Thank you. I am very encouraged by your response. Thank you.
PS: I spoke to Dr Adam Bataineh hoping he would prescribe rapamycin for me. However he said rapamycin is associated with BCC so as I already have one, he wouldn’t recommend me taking rapamycin. I can only find studies online saying the opposite. Perhaps I’m not looking in the right places. Does anyone seen studies about a connection between BCC and rapamycin?
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Research suggests that rapamycin may slow the progression of existing cancers, including BCC. It might be more effective in this regard than other drugs like Metformin.
- Additionally, Rapamycin could potentially reduce the risk of developing BCC by enhancing T cell immunity and improving the body’s ability to detect and eliminate cancer cells before they become clinically apparent³.
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Mechanisms:
- Selective Effect: At low doses, rapamycin exhibits a selective effect on cancer cell growth and survival. It reduces colony formation and inhibits cell migration while promoting apoptosis (cell death) by activating caspase-9 and -3².
- Synergy: In basal-like breast cancer cells, rapamycin synergizes with cisplatin, another chemotherapy drug. This synergy is partly mediated through the induction of p73, a protein involved in cell cycle regulation⁴.
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Clinical Implications:
- While rapamycin shows promise, it’s essential to consult with healthcare providers before considering it as part of cancer treatment.
- NCCN Guidelines for Patients provide step-by-step guidance based on treatment guidelines used globally. These guidelines can help you discuss treatment options with your doctors¹.
Remember, scientific advancements continue to shape our understanding of cancer treatments, and rapamycin remains an intriguing area of research. Always seek professional advice tailored to your specific situation. 
Source: Conversation with Bing, 2/1/2024
(1) Metformin didn’t protect me - basal cell carcinoma skin cancer. Metformin didn't protect me - basal cell carcinoma skin cancer.
(2) Frontiers | Rapamycin inhibits oral cancer cell growth by promoting … https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.873447/full.
(3) Rapamycin synergizes cisplatin sensitivity in basal-like breast cancer … Rapamycin synergizes cisplatin sensitivity in basal-like breast cancer cells through up-regulation of p73 | Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
(4) NCCN Guidelines for Patients Basal Cell Skin Cancer. https://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/content/PDF/basal-cell-patient-guideline.pdf.
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Hi Lara,
Thanks for all that. That’s all very interesting (thanks also for the information link). I was surprised that Dr Bataineh (an oncologist), associated BCC with rapamycin, suggesting I shouldn’t have rapamycin for that reason, even though he prescribes it. I can’t find anything showing an association anywhere.
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I did a rather deep dive into your question because I too have had basal cell carcinomas, which I believe is directly caused by my excessive exposure to the sun when I was young.
I have had two removed with no consequences.
The only relationship between basal cell carcinomas that I can find would be that rapamycin inhibits mTORC1 which is a way of saying if your immune system is suppressed the cancer cells will grow more easily
There is no evidence that I could find that rapamycin increases the chances of getting a BCC, but if you have one or any other form of cancer I would stop rapamycin immediately until your cancer is completely gone. There is zero evidence that I could find that rapamycin increases your risk of developing any cancer.
There is no direct evidence evaluating the effect of rapamycin specifically in basal cell carcinoma. The studies provide relevant background on mTOR signaling in basal cell carcinoma and the potential for rapamycin to sensitize other basal-like cancers
“In conclusion, combination therapy with mTOR inhibitors and cisplatin may be a useful therapeutic strategy in the treatment of basal-like breast cancers.”
The bottom line is we don’t know and there isn’t enough data to reach a conclusion, because of conflicting small studies. Personally, I would stop rapamycin while being treated. If I am reading it correctly the two studies I cite indicate that rapamycin might be useful in the treatment of BCCs.
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I would follow advice of your oncologist and stop rapamycin for now.
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Thank you for that. It’s very interesting. I took rapamycin for 7 weeks 6 months ago, not knowing the spot on my face was a BCC. I actually stopped it after 7 weeks for another reason. So I haven’t been on it since. I’ll give those articles a good read. I hope it hasn’t been bad for my BCC. Thanks.
I don’t think Rapa has been negative for your BCC. However, I an inclined towards Thomas Seyfried’s view on cancer and precancerous cells.
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Cancer as metabolic disease?
Yes, that is his view.
If you mean cancer as a metabolic condition, are you suggesting that affects whether to take rapa or not with a BCC?
It affects how to deal with cancer. However, I would not myself wish to give you any advice on this beyond indicating things you could investigate with your medical advisor.
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OK thanks. I need to find a medical advisor who can oversee everything I do. Not easy to find in the UK.
I am also in the UK. There is a complex mixture of ethical and legal questions about what advice people can give when they are not formally qualified to do this or covered by professional indemnity insurance.
Metformin research appears strongest related to colorectal cancer. I’ve also seen stuff on lung, prostate, colon. I was just dx’d w/ prostate cancer and in the same week with a SCC on my shoulder. One on the shoulder is pretty much ho-hum, on the face, especially if on the nose, not so ho-hum but almost never deadly.
I’ve never read metformin having effect on skin cancer (BCC, SCC), nor melanoma. I think thought that rapamycin does decrease skin cancer risk. I’m curious did they just lop it off or do Moh’s microsurgery, should you care to say.
Also it seems important to me that just because there is strong evidence that Metformin is preventive, I think that most research is aimed at Type II diabetics using metformin. Not necessarily any person using metformin.
“Another meta-analysis of seventeen observational studies investigated the risk of all cancers and site-specific cancers in people with T2DM (43). Soranna et al. compared metformin with SU users. The meta-analysis showed that therapy with metformin use was associated with decreased risk for all cancer. Furthermore, except for colorectal cancer, metformin was not associated with any significant effect on the incidence of other cancers, for example, prostate and breast cancers.”
“For example, there is evidence for metformin preventing the growth of cancer cells in lung, prostate, colon, and genograph. Since 2005, metformin has been reported to reduce the risk of cancer by up to 23% worldwide.Apr 17, 2019”
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An excellent read from 2011. Unfortunately, it is in the end discouraging.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher. He is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a staff cancer physician at the CU/NYU Presbytarian Hospital. A former Rhodes scholar, he graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford (where he received a PhD studying cancer-causing viruses) and from Harvard Medical School.
BTW: “Numerous studies have demonstrated that melatonin can inhibit the growth and proliferation of various cancer cell types, including breast, prostate, gastric, and colorectal cancers.”
I have found nothing that is a skin cancer preventative other than staying out of the sun.
Most skin cancers are caused by sun exposure.
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Since most BCC’s and SCC’s originate from actinic keratoses(AKs)(correct me if I’m wrong) there’s quite a lot that can be done. Levulan has an affinity for the mutated cells in AK, paint some on and those cells suck it up. Levulan is very photosensitive, zap it with IPL (Intense Pulse Light) and whammo, bad cells toasted, good cells on vacation. I’m not sure if it’s especially useful on the face but generally that’s where it goes. One application (if I come across a photo, I’ll post it someday) the doc had no clue as to what he was really doing. I drove to work (3 hours, in July) now I wore a hoodie and sunglasses but it made no difference–my face got toasted royally. It took weeks to return to normal.
Ah, but the outcome. It took 20 years off my face and every single noticable AK’s were gone.
Additionally, for a person that can feel or see an AK (they feel like fine sandpaper) treatment with (I think) 5-f FLUOROURACIL, 5-FU (flure oh YOOR a sil) is a chemotherapy agent . It is used on the skin to treat skin cancer and certain types of skin conditions that could become cancer. This medicine may be used for other purposes; ask your health care provider or pharmacist if you have questions.
Put it on once or twice a day, as directed, for a week or two, as directed, it’ll irritate the skin but it’ll zap AK’s. I’m waiting till winter (as it ^ photosensitivity) and will use it on my nose because there is an AK that now is present.
"According to the American Cancer Society , about 5.4 million BCCs and SCCs are diagnosed in the United States each year. The large majority of these are BCC. Skin cancer can sometimes develop from precancerous lesions called actinic keratoses. However, these lesions are usually associated with SCC and not BCC."
I’ve had 5 SCC and 2 BSS. I’m going to ask my derm if I can sequentially use 5-f on the tops of my forearms and shoulders, maybe 4x4" at a time since that’s where I tend to get them. Since I did the Levulan back around 2008, none has appeared on the face, so if you were, like me, a potato (Irish) that was once proud of his tan (well, now we know) consider doing some prophylactic stuff.
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Parsing words I guess. Not like there is a vaccine or drug.
I have been battling AKs for many decades. The frequency slowed down when I avoided sun exposure and really slowed down after I started taking rapamycin.
I use tretinoin which was once used to prevent AKs with limited success.
I am not aware that any of my AKs turned into cancer. I have had 3 BCCs and one
SCC. I have been treated with 2 Mohs surgeries, imiquimod, fluorouracil (5FU), and photodynamic aka “Blue Light”
My BCCs and SCC didn’t give me any advanced warnings that I noticed.
This is a picture taken 5 yrs ago of my scalp following “Blue Light” therapy.
Many of the AK’s weren’t apparent to me before the treatment.
This is used instead of fluorouracil for larger areas.
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WOW! I also had blue light on my face for a AK spot… my derm said her big tough male patients are not able to do the full course of chemo cream, so i had no chance!
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Really interesting thanks.
I just had a wedge excision of my left ear to remove a BCC. So I now have one big ear and one smaller ear! (I must say though that bigger ears make one look older. Some old men have ears like cabbage leaves!)
I have had numerous actinic keratoses removed (by freezing or surgery) but the BBC was one that escaped detection.