Introduction (Short Video) follows ...
You may need to click on > (Play) twice!
Endoxifen (click Jen's photo to view) for the 1st time in a long while, we have hope!
Important Update: Endoxifen is an active metabolite of Tamoxifene, and is a very potent SERM with potent anti-cancer effects, but another active metabolite of Tamoxifene under scrutiny, is Afimoxifene, currently being tested as a GEL (TamoGel) for topical application on breasts. It seems to have complimentary properties, similar to Endoxifen. As more information emerges I'll update this BLOG page, but for now much more is known about Endoxifen.
Jen's Breast Cancer Backstory ...
Besides being in the 93rd percentile (top 7%) for Breast cancer risk (DNA/Genetics) Jen and her younger sister both had an additional 300-400% increased risk of getting Breast Cancer by their mid 60's, thanks to their mother using Diethylstilbestrol (DES) during her pregnancies in the late 1950's. By 1971 it had been established that the daughters of DES mothers (as they're referred to) have to be extremely vigilant for a cancer and other health problems as they age. Jen & her younger sister were assured of getting breast cancer! In fact neither their mother or any other female relatives in their extensive family tree (going back 200 years) ever did! Only these 2 sisters, both DES daughters. At Age 61 1/2 (in late 2018) Jen noticed a problem in her right breast. We had an ultrasound then an MRI done, finding that she had a 2.2cm Tumor in her right breast. It was the rarest kind of Breast Cancer, Intra-cystic papillary carcinoma (IPC) HR+ strong E+, Removed by lumpectomy, completely encapsulated with no evidence of the tumor's border being breached, so no Chemo or Radiation required. Jen should have started Tamoxifen, but instinctively declined, even though we did not yet know that Tamoxifen, for Jen, would be totally ineffective. So 4 years later, Jen suspected a problem in her Left Breast. Within days a 1.1cm tumor was identified in her left breast, this time the most common kind, also HR+, strong E+ and removed by lumpectomy, as were the sentinel nodes, with no evidence of spread to the lymph nodes. She was given Tamoxifen, though by now my research had uncovered a potential problem with the "Gold Standard" for treating E+ breast cancers, 20mg daily of Tamoxifen. For 15% of women, even though they have brutal side-effects, Tamoxifen doesn't work at all! For another 20% of women, it kind of works, but not very well. For about half of women it does work acceptably well, and saves a lot of lives, though as I've indicated, most women suffer a lot of side-effects, so many quit taking it, leaving them still at risk! We had to know! Jen was patient #1 in Panama to have the expensive ($500) complex test to see if Tamoxifen was working for her. Her blood was drawn, packed on dry-ice and rushed to a lab in the USA that could test it for Z-Endoxifen levels, the useful/active metabolite of Tamoxifen. Jen's serum levels of Z-Endoxifen were barely detectable, only 1 ng/ml, whereas 15 ng/ml was the minimum effective level for preventing a reoccurrence. Tamoxifen was not working for her at all, even though she was having the horrific side-effects from Tamoxifen! She may as well have been popping M&M's! Her liver just wasn't able to Metabolize Tamoxifen into it's active form, Z-Endoxifen. Anticipating this possible outcome, I'd sourced Z-Endoxifen (the metabolite) in a 8mg enteric coated tablet form. It's tough to get as it's not yet approved by the FDA or other national regulatory authorities, even though it really should be, as it's simply the active form of Tamoxifen which women have been exposed to (and has worked miracles for 50% of them) for over 50 years already! To verify that we'd been given the actual correct product (one never really knows?) right after Jen's Tamoxifen metabolite blood test, I got her to take 1x 8mg tablet every 2nd day, as Z-Endoxifen has a 2+ day half-life. Then 3 months later we paid (another $500) for that difficult to find, expensive test again, 2 days after her last dose (at the expected low-point) and now her Z-Endoxifen levels were at almost 90 ng/ml, 6x the minimum effective dose, and 90x what she got from taking 20mg daily of Tamoxifen, and without the bad side-effects of Tamoxifen! Unlike Tamoxifen, Z-Endoxifen is protective of Uterine tissue & Bones. 2 years later: Jen's about to turn 67 and "so far, so good!" No more breast cancer problems, and all indications are that Z-Endoxifen is keeping latent/hidden Breast cancer cells that may have survived, from thriving, multiplying and spreading. Importantly, no (minimal) side effects - BONUS!! Meanwhile Jen's younger sister in Canada (4y younger) has already succumbed to her Breast cancer 1 year ago, in 2023, at age 61, even though they'd detected it early (2013) before it spread. She had a mastectomy, followed by Chemo & Radiation, the century old "Cut Poison, Burn" procedure that's not produced impressive/lasting results without adjuvant therapy anyway. By 2016 her cancer had returned and metastasized. In Canada they only have Tamoxifen (a 50y old drug) and since the sisters share the same genetics, it's safe to assume both could not metabolize Tamoxifen into the active, effective form, Z-Endoxifen. Canada will not allow their breast cancer patients to be given this newer much more potent form of Tamoxifen, or tests too see if Tamoxifen would work for her, even though her life could have been saved! Instead she got all the side-effects, the cancer came back, spread to her spine and brain and eventually took her life. Us having left Canada in 2006 to Panama, where one can get any tests, surgery and treatments you (or they) can source here, saved Jen's life! Yes, health-care is free in Canada, but it's way too constrained by bureaucracy, rationed and outdated anyway! At the time of Jen's 1st breast cancer diagnosis in 2018 the Commonwealth Fund Report ranked Canada's health care system 9th out of 11 high-income countries. At the time of Jen's 2nd breast cancer's diagnosis in 2022, Canada ranked 25th in the World Index of Healthcare Innovation. That's all totally uninspiring for a 1st-world country that prides itself on it's universally accessible healthcare for all it's citizens. By contrast, here in tiny Panama, over 5 years, Jen had (on demand) 2 MRI's, 3 Ultrasounds, Biopsies, 2 separate lumpectomies (Right breast at 61+, Left breast at 65) All of this and other related care came to $17,000 as we don't have insurance, but it's saved Jen's life! All for the price of a modest 2nd hand car. By Contrast in the USA all of that would have cost us more than $200,000 which we didn't have, so even though health care is very good in the USA for those that can afford it, we could not, so her outcome in the USA would have been the same as for her sister's outcome in Canada, an untimely death in her early 60's. If you're facing the same dilemmas we've faced, with this BLOG we're going to show you some very effective practical alternatives that are an easy 1/2 day's flight away from the USA and Canada and an overnight flight from Europe, though healthcare there is generally affordable and good anyway. Jen's closing in on 70 and doing well! Her 1st breast cancer, a very slow growing kind, based on size and age at discovery, was estimated to have started growing in her late 40's, when we were still in Canada. It's not easily detected via mammograms, which is all they routinely allow in Canada, but an MRI does detect it! In Canada that would not even have been an option, here it is ($500) Intra-cystic papillary carcinoma (IPC) is rare (< 1% of Breast cancers) easily detected with an MRI. Lumpectomy without axillary lymph node dissection is the standard treatment for patients with non-invasive IPC. It's generally found at around age 62 (bang on for Jen) and mostly in post-menopausal women. It has a very slow growth rate and an excellent prognosis with 10-year survival rates approaching 100%, so we were lulled into a false sense of security, thinking she'd escaped the need for Chemo and Radiation, plus a full mastectomy with reconstruction of the Right breast! For all this, and more, we humbly thanked God who brought us to Panama knowing what was already growing in Jen's right breast. 11 years later when it was discovered via Ultrasound and MRI in Panama, it was already a big tumor! Thankfully it's a very slow growing form of Breast cancer. But her 2nd Tumor was not and left unchecked, would have taken her life, as it so often does for many women if not found early. Life-saving TIP: My Dad, an old-style Dr. had taught Jen to stand in front of a mirror, lift her arms high above her head, open palms of both hands touching, then look for any indentations (tiny/large dimples) on her breasts, as under those dimples most often tumors lurk! Jen found a small dimple on the outer side of her left breast. Under it was a tumor, still small, 1.1 cm. Within 1 week, it was located, biopsied + removed, expertly! By Contrast, in Canada that process often takes 6 months. We're so often reminded how fortunate all Canadians are to have "Free Universal health-care" ... Yeah, right. Nothing's free! It's sub-standard, rationed, outdated, often almost inaccessible health care, for all intent and purpose. As they say "Pride comes before a fall!" and in Canada's case, pride in their healthcare system is now definitely misplaced, ruined by government bureaucracy and budget cut-backs. Old people go blind waiting for cataract surgeries. Here in Panama my son's father-in-law got cataract surgery on demand, only 1 eye, the other eye will be done next year. Not perfect, definitely better! Canadians (most unaware of a serious decline in their health-care system) have a false sense of security. They deserve better!
Breast Cancer What if one's predestined to get it? It can happen