Cancers – Page 5 – OncWonk – Dr Bier's Oncology Research Reviews

Risk of Subsequent Primary Cancers in Thyroid Cancer Survivors according to the Dose of Levothyroxine: A Nationwide Cohort Study

December 24, 2025

| Cancers, Medications - General Pharmaceuticals

Comment: Yet another study challenging the safety profile of synthetic T4. The data here is sobering: thyroid cancer survivors on high-dose levothyroxine faced significantly higher risks of developing a second unrelated (not recurrence) cancer, particularly in the GI tract. With hazard ratios for pancreatic, liver cancers reaching nearly 2.5 and 2.0 respectively, this is a […]

Exogenous Thyroid Hormone Is Associated with Shortened Survival and Upregulation of High-Risk Gene Expression Profiles in Steroid Receptor-Positive Breast Cancers

December 24, 2025

| No Comments

| Cancer - Breast, Medications - General Pharmaceuticals

Comment: This paper serves as a major wake-up call regarding the risks of thyroid replacement in SR+ breast cancer, which compromises about 80% of cases. The mechanistic finding—that thyroid hormone can reverse Tamoxifen’s action from antagonist to agonist—is a critical piece of the puzzle explaining treatment failure. Furthermore, the observation that Aromatase Inhibitors also showed […]

Post-diagnosis supplement use and breast cancer prognosis in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

December 20, 2025

| No Comments

| Cancer - Breast, Supplements

Comment: Cancer survivors are still frequently told that they should avoid antioxidants due to the wholly theoretical risk that they might ‘rescue’ residual cancer cells. This large-scale analysis effectively dismantles that dogma. Instead of harm, we see a clear survival advantage—a 16% reduction in total mortality for those using antioxidants post-treatment. Whether it is the […]

Effect of High-Dose vs Standard-Dose Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Progression-Free Survival Among Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Colorectal Cancer – The SUNSHINE Randomized Clinical Trial

December 20, 2025

| No Comments

| Cancer - Colon, Supplements

Comment: These findings are another, again highlight the massive, untapped potential of nutritional synergy with conventional treatment. Adding just 4,000 IU of Vitamin D3 didn’t just improve serum levels,; it translated to a tangible clinical victory—a 36% reduction in the risk of progression or death. This indicates that Vitamin D acts as a ‘force multiplier’ […]

Impact of antioxidant supplementation on chemotherapeutic efficacy: a systematic review of the evidence from randomized controlled trials

December 20, 2025

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| Cancers, Chemotherapy, Supplements

Comment: This systematic review serves as a definitive corrective to the long-standing dogma against concurrent antioxidant use with chemotherapy. Patients still come in being told that antioxidants might ‘rescue’ tumor cells from chemotherapy, almost completely from preclinical models. However, these findings remind us why Randomized Controlled Trials are the ultimate arbiter. When tested in actual […]

Antioxidant supplementation and breast cancer prognosis in postmenopausal women undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy

December 20, 2025

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| Cancer - Breast, Chemotherapy, HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy, Supplements

Comment: While the headline of this study suggests a clear danger, the methodology reveals significant issues which makes the results difficult to trust. They ‘lump’ biologically distinct agents—grouping trace minerals like selenium with high-dose Vitamin C—which renders the ‘antioxidant’ variable clinically meaningless. This is the same mistake done in this trial, which is really a […]

NSAID analgesic ketorolac used perioperatively may suppress early breast cancer relapse: particular relevance to triple negative subgroup

December 17, 2025

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| Cancer - Breast, Medications - General Pharmaceuticals

Comment: This study is not the only one showing NSAIDs (vs tylenol) for pain management around surgery has a potential upside. However what this ones suggests is that ketorolac specifically may be a better option than other NSAIDS. that a standard perioperative analgesic acts as a potent anti-cancer agent by ‘abrogating’ the specific inflammatory signal […]

Synergistic effect of fasting-mimicking diet and vitamin C against KRAS mutated cancers

December 16, 2025

| No Comments

| Cancer - Colon, Cancers, Supplements

Comment: While the synergy described here is scientifically elegant, we must contextualize the ‘vitamin’ label. The efficacy observed in this study relies on massive pharmacological dosing—equivalent to approximately 22 grams administered daily in an average human. This magnitude of exposure is not really possible to attain from oral supplementation, which begs the question – does […]

Vitamin C intake and colorectal cancer survival according to KRAS and BRAF mutation: a prospective study in two US cohorts

December 14, 2025

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| Cancer - Colon

Comment: This study provides a fascinating glimpse into the potential of ‘precision nutrition’—where efficacy may depend entirely on the tumor’s specific genomic profile which we now have information on. The finding that Vitamin C intake improves survival specifically and only in KRAS and BRAF mutated tumors aligns perfectly with the known biology: these mutations upregulate […]

Perioperative NSAIDs and Long-Term Outcomes After cancer Surgery: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

December 14, 2025

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| Cancers, Medications - General Pharmaceuticals, Treatments – Conventional

Comment: This is a weak study in numerous ways, with large heterogenicity and a significant results borne of several non-significant studies which always makes it suspect. And if a patient has no contraindications, choosing an NSAID over acetaminophen if pain control is needed seems like the clear winner. The Wonk Debate – Audio Critique & […]