By Catherine Guthrie

If you swallow echinacea at the first sign of a cold, visit an acupuncturist for that nagging pain in your knee, or say “energy healing” without giggling, you’re probably the type of person who would search high and low for an alternative to chemotherapy should the word “cancer” ever escape your doctor’s lips. But in this case, sticking only with alternative therapies may cost you your life.

There’s no shortage of alternative treatments that combat cancer in one way or another, including several supplements. But according to Timothy Birdsall, a naturopath and vice president of integrative medicine at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, in Zion, Illinois, none have been proven effective enough to work on their own. He still recommends chemotherapy, radiation or both for most of the hundreds of patients he sees each year.

But he generally adds some combination of supplements to the mix. They don’t cure the cancer, but some have been proven to impede tumor growth, increase chemotherapy’s effectiveness, or wipe out those cancer cells conventional therapies leave behind. Once treatment is over, they may also help prevent recurrences, says Charlotte Gyllenhaal, a research assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who studies plants with purported cancer-fighting properties. “Supplements can make the body’s internal environment less hospitable to new tumor growth,” she says.

Below are three of Birdsall’s favorites. All have been shown to promote general anti-cancer activity, meaning they can work against most types of cancer, and all have a low risk of side effects. Of course, it’s important to check with your doctor before tossing a supplement into the mix. Some may interfere with the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs or cause other unwanted side effects, like blood thinning.

Melatonin: Not just for zzz’s
Melatonin is a popular sleep aid, but did you know the hormone also scores big when it comes to treating cancer? Its attack is twofold: Not only can melatonin increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy, it may also combat its toxicity, making side effects from the treatment less intense.

In one of the best studies to date on melatonin and cancer, Italian scientists enlisted a group of 100 patients with various types and stages of the disease. Half the volunteers received chemo- therapy; others were treated with chemo along with 20 milligrams of melatonin each night. Immediately and in the years that followed, the melatonin group not only had fewer side effects from their cancer treatment, they also lived longer than the patients who received chemotherapy alone.

Experts know melatonin is a powerful antioxidant, but they haven’t pinpointed exactly how it works against cancer. Some believe the key is melatonin’s double duty as both an antioxidant and a sleep aid. Since chemotherapy patients who slumber soundly have fewer complications than those who don’t, melatonin may encourage good sleep patterns and therefore help the body heal itself, says Gyllenhaal. “Melatonin may be especially useful for older patients, who tend to have more fitful sleep,” she adds.

How to use: Melatonin supplements are best for patients with solid tumors, such as cancers of the breast, prostate, and lung. To lower the risk of contamination, buy melatonin made from synthetic sources, not animal glands. Most studies have used 20 mg a day, and that’s what Birdsall gives his patients. He cautions, though, that a dose this high should only be used with the guidance of a physician.

Avoid melatonin if you take antidepressants, corticosteroids, or sedatives.

Green Tea: Extracts are where it’s at
Green tea is the crème de la crème of health-bestowing beverages thanks to its polyphenols, antioxidants considered by some to be more powerful than either vitamin C or E. In animal studies, green tea shows a penchant for fighting prostate cancer, but experts believe it may be useful against all types of the disease.

If polyphenols held a contest for most likely to succeed, green tea’s EGCG would win hands down. Short for epigallocatechin-3-galate, EGCG slows cancer spread by helping to normalize the function of a tumor-suppressing gene and pulling the emergency brake on growth.

In the laboratory, green tea’s EGCG activates the self-destruct mechanism in precancerous cells. When a cell is abnormal, a healthy body either repairs it or signals it to die, explains Birdsall. In cancer cells the gene that controls this signal is broken, and instead of dying, the cell keeps reproducing other abnormal cells. “Green tea turns the gene back on, so the cancer cell will destroy itself,” he says.

The only downside? The dose. You’d need to drink between eight and ten cups a day to reap the anticancer effects. Even if you succeed, you’ll most likely end up with a serious case of the jitters, since a cup of green tea has roughly 40 mg of caffeine (less than coffee, which has 135 mg per cup, but still nothing to sneeze at). And don’t bother with decaf green; it’s virtually stripped of polyphenols, says Birdsall.

You can avoid the shakes by opting for supplemental green tea extract instead. With an average of 5 mg of caffeine each, supplements won’t keep you up at night.

How to use: Swallow 100 to 150 mg of green tea extract three times a day with meals to aid absorption. For best results, buy an extract made with 80 percent polyphenols, with 50 percent of them coming from EGCG.

Medicinal Mushrooms: The fungus that boosts immunity
These slimy forest-floor dwellers won’t win any beauty contests, but they get an A+ when it comes to boosting the body’s ability to kick cancer. “Mushrooms increase the body’s natural killer activity, creating antibodies that aid in attacking foreign bodies,” says Dave Grotto, director of nutrition at the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Evanston, Illinois.

Among the top contenders for the cancer-fighting title are shiitake, maitake, and reishi. Of the three, shiitake is the most common in both the kitchen and the research laboratory; its active ingredient, lentinan, has been the subject of more than 300 studies. Lentinan appears to lengthen the life span of people with cancer, especially when they’re compared to people who receive chemotherapy alone.

A strong immune system is vital for patients undergoing cancer therapy, and mushrooms may also help keep the body’s guard up by increasing T-cell function. In a small 2002 study, cancer patients taking maitake extract either saw their tumor shrink or had a vast improvement in symptoms.

How to use: With the exception of shii-take, cancer-fighting mushrooms won’t be found in the produce aisle. Look for a supplement containing both standardized extracts and active ingredients derived from the fruiting body. People with cancer can take several hundred milligrams daily, spread out over several meals.

Shiitake supplements have no major side effects. Maitake may lower blood sugar levels, so they’re not good for people who are hypoglycemic. And reishi mushrooms act as mild blood thinners and hence may increase the risk of bleeding, especially when paired with certain drug therapies, such as aspirin or warfarin. If you have any surgery planned, you need to stop taking them ahead of time to cut that risk.

How to Stop Cancer Before it Starts
There’s no sure-fire way to prevent cancer, but taking several steps can increase your chances of keeping it at bay. A poor diet and lack of exercise are suspected to play a role in as many as 40 percent of all cancers, so working out and loading up on antioxidant-rich foods are your best weapons. You know the drill: Go for leafy greens, bright colors, and variety. Charlotte Gyllenhaal, a research assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an expert in cancer and nutrition says to reach the new dietary guidelines of nine servings a day, people should fill up at least half their dinner plates with fruits and vegetables and up the size of each produce serving. Some people try to fill in the gap with antioxidant supplements, but experts agree that it’s generally best to get as much as you can from food. It’s not clear that supplements are as efficient at delivering the good stuff, and some research has shown that very high doses can be dangerous.