Evidence Explorer / Collection

A stronger randomized result in a defined setting

Structured exercise after colon cancer

CHALLENGE studied a structured exercise program after surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy for selected colon cancers. Its disease-free survival result should stay attached to that setting and program.

Clinical signals that still need confirmation

• IV vitamin C in pancreatic cancer
• L-glutamine in pancreatic cancer
• Fasting around treatment

A small randomized trial, an uncontrolled phase I study and an early fasting report carry different levels of uncertainty. Historical comparisons cannot isolate the added effect of an intervention.

Complex or product-specific bodies of evidence

• Mistletoe extracts
• Medicinal mushroom extracts

Read the exact product, comparator, geography, study quality and endpoint before applying a broad label such as “natural cancer treatment.”

A claim with serious safety concerns

Laetrile / amygdalin (“B17”)

What would make the answer more convincing?

• Independent replication with an appropriate concurrent comparator.
• Prespecified patient-centered or cancer-control endpoints and adequate follow-up.
• Absolute benefits, harms and confidence intervals—not only selected response stories.
• Transparent product specifications, funding, missing data and all planned outcomes.

Research questions worth tracking

• Does the IV ascorbate pancreatic-cancer signal replicate in larger independent trials?
• What does glutamine add to the same chemotherapy in a randomized comparison?
• Can fasting-related signals be reproduced without worsening nutrition or excluding those most at risk?
• Which standardized natural-product preparations have results that transfer across modern treatment settings?

These are open questions, not scheduled monitoring or a list of currently recruiting trials. Confirm trial availability with the treating team and the linked original registry.

A mechanism, biomarker change, tumor response or improvement in quality of life is not automatically proof of cure. The threshold for replacing effective treatment is far higher than the threshold for discussing a low-burden symptom intervention.

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New cancer-control records — October 14

High-dose vitamin D: phase III did not confirm the earlier signal

High-dose vitamin D with chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer. In 455 people with untreated metastatic colorectal cancer, high-dose vitamin D added to chemotherapy plus bevacizumab did not significantly improve progression-free survival (11.8 versus 10.3 months; one-sided P=.25), response rate or overall survival. The record retains the earlier 139-person phase II SUNSHINE signal to show why confirmatory testing mattered.

Dietary change without demonstrated progression benefit

High-vegetable diet during prostate-cancer active surveillance. The phase III MEAL trial changed vegetable intake but did not reduce two-year clinical progression (adjusted HR 0.97; 95% CI 0.76–1.25). This does not negate the general-health value of vegetables.

Pomegranate: uncontrolled promise not confirmed

Pomegranate products for prostate-cancer progression. An early single-arm PSA-doubling-time observation was not confirmed in later placebo-controlled studies. PSA kinetics are not equivalent to metastasis-free or overall survival.

Soy foods: reassuring association, not causal proof

Soy foods after breast cancer. Prospective cohorts do not suggest worse breast-cancer outcomes with soy-food intake and report favorable associations, but observational data cannot prove recurrence prevention. Whole soy foods and concentrated isoflavone capsules remain distinct questions.

Exercise during neoadjuvant breast chemotherapy: tumor endpoint null

Neo-train directly tested tumor response rather than inferring it from fitness. In 102 participants, supervised high-intensity interval and resistance exercise did not improve MRI tumor-size change, radiologic complete response or pathologic complete response. Fitness and treatment-delivery signals may still matter as supportive-care outcomes, but they do not establish cancer control.

Supportive-care boundary check — October 17, 2026

Today’s ten additions address anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, quality of life, distress and existential support. None tested tumor response, recurrence, progression or survival. Biomarker findings involving cortisol, inflammation or circadian measures were therefore not indexed as cancer-control evidence.

Boundary check · October 18, 2026

The ten records added today address fatigue, neuropathy, dry mouth, pain, hot flashes, nausea, breathlessness/function, mucositis or treatment-related hair loss. None tested tumor response, recurrence, progression-free survival or overall survival. They are therefore indexed as supportive care and are not counted as cancer-control evidence.