological aspects related to sleep and circadian rhythms
		Circadian clocks
	Circadian rhythms: Immune and cytokine changes
	Sleep, circadian rhythms, and cancer progression
		Sleep duration in predicting later cancer occurrence
		The curse of sleep disorders
		Mechanisms linking sleep and circadian disturbances to cancer
		Focusing on clock genes in cancer
	Occupations associated with altered sleep cycles and cancer occurrence
	Sleep disruption and diurnal variations in relation to microbiota
	Implications of circadian rhythmicity to cancer treatments
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 12 Adopting healthy behaviors: Toward prevention and cures
	Understanding counterproductive behaviors
	A brief look back
	Intervention approaches
		Forms of intervention
	Changing attitudes and behaviors and barriers to change
		Education in the promotion of behavior change
		Bridging the intention—Behavior gap
		Nudge theory
	Psychosocial and cognitive approaches to enhance health behaviors
		Illness perceptions
		Common-sense model of behavioral change
		The Health Belief Model
		Protection Motivation Theory
		Self-efficacy Theory
		Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior
		Stage models: The Transtheoretical Model
		Behavioral and cognitive methods to alter health behaviors
		Exposure therapy and systematic desensitization
		Applied behavior analysis
		Cognitive behavioral therapy
		Mindfulness
	Positive psychology
		Critiques of positive psychology
	Social support
		Change through social identity: The social cure
		Limits to the effects of social support
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 13 Cancer therapies: Caveats, concerns, and momentum
	Promises, promises
	Cancer screening
		Early detection
		Sensitivity versus specificity
	Cancer screening in common types of cancer
		Breast cancer screening
		Prostate cancer screening
		Colon cancer screening
		Lung cancer screening
	Caveats concerning screening and early cancer detection
		The ever-present problem of overdiagnosis
		Delayed presentation of illness: Assessment delays and delays of treatment
	Unintended consequences and unintended benefits
	Progress in cancer treatment development
		Difficulties and limitations
		The upside of the story
		Problems in determining treatment efficacy
	Complementary and alternative medicine
	Precision treatment: Obstacles and challenges
		Genetic and epigenetic factors in precision medicine
		Matching individuals to treatments
		Beyond the genome
		Therapies agnostic to cancer type
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 14 Traditional therapies and their moderation
	The role of serendipity
	Chemotherapy and radiation therapy
		Chemotherapeutic approaches
		Radiation therapies
		Side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy
			Physical effects
			Cognitive disturbances
			Limiting side effects of chemotherapy and radiation
	The challenge of treatment resistance
		Mechanisms related to treatment resistance
		Gene mutations
		Autophagy
		Apoptosis and anastasis
	Nutrients related to treatment resistance
	Manipulating energy and metabolism
		Fasting diet in relation to cancer progression and treatment resistance
		Selectively starving tumor cells
	Microbiota in relation to chemotherapy
		Eubiosis and dysbiosis
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 15 Immunotherapies and their moderation
	Immunotherapeutic approaches
	Stem cell therapy
		Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)
		Graft-vs-host disease
		Microbial factors in stem cell therapy
	Nonspecific immunotherapies
		Cytokine-based therapy
			Factors complicating cytokine-based immunotherapies: Depression and indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO)
		Role of indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase in cancer processes
			Stress and lifestyles influence indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase
	Treatment vaccines
		Virally related cancer
		Cancer vaccines
		Oncolytic viral therapy
	Antibody-based therapies
		Checkpoint inhibitors
			CTLA-4 immunotherapy
			PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy
			TIM-3 immunotherapy
		CAR T-cell therapy
		Broader use of CAR T therapy
	Enhancing immunotherapy’s effectiveness
		Combination therapies
		Moderating the actions of checkpoint inhibitors through lifestyles
	Side effects of checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T therapy
		Modifying the side effects of CAR T therapy
	Use of biomarkers
		Genetic characteristics related to the individual (systemic host factors)
		Markers that reflect features of the tumor
		Features of the tumor microenvironment
		Biomarkers for immunotherapy side effects
	Influence of microbiota on treatment responses to cancer therapies
		Microbiota and immunotherapy
			Enhancing PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy through microbial changes
			Advancing microbial treatments in modulating the effects of checkpoint inhibitors
			Enhancing CAR T therapy through microbial changes
	Prebiotics and probiotics in cancer treatment
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Chapter 16 Moving forward—The science and the patient
	Where we stand
	Moving forward
		Genomic advances
			Markers related to experiences and environmental factors
		Precision medicine through artificial intelligence
	Prevention vs treatment
		One planet, one health, one cure
	Living with dignity
		Relation between the patient and the health provider
			Physician-patient communication: Shared decision-making
			Decision regret
	Dying with dignity
	Summary and conclusions
	References
Index
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