Elite OncoCare Clinic - Educational

What are the health benefits of eating pomegranate?
Does eating it prevent cancer?
Does taking it interfere with different medications including cancer ones?

♦ Pomegranate is rich in elements that may help prevent arthritis, reduce heart disease, treat bacterial and fungal infections, reduce the body's resistance to insulin, and contribute to the control of diabetes.

♦ Pomegranate seeds contain powerful antioxidants called tannins and anthocyanins, which are much stronger in their effect than the antioxidants found in green tea.

♦ Not only that, but pomegranate is rich in highly effective compounds in the fight against cancer, stopping the carcinogenicity of healthy cells, stopping the proliferation of cancer cells, and cutting off food from them. Therefore, it has preventive and therapeutic benefits in cancers such as prostate, skin, lung, and colon.

♦ As for breast cancer, studies have proven that polyphenols in abundance in pomegranate have anti-estrogen properties and therefore, stop the growth of cancer and eliminate it in many cases.
♦ The best time to drink pomegranate juice is early morning on an empty stomach.

♦ Pomegranate juice may interfere with the work of treatments such as treatments for high blood pressure, high blood lipids, heart electrical disorders, and fluidity, so we always advise patients on these treatments to be careful when eating pomegranate and first refer to the treating doctor. For diabetics, pomegranate may raise the blood sugar level, so you should ask your doctor about it as well.

♦ We do not recommend eating pomegranate or its juice in the event of colic or diarrhea, as eating it may worsen these symptoms.

♦ For patients on hormone therapy: It is not recommended to consume pomegranate or its juice while taking hormone therapy type antiaromatase inhibitors, this family includes treatments namely Femara – Letrozole, Arimidex – Anastrazole, and aromasin – Exemestane. There is no information available on the prohibition of taking pomegranate with Nolvadex (Nolvadex – Tamoxifen).) but we do not recommend it in this case also under the principle of safety. The prohibition applies to all of the above hormonal treatments with grapefruit juice as well.

♦ For patients on CDK4/6 Inhibitors: Pomegranate and grapefruit juices also interfere with them, so we don't recommend taking them in this case just like hormone therapy.

Dr. Ahmed Mamoun Nofal
Senior faculty member and consultant of early diagnosis and management of breast, gynecologic, and adult solid cancers, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University and the International Medical Center - Cairo - Egypt. Certified member of the European Society of Oncology

Cell/WhatsApp: 002 01200518811
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWiQkQMpJ97DefYPvCJE5WQ

What are the risk factors for disease relapse after neoadjuvant treatment despite achieving a complete pathologic response (pCR)?

A recent retrospective pooled analysis published in the Nature Journal on more than 2000 breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant treatment, identified potential clinical risk factors in women with a pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with anti-HER2 therapy in cases of HER2-positive disease. Overall, nodal involvement at diagnosis, cT3/4 tumors as well and lobular histology were identified as being the most adverse factors in patients with a pCR, underlining that tumor burden at the time of diagnosis is important. In patients with TNBC, an initial positive nodal status and lobular histology predicted a significantly higher risk of relapse or death. In patients with HER2-positive disease tumors initially classified as cT3/4 tumors indicated a higher risk of relapse and death, again very consistently for DFS, DDFS, and OS. This effect was strongest in the HER2-positive hormone receptor-negative subgroup. Four-year DFS and DDFS rates for patients included in this pooled analysis were lowest in those with lobular histology, cN+, and cT3/4 tumors.

The full paper is available for download for free at:
npj Breast Cancer (2023) 9:23; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-023-00525-2

Ahmed Maamoun Nofal, MD, PhD
Faculty member and consultant for early diagnosis, and treatment of breast, gynecologic, and solid tumors for adults at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, and the International Medical Center - Cairo - Egypt. Certified member of the European Society of Oncology.
Cell/WhatsApp: 002 01200518811
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWiQkQMpJ97DefYPvCJE5WQ

In invasive breast cancer:
Pathologic Rates of Involvement of Internal Mammary LNs According to Tumor Location and Pathologic Status of the Axilla.