How Chronic Stress Impacts the Immune

Oasis of Hope is a Tijuana hospital and clinic that attracts patients from around the world through integrative cancer treatments. Combining immunostimulating approaches and nutraceuticals, the Oasis of Hope protocol has been designed by Dr. Francisco Contreras to boost the body’s responsiveness to chemotherapy and effectively fight cancer.

One major control agent that is often neglected when addressing cancer is the immune system. In many cases, an optimally-functioning immune response will prevent cancer from spreading and emerging as a tumor. This reflects the efforts of anti-tumor effectors such as natural killer (NK) cells, which work to eliminate cancer cells even before they are detectable using tumor markers.

Unfortunately, long term chronic anxiety and stress dampens NK activity and opens the door for cancer to take hold. This has to do with how the body allocates finite resources and redistributes them for specific situations it faces. A simple example is how, when mounting a defense to an infection through fever, the body takes energy stores from other parts of the body. The result is that one feels weak and in need of rest.

An example of chronic stress is that which arises when the “fight or flight” mechanism, designed for short term bursts of energy, is prolonged and drains energetic capacity over an unsustainable length of time. Lacking a chance to rest and recuperate, the body’s immune response suffers. Managing stress response is thus a vital pathway toward reenergizing the immune system and focusing the body on its battle against cancer.

Four Elements Defining Oasis of Hope’s

Committed to a synergistic combination of allopathic and alternative therapies, Oasis of Hope works with cancer patients and helps boost survival rates. There are four primary reasons why Oasis of Hope has achieved success rates greater than those associated with many traditional treatments.

One is the unique regimen of integrative cancer treatments developed by Dr. Francisco Contreras and his staff for each patient. These treatments use nutraceuticals and adjuvant drugs to increase the responsiveness of cancer to chemotherapy.

Another factor is the use of a pioneering CAT-C treatment protocol that involves vitamin K and vitamin C in massive doses. This is complemented by the CAT-IL protocol that integrates regular injections of interleukin, a hormone-like compound.

A third distinct aspect of the hospital’s approach involves the use of novel treatments such as apoptosis-induction, angiogenesis inhibitors, and signal transduction among patients who are living with stage 4 cancer and have seen other approaches fail.

A final factor is that the physicians at Oasis of Hope are committed to addressing not only the physical aspects of disease, but also the spiritual, emotional, and physiological sides. This holistic approach recognizes that a healthy mind and spirit are necessary components of the fight against cancer.

Importance of Adjusting Expectations

Offering an innovative combination of cancer treatments, Oasis of Hope is a leader in providing holistic and alternative methods of killing tumors, while minimizing toxic effects on healthy cells. As principal Dr. Francisco Contreras describes it, many patients come to Oasis of Hope for treatment from around the world with grade four cancers, which are “about as bad as you can get.”

Dr. Contreras’ first task is one of reorienting patients’ expectations in ways that accentuate the positive, while remaining realistic. As he describes it, allopathic physicians often sell patients on the idea that they can become 100 percent cancer free. This is usually unrealistic and sets up patients for disillusion. If any tumor remains following treatment, they are left with a sense that the protocol has failed.

A better approach involves preparing for the eventuality of living with cancer and still enjoying life, even several years after diagnosis. Dr. Contreras goes so far as to identify a positive, happy, outlook as a “cancer-fighting emotion.” He seeks to equip patients with multilevel care that spans the physical, emotional, and spiritual. With the latter, fostering a sense of “spiritual fortitude” is critical. When life is viewed in perspective as “just a little part of eternity,” the fear element diminishes and the patient can get on with the serious business of appreciating life as it is lived in the moment.

How Vitamin K3 Improves Cancer Therapy

A Tijuana, Mexico-based cancer treatment facility, Oasis of Hope has treated more than 100,000 patients from around the world. Directed by Dr. Francisco Contreras, Oasis of Hope provides state-of-the-art cancer treatments in combination with research-based cancer-fighting nutrient therapies.

Vitamin K3, also known as menadione, is administered to patients with cancer at Oasis of Hope who are receiving vitamin C infusions as a form of cancer therapy. Provided via an injection, vitamin K is given in advance of the infusions to help boost vitamin C’s effectiveness at increasing the level of hydrogen peroxide in cancer cells. Vitamin K facilitates the transfer of electrons to oxygen molecules from vitamin C and, as a result, promotes the production of cancer-killing hydrogen peroxide.

Animal and human studies have proven the efficacy of injectable vitamin K in enhancing vitamin C therapy in cancer patients, with much of this research conducted at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Research has demonstrated that the use of a combination of vitamin C and vitamin K for cancer treatment offers multiple advantages. For example, the treatment is well-tolerated and can be used in conjunction with chemotherapy drugs to enhance their ability to destroy cancer cells.

Positive Experience at Oasis of Hope

Oasis of Hope is a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, that combines conventional allopathic approaches with complementary alternative therapies that enhance effectiveness in fighting cancer. Working with cancer patients from around the world, Oasis of Hope is known for its leading-edge perspective on the treatment of cases thought incurable.

As reported in the Irish newspaper Longford Leader in April 2021, an Irish woman benefited from intensive four-week cancer treatment at Oasis of Hope in Mexico. The mother of two in her early 30s has been battling a persisting case of cervical cancer. After fighting off the disease twice, the woman’s cancer returned. This time, she was told by local physicians that conventional treatment would no longer work.

Rather than give up, the woman raised money through a Shroid Christmas Tractor Run fundraiser and a GoFundMe campaign to receive Treatment at Oasis of Hope. Her treatment has had a positive effect, with ultrasounds showing that some lymph nodes and tumors have been reduced, even in the short time of her treatment.

Emotional Care in Fighting Cancer

Oasis of Hope is a Tijuana-based hospital that combines conventional methods with alternative cancer treatments spanning modalities such as pancreatic enzymes, ozone therapy, and megadoses of IV vitamin C. Speaking with the nonprofit CANCERactive, director Dr. Francisco Contreras described a thorough protocol employed with all Oasis of Hope patients, who come from around the world and are often battling stage four cancers.

At the outset, medical history and lab results are carefully reviewed, with a focus on seeing if anything was missed by past physicians. At this point, lab work is undertaken once again, for comparison. One unique aspect of stays at the hospital is that they are often positioned as part of a broader two-year program, with patients receiving education throughout their stay that enables them to continue the program on their own, and with continuing consultative support, upon returning home.

Practical emphases at Oasis include the use of B-17, “nature’s chemotherapy,” and ozonation programs that utilize equipment similar to a dialysis machine in suffusing the blood system with ozone. Beyond these practical physical regimens, Dr. Contreras spends equal time attending to aspects of well-being that are emotional in nature. As he puts it, laughter “stimulates the immune system better than any drug.”

Emphasizing social activities such as sing-alongs and supportive conversation, Dr. Contreras takes impetus from US medical studies that have found that argumentative people often survive longer. Boiled down into a life-affirming credo, he clearly states this as “people who are more determined, beat it.” With patient stays typically lasting three weeks, foundational principles exercised throughout are those of “Do no harm” and “Treat the patient as yourself.” 

Science Validates “Whole Person” Approach to Cancer Treatment

At Oasis of Hope Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, patients from all over the world have taken advantage of an integrative, complementary system of alternative medicine that has achieved significantly high survival rates for a range of common Stage 4 cancers. Oasis of Hope’s clinically supported approach is anchored first in doing no harm by avoiding the over-use of aggressive conventional therapies. It is additionally centered on treating the whole person - body, mind, and spirit.

The hospital’s philosophy puts individual patients, their families, and their quality of physical and spiritual life first when preparing any treatment plan. This outlook has won broad support over recent years, even within the conventional medical community. Physicians have begun to recognize that it is impossible to treat a tumor in isolation: Since disease affects the whole person, treatment must involve the whole person as well.

To give one example: In December 2016, the journal Integrative Cancer Therapies published an article noting the success of whole-person approaches, advocating for new systems that support ways of integrating each patient’s emotional, psychological, social, and existential needs in treatment. The article’s authors additionally noted that plans designed to support healthy lifestyle changes, among other factors, contributed to the overall success of cancer treatment in the groups studied.

Additionally, the American Cancer Society lists on its website a number of types of practitioners able to treat patients with cancer. The list includes professions, such as osteopathy, that focus on the “whole person” approach to care.