HN Explorer

Ask HN: A friend has brain cancer: any bio hacks that worked?

157 points by d--b ↗ HN
A friend recently got diagnosed with stage 4 GBM. It's the 4th person I know who has it, and it's getting old, so I want to help, bio-hacking style.

I stumbled upon these guys who built a helmet that rotates strong magnets to create oscillating magnetic fields in the brain. They claim the oscillating magnetic fields cause cancer cell death through mechanisms I don't understand at all.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-46758-w

Did anyone try to build one of these?

-- Other avenues:

1. taking vortioxetine

https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/09/ant...

2. getting infected with the zika virus (probably the best thing to do IMO)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37324152/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33002018/

379 comments

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zblevins
I have heard some people having luck by switching to a ketogenic diet. Here’s a paper I could find on PubMed about this. Sorry to hear about your friend.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9504425/

Edit: I am not a doctor. My wife is a physician and I spoke to her before posting this.

mixmastamyk
While we're thinking about it, Vitamin D3 and K2-mk-7 are known to be helpful in that regard.
myphone8356
Not an expert or doctor disclaimer.

Sugar is the food cancer cells crave. Not a miracle cure but restricting sugars may help reduce the growth of the tumor.

hombre_fatal
I'm pretty sure that's an old myth that sugar preferentially feeds cancer cells and that you somehow starve them by reducing sugar intake. After all, the body maintains stable blood glucose levels regardless of how low your sugar intake is.

e.g. https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2023/08/16/sugar-and-cance...

amenhotep
"Reducing sugar intake" is not the same thing as ketosis. I have no strong opinions on whether it would work or not, but that's an article addressing something different and more clearly a misunderstanding.
malfist
Even in ketosis your body keeps a stable amount of glucose in your body. The mechanism is different, but the end result isn't.

Your brain _only_ operates on glucose, you'll never run out unless something is seriously wrong with your body.

jawilson2
This. It is very dependent on the type of cancer. There is a lot of research on this. For a little context, I was a pediatric neurology professor for a while, and have been on a low carb diet for a decade. Much of the department did low carb, as did much of the oncology dept. Many kids with epilepsy are put on keto as well with great effect. I did a deep dive into low carb research before starting and keeping with the diet, and found a lot about using it for cancer therapy. I'm not sure what has changed in the last 10 years, but the above abstract looks promising. With a GBM, they probably don't have much to lose. *This is not medical advice, I'm not an MD (I was a BME doing epilepsy research), have them check with their Dr.
Dansvidania
I wish I had something better to add, but I can add an anecdotal +1 to this.

A relative went keto pretty hard after a bad diagnosis and they are still going strong. As far as I understand it, cancer cells can only function on glucose.

layla5alive
Some types of cancer cells
Dansvidania
do you have a source for this? not arguing, just would like to read more
circlefavshape
In my life a relative (by marriage) went keto after a bowel cancer diagnosis, and died at age 45
d--b
Thanks a lot, I hadn't seen this. I'll read through.
olieidel
+1 on this. I did my thesis on Glioblastoma-related imaging stuff [1]. The state of the art at the time (~2016) was that, realistically, none of the current treatments were "great", unfortunately. In short, you have 1) surgery, 2) chemotherapy, 3) radiation. Those treatments did extend survival in studies, but the overall survival of Glioblastoma patients was (tragically) still very bad at 12-24 months, and none of those therapy options were a cure.

As a side note, I recommend the book "Being Mortal" from Atul Gawande. The TLDR here is that our healthcare systems tend to overtreat patients, especially those with cancer who actually have a rather bleak prognosis, because it's easier for a physician to simply order all treatments and tell the patient "all good here, good luck" instead of taking the time to sit down and have a (long) conversation about the bleak prognosis and which options are actually still worth it. By "worth it" I mean that there are trade-offs to each treatment option, and it takes some very careful weighing whether each one provides a net benefit for your friend's individual situation. E.g. surgery might extend survival by X months, but might also create, worst case, new disabilities. So now you're faced with the very difficult decision of whether to potentially live for a shorter time with less disabilities, or for a longer time with more. There's no perfect answer, but having this sort of discussion is a good step which many patients unfortunately never take. I think this is a failure in our healthcare systems and maybe in the education of physicians.

Now, if I personally had a Glioblastoma, on top of the standard of care (surgery probably makes sense etc.), I think the ketogenic diet would currently be my best shot. Yeah, sure.. it's mostly only case reports so essentially anecdotal evidence, but it does look promising.

Good luck for your friend!

[1] https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tinu7tYAAAAJ&hl=en

adamredwoods
If diet could stop cancer, we'd be done by now. I guarantee every cancer will mutate to overcome any change in diet you can throw at it.
stickfigure
All cancer treatments are probabilistic. There are no cures, just interventions that increase survival rates. There are no honest sentences that begin with "every cancer".
adamredwoods
There is no diet that will even intervene with cancer, unless the patient dies.

Cancer is the patient's own cell that has mutated to a point beyond apoptosis and adapted to be able to draw nutrients from cells around it. It started from just one cell. It has already evaded dietary fluctuations and adapted.

EDIT: the reason I'm a spaz about this is I feel too many people focus on diet as the focus of cancer. While it might be good for some prevention, it will not stop it, and I want people to focus on real treatments.

threeseed
I don't understand unreasonable positions like this.

Nobody is saying that people should stop "real" treatments or that diet must be the primary or sole focus for treatment. But given that a change of diet (a) costs nothing, (b) has no downsides, (c) potentially may work it seems strange not to do it.

adamredwoods
And yet it is a highly focused topic and cancer rates have not gone down.
throwaway290
Are keto diet/lifestyle changes/etc actually used by doctors for cancer treatment? Even if those were effective you can't expect cancer rates to go down until they get deployed massively
stickfigure
I'm with you on this: Anyone that rejects clinically studied treatments in favor of "alternative" treatments is an idiot.

That said, the keto diet is being studied clinically and preliminary research does seem to indicate that it has an effect. So it may be an "in addition to" treatment. That said, the news isn't entirely good:

https://www.cancer.columbia.edu/news/study-finds-keto-diet-c...

The bottom line is ask your oncologist. They're probably paying attention to these keto studies and they know more about your cancer than HN does.

adamredwoods
I did. Diet is not going to cure cancer, but they want us to eat well to survive treatments.
Client4214
Are you sure about this? There is data to back it up in The China Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study and mentioned in the Forks over Knives documentary. That's more about prevention, but it has a measurable impact on cancer rates, I don't see how that could be classified as no impact.
zmgsabst
Diet impacts survival rate, in conjunction with treatment. Please stop spreading misinformation.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8749320/

adamredwoods
This paper you linked didn't solve anything. Please read it, and stop spreading misinformation:

>> However, patients may not tolerate such a CR diet for prolonged time. Therefore, as alternative, it has been proposed an intermittent fasting regimen, whose beneficial effects also appear promising though somehow controversial in preclinical settings. This will require further elucidation in controlled clinical trials.

Have you spoken to oncologists and cancer nutritionists? I have.

Pakrozee
It seems there's some misunderstanding here. The paper doesn't claim to have solved the issue but highlights areas requiring further research, particularly controlled clinical trials to confirm the effects. Intermittent fasting is indeed a complex and debated topic, as preclinical findings often don't translate directly into clinical practice.

I appreciate that you've spoken to oncologists and cancer nutritionists—real-world expertise is invaluable in discussions like this. Could you share any insights or perspectives they provided? It could help clarify and enrich the conversation for everyone.https://pakrozee.pk/

zmgsabst
I cited a paper which showed “promising pre-clinical results” in the section you cited.

You have “trust me bro!” to dispute that.

Please stop spreading misinformation.

adamredwoods
You cannot stop cancer cells with diet alone. If you think otherwise, make your own clinical trial and publish results. I'm not spreading misinformation, instead, I'm challenging those who claim their diet can cure cancer. Copy-pasting internet links doesn't cure cancer either.
eaurouge
> Effect of fasting on cancer: A narrative review of scientific evidence

> Emerging evidence suggests that fasting could play a key role in cancer treatment by fostering conditions that limit cancer cells' adaptability, survival, and growth. Fasting could increase the effectiveness of cancer treatments and limit adverse events. Yet, we lack an integrated mechanistic model for how these two complicated systems interact, limiting our ability to understand, prevent, and treat cancer using fasting. Here, we review recent findings at the interface of oncology and fasting metabolism, with an emphasis on human clinical studies of intermittent fasting. We recommend combining prolonged periodic fasting with a standard conventional therapeutic approach to promote cancer-free survival, treatment efficacy and reduce side effects in cancer patients.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35848874/

SoftTalker
No, no folk remedies or bio-hacking or wearing magnets on your head will help, unfortunately.
abnercoimbre
It's a powerful Ask HN though. This is deeply touching.
deadbabe
This is the bargaining phase of grief, where a person will seek to do whatever they can to change a fate. But when they find they can’t no matter how hard they try, they’ll just proceed to anger and then depression.
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internetter
They did cite a peer reviewed paper in nature to substantiate the spinny head magnets. I doubt it will save their friend, but it's not total hogwash
querez
The paper was published in Nature *Scientific Reports*, not in Nature. Nature SR is a low-quality journal due to its very limited peer review (SR peer reviews only focus on scientific validity of a submitted paper, rather than its perceived importance, significance, or impact -- ie., they check if you followed proper scientific procedures, but won't check if what you're saying makes sense / fits with the rest of the scientific literature). It's a known dumping ground for papers that aren't good enough to be published in a real scientific journal, and it survives/thrives thanks to its association with the prestigious Nature journal.
toomuchtodo
Find a clinical trial you can get them into.
adamredwoods
Make sure to read Jake Seliger's blog. He really details the process on clinical trials. Rest in peace.

https://jakeseliger.com/

Pakrozee
Thank you for the recommendation. Jake Seliger's insights on clinical trials have been incredibly helpful for many. His contributions will certainly continue to guide and inspire others. May he rest in peace. https://pakrozee.pk/
Gluber
Did your friend get genetic sequencing done on his tumor. There are some recent promising results for braf mutated gbm
d--b
No, they can't reach the tumor surgically. Thanks for the info though.
delichon
My dad lasted ten weeks after diagnosis. If I get it I'll put my ducks in a row and exit intentionally, rather than raging against the dying of the light. Fighting it is great if your friend is up for it, and it's a way for you to show your love. But listen carefully and don't force it.
d--b
Sorry for your dad. That thing's a bitch.
alecst
I'm really sorry to hear that. Since you're asking for moonshots and weird things to try, here's something they can ask their doctor about:

> Case reports involving glioblastoma patients using water-only fasting regimens in conjunction with other forms of cancer treatment have reported favorable outcomes with respect to tumor growth https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2874558/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5884883/

From https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6836141/

znpy
There was an episode from “diary of a ceo” (don’t let the title fool you) where a scientist was making similar remarks:

https://youtu.be/VaVC3PAWqLk

I wouldn’t usually post these kind of things, but since OP is asking for moonshots i’ll take a chance.

Best of luck to your friend!

ballooney
You still shouldn’t post that kind of thing. Especially not that fraudulent bullshitter host.
fcanela
I have a relative with glioblastoma who could see his granddaughter born if he extends his life a while. Thanks a lot for sharing!
alecst
You're welcome. I read a lot about fasting and I have a lot of experience with it. It's helped me, personally, heal many things (but not all of them -- it's good to have low expectations.) In any case, it's a mind-expanding experience to go without food for a while, regardless of the outcome.
serguzest
Please Google Thomas Seyfried and William Makis. The latter is controversial—if he’s not completely fraudulent and making things up, he might be onto something. He’s sharing emails from numerous cancer patients who claim to have healed using these two particular molecules.
thomasfromcdnjs
I'm one of those stubborn types that will refuse all medical treatments, lots of fasting is my current go to strategy if some tumor gets out of control.
anonzzzies
steve jobs and many others tried things like that. if it makes you feel good then sure, but that alone will kill you faster when a tumor(s) gets out of control.
GIFtheory
Exercise can supposedly help outcomes for some types of cancer—-I wonder whether the mechanism is similar to that of fasting. The supposed mechanism AIUI is that exercise makes less glucose available to the tumor. Podcast with more info here: https://overcast.fm/+6j6rLbfGM
steviee
Hack your calendar and be there for him! All the best!
yzydserd
How do you know it’s a male?
madmask
He doesn’t need to know
jtms
Do you feel a question like this improves literally anything other than your own sense of moral superiority?
yzydserd
Yes. I simply hope the commenter reflects and doesn’t use a gender next time if there is no evidence of gender. That’s simply it. In 2025 I don’t feel it is appropriate for a commenter to use the pronoun “him” when there is no evidence of gender, and there isn’t at the time of comment.

I called someone out recently for the same, incurring -4 karma, and it turned out the gender pronoun was wrong: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42514127#42520946

lastiteration
Who cares about the gender pronoun, it's just a commenter online. The content is why we are reading. The author could be male, female or a bot. Not important, not relevant.
byyoung3
fasting and low carb probably wouldn't hurt
blader
1. Tumor Treating Fields (electricity, not magnets): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37953242/

2. CEGAT Vaccine: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51315-8

3. Supplementation: keto diet, curcumin, sauna, and some Chinese traditional medicines all have good academic data that improves overall and progression free survival

Source: I am a rare disease dad and did a lot of research and put together a private research team as well.

d--b
Thanks for your message. My friend's getting TTF as part of his medical treatment. CEGAT Vaccine, I didn't know about, I'll look into it.

Several people have mentioned keto diet, it also looks like a smart thing to try.

lylejantzi3rd
Have you looked into ivermectin and fenbendazole?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3158014/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7505114/

d--b
No, thanks a lot for pointing out.
wesapien
Goodluck to you and your friend. I only know about PEMF and will read about sOMF. I bought an ICES-PEMF a few years ago just to try it out for my back pain and it did help in reducing it and healing it. It's small and battery operated and was designed as a wearable but you need to come up with your own way of holding it close to your body. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnGpibdAoic
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adamredwoods
Fuck ivermectin and fuck you for even suggesting it. It doesn't work on cancer, end of discussion. It works by paralyzing worms on ion channel that humans DON'T have.
thebigspacefuck
Do you have a source for this? The linked study claims it has potential.
adamredwoods
Did you even read the links posted? The study for ivermectin states everything is speculation. So why is anyone challenging me when they didn't read the studies?

>> Unfortunately, there have been no reports of clinical trials of IVM as an anticancer drug. There are still some problems that need to be studied and resolved before IVM is used in the clinic.

The method of action of ivermectin is well known. Lots of articles state it works against COVID-19, but clinical trials have proven this to be false. Yet people still cling FOOLISHLY to that idea, and now creeping into cancer. But, it's GREAT against parasites!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S022352342...

>> What is important, ivermectin does not cross the blood-brain barrier, and therefore, does not affect mammals, including humans, in which GABA receptors are located mainly in the central nervous system. Nevertheless, accumulation of ivermectin in the human brain has been observed after administration of doses about 100 times higher than the recommended one.

aetherspawn
My mother has “frozen” breast cancer for 15 years using oral bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).

To give you the short version of the story about how it works for HER: taking bloodroot causes the cancer to shrink too small to take a biopsy, but not go into remission, and when she stops taking it per the doctors advice, it gets very large and they start talking about surgery.

Nobody really understands how it works and a lot of people claim it doesn’t work, but I think it’s probably similar to a low dose natural chemo.

I have seen it work unusually well with skin cancers (melanoma) as well using paste application (this is called black salve), so despite what the FDA claims, I think there’s something there, and there’s a few papers that agree.

Don’t put black salve on your head, it leaves a hole where the cancer comes out.

aetherspawn
She also swears by a product (basically a huge B17 dose) called Cascading Revenol that a guy on an old set of CDs Phillip Day (“the Truth about Cancer”) recommended to take with blood root.

It advertises itself as a natural tumour growth inhibitor.

throwaway2037
About Sanguinaria canadensis, Wiki says: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanguinaria

    Although limited laboratory research indicates potential for sanguinarine to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, there are no supportive clinical studies, and its use is discouraged due to adverse effects and potential toxicity.
aetherspawn
It has been used by native Americans to treat cancer for a very long time but YMMV. It has worked for us.
neom
That spinning hat is pretty cool. When cells breath they create a byproduct (Reactive Oxygen Species) - all cells do this, they need to keep their ROS levels in check else the cell will die, but because cancer cells have messed up mitochondria, they don't do this correctly and typically end up with way more ROS. That hat agitates the cells so they produce more ROS, but because the cancer cells are almost at capacity, it overloads them and they die from ROS strangulation.

"For 4-hour treatment:

Reduced DIPG cells by >80% Reduced GBM cells by >60%"

echelon
> That hat agitates the cells so they produce more ROS, but because the cancer cells are almost at capacity, it overloads them and they die from ROS strangulation.

If this is the understood mechanism and it has measurable results, why isn't this in widespread use?

d--b
it looks like research is way underfunded. My guess is that it is too rare, and people die quickly so clinical trials really suck.
neom
Research is about a year old, even with fast track 4 years would be fast.
IAmGraydon
The occurrence of GBM is about 3 out of every 100,000 people. If you happen to know 4, is there some commonality? Do you all work together in the same industry? Do they all live in the same town?
deegles
My aunt is in her 70s and has 5 friends currently with cancer. My belief is that it's downstream effects from Covid wrecking people's immune systems and their ability to naturally fight cancer. Time will tell.
dekhn
Bayes and Occam would suggest otherwise. If you're in your 70s in the US it's likely many people you know have cancer (unrelated to COVID). Especially now, given that detection is better than ever and more people are surviving longer with cancer.
MichaelZuo
Even more so, Probably 100% of the population over 70 has cancer in the sense of a clump of abnormal cell divison, just that for a lot of them it’s so slow growing or in a benign tumor that it doesn’t get discovered or treated.
Loughla
Not even thinking about environmental factors then?
admissionsguy
Unlikely to be COVID. The mRNA vaccine on the other hand...
armchairdweller
They are never gonna realize, the spell is too strong, particularly here

If anybody with an open mind reads this: plasmid DNA contamination / insertional mutagenesis (use a source that hasn't been altered by the pharma industry for cover up)

throwawayffffas
I was about to say this knowing 4 people with GBM means there is something in your environment causing this.

I am sorry about your friends.

d--b
No it's so weird, no connection at all between any of them.
lithocarpus
All four have the same kind of brain cancer? Or just have some kind of cancer?
d--b
Yeah all GBM
glitchc
Sorry friend, there no hacks from brain cancer. Mortality rate at Stage 4 is 100%. You're better off spending as much time as you can with them.
aCameronhuff
Unfortunately this is true, and there’s no near-term treatment that might change this outcome. There’s some treatments for slowing it down but there’s no proof of anyone being cured by any experimental method. There’s great progress being made and thousands of people working on paths to a cure but we’re still early days for some diseases.
chasil
If you search on "glioblastoma" you will find a LOT of hits.

I don't know anybody that has had it, but let's see if I can find the new treatment that I remember...

Edit:

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1610497

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08224-z

This one is interesting... glioblastoma is full of killer immune cells (40% of all cells, mostly macrophages) that are "docile."

https://scitechdaily.com/groundbreaking-method-starves-highl...

d--b
These look good, thanks much.
toss1
Sorry to hear about your friend; awful for both of you.

Anything you can build or brew at home? About as good as chanting spells at the moon on alternate Tuesdays. And definitely do NOT go get infected with some virus, which will only create greater complications and misery.

The only real chance I'd see out there is to get into a trial of some of the new immunotherapy treatments [0]. These create custom profiles and turn the body's immune systems against the cancer and have had some stunning successes — talk about biohacking — these researchers are out there!

Of course these are still in development. There is a lot of research going on around Boston [1-5], Mayo Clinic [6], and other research hotbeds.

Locating teams researching therapies applicable to your friend's cancer type, and hacking your way into one of those trials would likely be one of your best hacks ever; I'd focus on that. Gather the info, find out what it takes to get into the trials, get your friend qualified...

Best of luck - I hope you can organize a great recovery for your friend!

[0] https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/immunoth...

[1] https://www.bidmc.org/research/research-centers/cancer-resea...

[2] https://www.massgeneral.org/cancer-center/clinical-trials-an...

[3] https://www.bumc.bu.edu/immunology/research/cancer-immunolog...

[4] https://www.bmc.org/content/immunotherapy

[5] https://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org/location/boston-harvard...

[6] https://www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/cancer-resear...

d--b
Thanks a lot. I am in France though (should have said in the main text), and I don't think there's any fancy trial going on in France currently. Hopefully your comment can help someone else !
toss1
I don't know about trials in France, but this is definitely a very hot research topic globally. A quick search pulled in a bunch of institute names I recognize from over here in the US [0-3].

There are also some immunotherapies that are already approved for use and past the trial stage e.g., [4].

Be bold - keep hunting until you find YES. Good luck to your friend!

[0] https://www.gustaveroussy.fr/en/gustave-roussy-leading-centr...

[1] https://institut-curie.org/immunotherapy

[2] https://sante.sorbonne-universite.fr/en/structures-de-recher...

[3] https://www.pasteur.fr/en/our-missions/strategic-plan-2019-2...

[4] https://www.cancerresearch.org/regulatory-approval-timeline-...

[edit: add #4]

frisco
Personally knowing four people with GBM and not being an oncologist is exceptional and worrying. That feels like it should be raised to… someone. It is very possible something bad is happening and a commonality needs to be tracked down urgently.
d--b
It is indeed very strange, none of these people lived in the same place or got diagnosed at the same time (some 20 years ago). Most are fairly remote to me though... Like : a good friend's mom, or my wife's cousin's husband, etc.
selcuka
I knew two people (one adult, one child) who lived in the same building and got diagnosed with leukemia (~14 per 100,000) shortly after each other, maybe within a few weeks.

It's anecdotal, of course, but I've always thought that there could have been a connection.

hinkley
It could be birthday paradox, but it could potentially be enough to get someone to come check for contaminants.

Looks like benzene, some pesticides, and formaldehyde are the common workplace exposures that can trigger leukemia. But some of those can turn up near housing.

selcuka
> benzene, some pesticides, and formaldehyde are the common workplace exposures that can trigger leukemia.

That rings a bell. I remember that someone mentioned a recent repainting of the building. The incident happened at least a decade ago, so I can't remember all details.

hinkley
I just finished Silent Spring last fall and was shocked to learn they already knew DDT and other pesticides were causing leukemia back in 1960. I guess PR from the chemical companies is working, because I would have guessed 1979-1985.
AdmiralAsshat
Had a very close friend who passed away years ago from it. We tried various things, from apricot pits to a hat with electrodes attached to his head. Nothing worked.

He died about a year before John McCain died of the same. I regretted that we didn't try to do more, but, seeing that it took McCain in the same length of time did make me feel a little bit better (not that I was happy for McCain's death, but that his connections and world-class treatment made no meaningful difference in how long it prolonged his life versus that of my friend).

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Oras
A few years ago, I came across the idea of autophagy. The idea is water fasting for at least 24 hours to trigger the self-destruction of cells.

Combined with keto diet, as some suggested, might be a starting point.

So sorry to hear about your friend. My mom had a breast cancer that spread to brain. At that time, the only medicines that worked were Tykerb and Xeloda, as these were the only ones that could travel to the brain. They had promising results for a few months, and the tumour shrank a lot and then started growing again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autophagy

Dove
Pawpaw may be worth looking into.