Lowered lymphocyte levels mean lowered survival times in cancer; herbs such as Astragalus, Echinacea, Glycyrrhiza (licorice), Ligustrum lucidium, Cat’s Claw and Turmeric can all help to rectify this; orthodox medicine has nothing that works.
What are Lymphocytes?
Lymphocytes are the cornerstone of your immune attack on cancer. They are an important part of your white immune cells. There can be multiple types. For example:
Cytotoxic T-cells (CD8 cells) and Natural Killer (NK) lymphoid cells play a direct role in attacking and killing rogue cells and cancer cells in the body. This is principally through the Innate immune system.
Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) live up to their name. In hard-to-treat cancers such as TNBC, Neuroendocrine and Sarcoma, their levels are directly related to survival.
T-helper cells (CD4 cells) can release small molecules called cytokines which are essential to B-lymphocyte development and the formation of antibodies to the attacking pathogen, be it Covid or Cancer. This is the Adaptive immune system, the second part of the immune system. B-lymphocytes which have reacted to pathogens develop into antibodies and can have ‘cellular memory’ to protect you against future attacks.
Importantly, Lymphocytes, particularly CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells, and NK cells are crucial to the immune response against many cancers. And to your improved survival (1).
Professor, Dr Soon-Shiong formerly head of oncology at UCLA has said that just a 10% drop in Lymphoytes produces a 43% drop in survival times.
If Lymphocytes are depleted, do you recover?
The answer is 'that depends' on the cause of your depletion. If you just have an infection, lymphocyte levels typically return to normal when the infection is over.
In chronic conditions (bone marrow disorders, autoimmune diseases, persistent HIV infection), only by treating the cause might lymphocyte levels see improvement over time.
However, if you have antibiotics for the infection, your lymphocytes are far less likely to return to base levels.
After chemotherapy or radiotherapy there may be some recovery to some cells over time, but this depends on the drugs, and/or how long the radiotherapy lasts. For example, after certain breast cancer chemotherapy drugs, CD8 T cells and NK cells may recover to near normal levels after 9 months, but B-lymphocytes and CD4 T-cells may only partially recover, and are likely to remain significantly depleted along with your adaptive immune system (6).
With radiotherapy, lymphocyte counts drop dramatically, and although they may improve after 3-6 months, they rarely return to baseline, especially if the radiotherapy lasts more than a few days, where immune memory is also damaged (7).
With antibiotics, one study found that after completing an antibiotic regimen, patients experienced a delay in the recovery of absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and white blood cell (WBC) count, including lymphocytes, and with reductions noted up to 47 days post-treatment: this delay could potentially impact immune recovery during critical periods (8).
Conventional treatments and Lymphocytes
To reinforce this, we conducted an AI search across the whole Internet and the results were alarming - cancer patients usually have lowered lymphocytes leading to lowered survival following cancer treatment.
i) Chemotherapy can cause short-term depletion of all main sub-types of circulating lymphocytes, with prolonged depletion of B and CD4+ T-lymphocytes.
ii) After chemo, the B-lymphocytes show an increased proportion of naive cells having lost many ‘memory’ cells.
iii) Lower lymphocyte counts are associated with worse survival outcomes in patients receiving systemic chemotherapy.
iv) Lower lymphocyte counts after radiotherapy are associated with worse survival outcomes.
v) There is some research that some chemotherapy may enhance the ability of NK cells to attack cancers.
I have noticed that almost all conventionally treated cancer patients have lymphocyte counts of 30 per cent below 'normal'; and people who have had recent chemotherapy tend to hover around only 20 per cent of normal levels or less.
Importantly, boosting your lymphocytes increases your survival times and odds.
Confusion rules over measurement of Lymphocyte levels
Lowered lymphocytes means a lowered ability to attack your cancer and lowered survival times. But how low is low?
In American blood tests, your Lymphocytes are rarely measured in absolute terms, and only measured as a percent of total. 20-49% was the range in one of my patient’s blood tests two days ago. But Cleveland Clinic says it’s 20-40%. And according to 2020 research (4), lymphocytes should be 18-42% of total white cells. So which is correct?
If your total white cells have fallen by 40%, and the Lymphocytes have fallen by 50% of that, they have not halved, they have fallen from 40% of 100 to 20% of 60 - i.e from 40 down to 12. That's 70%.
Is this really such an imprecise science? If you are going to be able to attack your cancer cells successfully, andyou want to increase your personal odds of survival, you want to know the absolute numbers of lymphocytes.
So what should absolute levels of Lymphocytes be?
Last week, I was sent blood tests from two people in the UK and two in Australia. Two hospitals said that the maximum should be 4.0, one said 3.0 and another said 4.8 per microlitre of blood. ONEDAYTESTS, a UK company who have microbiologists specialising in blood tests say the maximum should be 4.8 (10*9/L).
Now we come to the real problem. The Minimum. Two Hospitals said 1.8, one said 1.7 and the fourth said 1.0. ONEDAYTESTS say 1.0.
So here we go again. Now, I don't know about you, but I find it quite alarming that no one can agree on these figures in the year 2026.
Worse, I had a patient in the UK told by her oncologist that 1.7 was too low; and a patient in Australia told 0.7 was OK. My patient left the Royal Marsden after chemo, radiotherapy, surgery and immunotherapy with a figure of 0.3. Did the RM say anything to her? Not a word.
Indeed Soon-Shiong commented on this at an ASCO Conference of top oncologists. He said that often oncologists didn't talk to patients about their lymphocytes, because they knew their treatments had crashed levels, they had nothing to put levels up and they didn't know the correct healthy levels anyway!!!
From everything I have read, I think you want levels above 2.2 to fight a cancer.
How can you increase your lymphocyte levels?
And it gets worse. It appears conventional medicine is currently almost useless at increasing your lymphocytes. Drug companies say so themselves!
Websites such as WebMD (owned by 5 Pharma companies) state that there isn’t a way to increase low lymphocytes. They say levels just come back when the infection has passed. Now I am getting really worried. Cleveland Clinic suggests an Immunoglobulin shot to bring your lymphocytes back up. BRAVE AI search doesn’t report a single conventional drug that can boost lymphocytes after chemo or radiotherapy and thus boost your survival chances. Soon-Shiong says he has invented a drug to increase IL-15, which in turn can put up lymphocytes. It is not yet fully approved by the FDA, two years later.
This is damning.
N.B. Filgrastim is a medication used to stimulate the production of white blood cells, particularly neutrophils, which are essential for fighting infections. It does little, if anything, for Lymphocyte levels.
Professor Soon-Shiong
Now before you think I'm chasing windmills, I'm not alone in my concerns and the need to take action. Professor Patrick Soon-Shiong is a cancer researcher and Biotech entrepreneur. He has long argued that lymphocytes and in particular the Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC) are critical to cancer survival.
Herbs to the rescue
If oncologists have nothing, don't worry - we do. We have herbs and more.
If Immunoglobulins help, you could try Non-hormonal Whey Protein - It boosts glutathione, contains all the main amino acids, plus many peptides and immunoglobulins. We know it does boost the immune system in our patients when we use it mixed with Super Nourish. In that drink, we use 2 gm of organic Turkey Tail Powder - it boosts NK cells and T-cells and research shows it increases survival times.
What Herbs work?
Herbs are particularly good at boosting lymphocytes and helping boost cytokines. I am reminded of when I helped my daughter Catherine. Just one round of Temozolomide and her white cell and lymphocyte levels tanked. She couldn’t have a second round. They gave her daily injections - a complete waste of time. She came here to my house in the South of France. Every day she lay by the swimming pool - I took her Turmeric, Echinacea, Astragalus and Cat’s Claw, and watched her swallow them. A month later she flew back to the UK to see her oncologist. She rang up and screamed at me. “What have you done to my white cells? They’ve gone through the roof!”
'Sorry, I thought that was the idea!' Obviously Hospitals and oncologists don’t expect this.
There then followed about 28 months where Catherine had no conventional treatment at all and was stable.
We regularly suggest patients take astragalus during radiotherapy, and echinacea if it lasts for more than a week.
Echinacea purpurea, Astragalus membranaceus, and Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) have been used for hundreds of years and have each been proven to boost lymphocytes in research.
Be clear: these are NOT antioxidants. Doctors cannot claim they will get in the way of their wonder drugs. They have no effect on chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Cat’s Claw has been shown to boost the immune system and help cytokine production - it stimulates the B-lymphocyte reaction to the pathogen.
Another herb much used in China to boost the immune system is Ligustrum lucidum - it boosts both Echinacea and Astragalus effectiveness.
Turmeric - Numerous research studies indicate that turmeric can stimulate lymphocytes, enhancing their functions, while simultaneously inducing apoptosis..
A LYMPHOCYTE-BOOSTING PLAN
Take the Super Nourish and Non-hormonal Whey Protein - 50:50 - half a scoop of each 3 times a day and containining a total of 2 gm organic Turkey Tail powder per day. Do this for around 10 weeks.
Patients should also boost their lymphocytes using herbs for 6 weeks maximum. Herbalists advise using maximum doses for short periods.
There is no universally standardised dosage for these herbs, especially in tinctures, as formulations and intended uses vary. This is what we have formulated with top herbalists -
High Dose Herbs for 6 weeks
For powdered Astragalus root, cancer patients regularly take 3,500 mg divided into 3–4 doses, for this short period.
For dehydrated powders of Echinacea, dose is 500 mg three to four times a day (2000 mg max daily). These are common, while tinctures are typically taken at 2.5 mL three times a day and up to 10 mL daily.
For Cat's Claw the WHO says that an average daily dose is up to 350 mg of dried stem bark for extracts, or 300–500 mg for capsules. Cancer patients regularly take 1500-2000 mg a day.
For Ligustrum lucidium, the dose is onthe pack.
For Turkey Tail, research studies with cancer use 2gm and up to 3.6 gm of organic powder a day. We use 2 gm in a daily juice.
’If you are already thinking of buying these herbs you might like to see what Natural Selection has to offer. They have all of them'. You can do that by CLICKING HERE
Lymphocytes - the bottom line
Remember - Lower percentage lymphocytes = much lower absolute levels of lymphocytes.
And Lowered Absolute levels of lymphocytes, equal severely shortened survival times.
LOWERED LYMPHOCYTES = LOWERED CANCER SURVIVAL
If you want to fight cancer levels should be above 2.2 x 10*9/L.
If you are below those absolute levels, take your own action - Juice containing Turkey Tail; plus 6 weeks of high dose herbs.
We tell you about the research on herbs, here ....
Go to: Using Herbs to boost your immune system
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References
1. Lymphocyte - Wikipedia
2. Lymphocytes - Cleveland Clinic
3. What level of lymphocytes is considered dangeros - MD Anderson
4. "Leukocyte development, kinetics, and functions". In Keohane, Elaine M.; Otto, Catherine N.; Walenga, Jeanine N. (eds.). Rodak's Hematology: Clinical Principles and Applications (6th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier. pp. 117–135.
5. ONEDAYTESTS - https://onedaytests.com/pages/lymphocytes-lym-description-and-reference-ranges
6. Lymphocyte depletion and repopulation after chemotherapy for primary breast cancer; Verma, R., Foster, R.E., Horgan, K. et al. Breast Cancer Res 18, 10 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-015-0669-x
7. Lymphocyte response and recovery to radiation therapy alone; Gregory P. Swanson et al; Voliume 8 March 30, 2023, Annals of Blood