Collaborative Research Project with the Samueli Institute:

InspireHealth has been identified by the Samueli Institute, a leading US research organization in the field of health and healing, as a leading example, world-wide, of an optimal healing environment and patient-centered medicine. The Samueli Institute has received a $2.2 million grant from the Lotte and John Hecht Foundation to study InspireHealth’s programs as a model for integrative cancer care and to assess the effect of InspireHealth’s programs on patient empowerment, engagement, sustained healthful lifestyle change and survival.

Research Project: High-dose Vitamin D Supplementation in Colorectal Cancer Patient

The purpose of this clinical trial is to study the safety and the therapeutic effect of high-dose vitamin D supplementation in stage 4 (metastatic) colorectal cancer patients. A large body of scientific evidence suggests that high levels of vitamin D decreases the risk of developing cancer, especially colorectal cancer. Although the role of vitamin D in preventing colorectal cancer is well established, very little is known about what role vitamin D has in the treatment of this disease. This study will assess tolerance, safety and efficacy in colorectal cancer survival of serum vitamin D levels in the range of 200-250 nmol/L upon vitamin D supplementation by at least 10,000 IU/day.

Retrospective Studies:

To assess the value of InspireHealth’s integrative approach to engaging cancer patients in their health, our research team has analyzed survival of patients who attended InspireHealth and compared their survival to the standard survival curves for BC cancer patients for specific types and stages of cancer. Retrospective studies of InspireHealth patients with stage 4 colon cancer (121 patients); stage 3B and 4 lung cancer (122 patients); and stage 4 breast cancer (119 patients) found significantly longer survival associated with participation in InspireHealth’s programs in comparison to standard BC survival statistics. For example, 53% of InspireHealth inoperable lung cancer patients (i.e., stage 3B and 4) were alive one year after diagnosis, compared to 20% of BC patients. At three years after diagnosis, 16% of InspireHealth patients with inoperable lung cancer were still alive, compared to 4% in the BC standard survival curves. The survival bar graphs for the described survival analysis are as follows:

The InspireHealth retrospective studies are not randomized control trials and therefore, the results must be interpreted as an association rather than definitive cause/effect. In other words, there may be alternative factors, other than participation in InspireHealth’s programs that may account for at least a portion of the observed association. For example, as InspireHealth patients are ‘self selected’, they may be more highly motivated or distinct in some other way compared to other BC cancer patients. However, the growing body of evidence in the research literature documenting the association between healthful lifestyle and improved survival in cancer patients suggests that the results of these retrospective studies are promising.