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

#1

Post by d--b » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:33 PM UTC

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/

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

#2

Post by zblevins » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:38 PM UTC

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.

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

#3

Post by mixmastamyk » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:41 PM UTC

zblevins wrote: post #2

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.

While we're thinking about it, Vitamin D3 and K2-mk-7 are known to be helpful in that regard.

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

#4

Post by SoftTalker » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:42 PM UTC

No, no folk remedies or bio-hacking or wearing magnets on your head will help, unfortunately.

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

#5

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

Find a clinical trial you can get them into.

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

#6

Post by abnercoimbre » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #4

No, no folk remedies or bio-hacking or wearing magnets on your head will help, unfortunately.

It's a powerful Ask HN though. This is deeply touching.

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

#7

Post by Gluber » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

Did your friend get genetic sequencing done on his tumor. There are some recent promising results for braf mutated gbm

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

#8

Post by delichon » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

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.

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

#9

Post by steviee » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

Hack your calendar and be there for him! All the best!

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

#10

Post by alecst » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

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/