Pam Campbell knows well how cancer and its treatments can take a toll on the body.
In the six years since she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Campbell underwent radiation, hormone therapy and many surgeries — a microdochectomy, lumpectomy, lymphadenectomy, bilateral salpingo oophorectomy and hysterectomy. The procedures removed the cancer from her body or served as preventive measures against other cancers. On top of that and unrelated to the cancer, she had an appendectomy.
There were so many surgeries ending in “-ectomy” that she wrote a poem:
The Ectomies
Came one right after another
Scalpel parting skin
Strip mining bodily fault
But along with stripping her body’s faults, the treatments caused problems: Her weight fluctuated; her joints and muscles hurt; she lacked energy; she couldn’t sleep.
That’s when Campbell’s care team recommended Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s innovative cancer supportive care pilot partnership with Ixcela. The internal fitness company utilizes metabolite data from blood sampling to help cancer patients improve gut health and nutrition. Other resources from Ixcela — including a registered dietitian available virtually, exercise plans and meditations — provide patients with guidance for making healthy choices that improve their quality of life during treatment and beyond.
Using the Ixcela test in the oncology setting was born out of a unique collaboration as Roper St. Francis Healthcare drives innovative care that transcends traditional specialty boundaries and gives local patients access to transformative tools before they’re available nationally. The collaboration was initiated by a Roper St. Francis Healthcare primary care physician, integrated by the oncology division and supported financially by the Roper St. Francis Foundation. Aligning with its mission of healing all people with compassion, faith and excellence, Roper St. Francis Healthcare offers such resources as part of its multi-disciplinary approach to cancer care.
Using her results and the dietitian’s advice, Campbell learned which foods could interfere with her recovery and other foods, such as plant and fish proteins, that could aid it. The James Island resident lost weight; her mood improved; she felt more energized; she got more sleep.
“Many of the choices you’re making during treatment are not pleasant,” she said. “But the support and the control you get of your own life through this program is immense. When so many things were out of control, this gave me something to focus on. It helped take the fear out of the experience and gave me more control.”
Campbell credited Dr. Megan Baker, the interim president and CEO of Roper St. Francis Healthcare and an accomplished breast surgeon, with saving her life by finding additional areas of concern during her initial surgery.
But Dr. Baker said patients like Campbell play a vital role in their own recovery. Ixcela’s testing can reveal helpful data that allow patients to use food as medication, Dr. Baker said. Women taking hormone-blocking agents, for example, have seen marked sleep improvement by consuming foods with tryptophan.
“I have found that Ixcela serves as a terrific way to not only empower our breast cancer patients in their own healthcare but also to ensure their success,” Dr. Baker said. “When we think about the fundamental determinants of how well any body functions, food choice is a powerful tool to accelerate wellness and mitigate side effects from treatments.”
Given the program’s success among 42 patients in the pilot effort at Roper St. Francis Healthcare, Ixcela plans to expand the offering to cancer patients throughout the nation next month and is currently accepting provider referrals and self-referrals. Preliminary data from the participants — most of whom are breast cancer patients — is promising:
- 7.02 fewer days of fatigue monthly
- 4.8 fewer days of brain fog monthly
- 3.1 fewer days of bloating monthly
- 86 percent of patients had improvement in overall feelings of well-being
- 68 percent of patients had better sleep quality
“Fighting cancer is like running a marathon,” said Erika Ebbel Angle, the CEO and co-founder of Ixcela: The Internal Fitness Company. “The Roper St. Francis Healthcare pilot study demonstrated that Ixcela’s program to optimize the health of a patient’s gut microbiome and internal fitness improves the body’s tolerance of chemotherapy medication and feelings of fatigue while increasing resiliency. We are grateful for the leadership of Roper St. Francis Healthcare in initiating and conducting the pilot, and we are excited to work with Roper St. Francis Healthcare to make the Ixcela program available more broadly.”
The more tools, the better
For participants, the program starts with a simple finger prick that can be done at home or at a healthcare facility. The sample is sent to the Massachusetts-based Ixcela, which runs a comprehensive test to measure amino acids, metabolites and other traditionally difficult-to-measure biomarkers that play a role in the gut microbiome — the microorganisms that make up the digestive tract. A dietitian reviews the results with the patient, identifying things they’re doing right, along with areas for improvement.
The 90-day program gives participants access to resources to track their nutrition, find healthy recipes, explore tips for mindfulness and identify exercises to bolster their recovery.
Three months after the first test, a follow-up blood sample can show the patient’s progress.
Deirdre Tanner credits her own nutritional strides and her strength today in part to Ixcela’s program.
She recalled driving by a Charleston restaurant and seeing people eating nice meals and savoring each bite. She was envious. At the time, she would struggle for an hour just to eat a banana — tiny bite by tiny bite; every chew was purposeful.
The West Ashley resident, 46, had undergone a right mastectomy and endured chemotherapy. She still takes hormone blockers.
“Nothing tasted right,” she said. “I didn’t have energy. I lost weight. My skin was terrible. I just got beat down. I felt like a shell.”
Her primary care physician, Dr. Travis Wilkes of Roper St. Francis Physician Partners, recommended Ixcela. Dr. Wilkes had referred other patients to the company in the past, which ignited Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s partnership with Ixcela and led to the pilot program.
For years, Dr. Wilkes has provided supportive care for patients whose cancer treatments were pushing their bodies to the limit. He spent time studying how the gut microbiome affects the body, and looked for tests on the market that help physicians and their patients reach that understanding.
Ixcela gave Dr. Wilkes the functional information about how the body and gut microbiome interact, allowing him to factor in real measurements rather than make educated guesses.
“Using the Ixcela test, I have seen patients thrive as we can now remove stumbling blocks in their journeys, decrease treatment side effects and ensure targeted nutritional needs are met,” he said. “Ultimately, my goal is always to help support patients as they go through the gauntlet of cancer treatment.”
For Tanner, the testing results and advice from an Ixcela dietician retrained how her brain thinks about food. She tried healthy sources of protein, such as beans and nuts. She started concocting electrolyte drinks that she brings nearly everywhere she goes. The changes in her diet helped her keep up with her 9-year-old daughter.
“I feel great,” she said. “I’m not dragging everywhere. The more tools you have, the better, so I am thankful for this program and super grateful for my medical team.”
Feeling ‘Good and Hopeful‘
The program can help even those already focused on their nutrition.
As a physical education teacher for 30 years, Merri Young figured she was in control of her health. After all, she practiced what she taught her students: Food is fuel; food is medicine.
Then one day at the beginning of the school year, Young felt overheated in the gym at West Ashley High School. She seemed dehydrated, developed flu-like symptoms and noticed severe itching on her feet and legs. She tried to recover from the symptoms, but over five days, nothing worked. At her husband’s suggestion, she went to a Roper St. Francis Express Care location. She eventually was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Young cut off her long hair and donated it. She went through surgery and chemotherapy, and she still receives immunotherapy. Her tastes changed, she felt nauseated, and some healthy foods didn’t appeal to her anymore.
“You try to take care of your body, but they’re pumping all these treatments into you, and you lose that sense of control,” Young, 59, said. “When I felt overwhelmed, it was nice having the nutritionist from Ixcela at your fingertips.”
She found alternatives to processed foods. Her husband helped cook new recipes they learned from the program.
During her own treatment, Young was surprised to see so many other people experiencing life-threatening cancer, and she hopes such resources can help more of them.
“Ixcela is a wonderful resource for people going through this craziness,” she said. “A lot of people don’t step away from this with vitality and hope. But I feel good and hopeful.”
‘We’re Survivors’
For many patients, a key takeaway from the Ixcela program is a long-lasting change in behavior. They have a clearer focus on healthy eating and exercise habits.
Like the others, Campbell said she hopes more patients will have access and take advantage of the effort.
“We’re survivors, but we need help to stay on the right food path,” she said. “This not only keeps you living; it helps improve the quality of your life.”
Campbell’s survival has given her more time to do activities she loves, like writing. She cared for her 101-year-old uncle in his dying days and penned his account of rescuing Holocaust survivors during World War II. But many of her stories and poems focus on her own fight for survival alongside other breast cancer patients.
She wrote about her surgeries and her radiation treatments, likening them to paddling on a river with fellow survivors.
One poem describes her experience with Dragon Boat Charleston, the nonprofit “floating support group” that promotes physical and mental wellness among cancer survivors and community members through dragon boating. She dubs herself a “rocket,” burying her paddle deep into the water to help propel the longboat forward with 12 “sister warriors, two abreast.” She wrote:
My radiation-inflamed pectorals rebel.
I groan.
My seatmate reassures: “We’ve all been where you are.
You’ll get through this.”
View the cancer services and primary care support offered by Roper St. Francis Healthcare, and schedule an appointment with a physician.