Pictured Above Robb and His Wife Ada Owen
Brad Power | June 26, 2024
“Blueprint to Beat Cancer” – Robb Owen (youtube.com)
“It was not what I expected. I just wanted to survive it. I never expected to be able to walk out of it, knowing exactly how I was able to beat this cancer.” – Robb Owen
“Once I started filling all this stuff out, it jumped off the page. It’s a synergistic mix of everything together. The two prescriptions they gave me had key components in this. It wasn’t just all-natural. It really was an integrative mix between natural and conventional. I firmly believe that if you follow this path, the treatment can be reduced to three weeks versus a seven-week treatment plan.” – Robb Owen
“Half of my patients are up here behind me. I had to go through that same thing coming up with something novel. This is why it didn’t stress me out in what I did. I’ve had battles before with all kinds of doctors before with my own health where I’ve often been correct. So, I’ve had enough training in my background to put my mind at ease to make decisions that are not considered typical.” – Robb Owen
Meeting Summary
“Engaged patents get better outcomes” is one of our core beliefs at The Cancer Lab Youtube’ – Search (bing.com). But what does a very engaged patient look like? We encourage advanced cancer patients and caregivers to get very involved in educating themselves about their disease so that they can be copilots with their medical team in making complex testing and treatment decisions. Some patients and caregivers take it a step farther by leading their care decisions, sometimes disagreeing with the advice of their medical team, and carving their own path. If they are successful in controlling their disease, they are seen as “citizen scientist” role models by many.
Cancer Patient Story – Robb Owen (youtube.com)
Local man shares his cancer journey | Journal Review
Consider the story of Robb Owen.
He’s a mechanical engineer by education and profession. He is an artist, writer, and cancer patient “citizen scientist” activist by passion. He had never dabbled in the medical sciences until he got a diagnosis of stage 4a (metastatic) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma last October. He had heard of squamous cell carcinoma but knew very little about the disease. Two of his cousins had experienced head and neck cancers with one having a near identical incidence like his. He used his cousins as reference points in advance of his treatment, then dove in and learned everything he could about squamous cell carcinoma in a few months from extensive reading of the medical literature available.
He realized during his treatment that he was progressing remarkably better than his reference points. He began to ask direct questions of his oncologist. The multiple oncologists and medical team’s typical responses were, “Sometimes we see this, and sometimes we don’t, and we don’t know why.” He didn’t like these answers, so he decided to solve this mystery on his own. He began studying the details of the blood markers the doctors used to track his progress, then studied his head and neck squamous cell carcinoma biochemistry.
He had implemented a strict regimen plan including vitamins, minerals, hyper-hydration, drugs, stress mitigation, and exercise based upon a typical regimen he had utilized for several years. Once he added the modified chemoradiotherapy program into his regimen, the tumor resolved in two weeks, and he ended chemoradiotherapy after three weeks, showing no evidence of disease (vs. the seven-week standard protocol).
During his chemoradiotherapy treatment, he began cross-referencing how each component from his personal treatment plan interacted with components of the immune system and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. He realized that the synergistic benefits of this plan were the reason for his remarkable recovery.
He had battles with his oncologist over his proposed treatment regimen.
His radiation oncologist had read a preliminary case study Robb had written about his plan and couldn’t dispute any of the findings, but did tell him, “You haven’t proven anything yet.” He then told him, ”You are risking your life by ending treatment now.” Robb responded, “I am risking my life more by remaining in the treatment because you are now treating a cancer-free healthy patient,” and stood his ground, ending the prescribed protocol. His primary care doctor told him, “You are putting out radical ideas,” but did remark that, “This treatment plan may be a cure for this disease or at worst, a better way to treat it.”
A follow-up visit after the post treatment PET scan with his osteopathic doctor, Robb asked, “How often have you seen people respond to treatment like I had?” His doctor responded that he saw it often, but stated, “The only difference between those patients and you is that you stopped treatment so early.
All patients previously either stopped portions of the treatment due to its debilitating effects on their body or they were terminal and wanted to live out the rest of their lives as normally as possible. I’ve never seen a patient stop their treatment on their own accord with the success that you’ve had.” His team is the group that submitted Robb’s case study to Mayo Clinic for review.
During his chemoradiotherapy, he didn’t experience the typical side effects of standard chemoradiotherapy — he did not throw up or lose any functional ability, and he was able to eat normally without taste issues with a modified Mediterranean diet and minimal side effects from the radiation (EBRT).
Robb wrote a 109-page technical case study about his experience that he has shared with Mayo Clinic, Ascension St. Vincent’s Oncology and ENT tumor clinic, and oncologists and doctors around the globe. He has written a book about his problem-solving method that is currently in an editing phase. He is writing a patent for an oral and IV version of the treatment solution to be used prior to and concurrently with standard chemoradiotherapy protocols.
What does Robb believe caused his exceptional response?
- A combination of traditional medicine (chemotherapy, radiation, and steroids) with complementary therapies (nutrition, exercise, hydration, stress reduction, and supplements)
- An unusual ability to heal faster than typical patients from a strong immune system, specifically a more robust fibroblast system (fibroblasts are cells in the tumor microenvironment that secrete factors which influence cancer progression), due to a combination of genetics and his lifestyle and supplements
- The ability to handle anxiety and uncertainty in his chosen treatment based on previous experiences in fighting resistance to innovation
- A model derived from research literature of how each treatment component (the standard therapies like radiation and chemotherapy, plus various supplements and superfoods, such as zinc) reacted with squamous cell carcinoma and with the immune system, then self-experimented with his cancer treatment; he used lymphocytes and the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio to measure the strength of his immune system
- His intuition and listening to his body’s cravings for specific foods during his treatment, which he believes helped his immune system fight his cancer
What can we learn from Robb’s story?
- Advocate for yourself: Patients and caregivers should be willing to challenge their doctors.
- Consider holistic approaches: incorporate nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and supplements along with the standard treatments (e.g., chemotherapy and radiation)
- Find a peer community: Connect with others who have gone through similar experiences to get a sense of community and support.
- Run experiments: try things and measure it against an intermediate endpoint, e.g., the strength of your immune system
- Strive to find your minimum viable dose vs. the maximum tolerated dose: if you have a measure of your disease status (e.g., through a blood test), tune your treatment to get the effect you want, and maybe you will need less treatment than the standard dose (usually the maximum tolerated dose), thereby avoiding toxic side effects
What can you do to learn more about integrative practices?
- Study Robb’s spreadsheet with his treatments and their methods of action
- See our conversations with others who have talked about integrative oncology:
- Mark Taylor, Bapcha Murthy, Nasha Winters, and Donald Abrams.
- Read the Society for Integrative Oncology guidelines here
What can you do to learn more about being a citizen scientist with your care?
- Read the research on citizen scientists by Eric von Hippel of MIT, such as “When Patients Become Innovators”
- See our conversations with others who have talked about their experience as empowered citizen scientists: “A Cancer Hacker Solves His Own Needs and Helps Others Access the Best, New, Personalized Tests and Treatments” (Mark Taylor), “How I Am Running Experiments on Myself to Control My Prostate Cancer – Using Bipolar Androgen Therapy” (Russ Hollyer), and “A Patient Uses Novel Testing Services to Guide His Treatment” (Brad Power).
The information and opinions expressed on this website or platform, or during discussions and presentations (both verbal and written) are not intended as health care recommendations or medical advice by Cancer Patient Lab, its principals, presenters, participants, or representatives for any medical treatment, product, or course of action. You should always consult a doctor about your specific situation before pursuing any health care program, treatment, product or other course of action that might affect your health.
For a transcript of the conversation, please see here.
For the video recordings and the matrix of treatments and effects, please see here.
If you would personally like to checkout Robb Owens Facebook Group
Blueprint to Beat Cancer | Facebook
BONUS: Man 27 Beats Glioblastoma Brain Cancer Twice (survivornet.com)