How You Can Help
The Servan-Schreiber/Cohen Anticancer Fund
MD Anderson Cancer Center is currently seeking philanthropic funding to advance the goals of the Integrative Medicine Program, led by Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor of behavioral science and general oncology, and to specifically support the development and testing of a novel, comprehensive integrative oncology intervention.The proposed study will build on previous research by examining the effects of an innovative, standardized integrative oncology program based on the model outlined in the book Anticancer by David Servan-Schreiber, M.D.,Ph.D.
Dr. Lorenzo Cohen
Dr. David Servan-Schreiber
The study will dramatically move the integrative medicine field forward through several ground breaking strategies where previous research has fallen short. The Servan-Schreiber/Cohen Anticancer Fund will support a 5-year research project with the following measurable aims:
- Develop a comprehensive, novel, standardized, web-based, integrative oncology intervention program based on the model outlined in Anticancer. The program will include special diets, physical activity, stress management, social support, control of environmental contaminants, and some supportive natural supplements that many people with cancer are already taking (e.g., vitamin D3, fish oil, and turmeric).
- Develop reliable techniques to assess a person’s natural defenses against cancer through simple objective measures (e.g., blood tests of inflammation, vitamin D levels, stress hormones, omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio, antioxidant capacity, and immune system activity) and determine how these measures are related to clinical outcomes and other existing biological markers.
- Pilot test the integrative oncology intervention to evaluate to what degree it is possible to improve a person’s natural defenses and clinical outcomes as measured by the above tests through the biological assessment of the tumor microenvironment, and conventional psychological and quality of life measures.
- Evaluate to what degree this comprehensive integrative oncology intervention reduces the progression of disease.
Philanthropic Resources: