Cancer and Quacks: A long sad history

[cali]

Last edited Sun Aug 18, 2013, 09:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Anyone, and I do mean anyone, claiming they have a cure for cancer is either deluded or a quack huckster out to make bucks off the suffering of others.

Cancer has long attracted hucksters and quacks claiming the secret to a cure; perhaps more than any other illness. That includes people trying to sell hemp oil or marijuana as a cure. Obviously that doesn't mean everyone touting hemp oil or other forms of cannabinoids as a cure for cancer or any other illness, are quacks and hucksters. Many believe that it is a cure.

Now let me be clear here: There is evidence that marijuana can shrink cancerous brain tumors by killing cancer cells. The research done has been on tissue and in mice and rats. One study on humans has been conducted. It involved administering THC intracranially. There was no control group. There's also some hopeful studies that have been conducted regarding marijuana and breast cancer. There is even more evidence that cannabinoids provide relief from cancer pain and are effective as anti-nausea agents

http://phys.org/news157903107.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19896326?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis#Brain_cancer

So that's all very hopeful and a lot more $$$ and a lot more research is called for. But at this time it's not possible to accurately state that cannabinoids in any form are a CURE.

I'm a big supporter of medical marijuana. Combining both the scientific evidence and the anecdotal evidence, it should be a no brainer. From Glaucoma to nerve pain to MS and beyond, anecdotal and scientific evidence points to numerous people finding relief in treating symptoms with marijuana in one form or another. I believe that people have the right to choose any treatment regimen they want. Let me shout that:

I AM A BIG SUPPORTER OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

But cure in cancer means no sign of disease for 5 years, so claiming to cure should be a big loud alarm. Why do these claims bother me so much? Am I a shill for big pharma? am I anti marijuana legalization? No and no. (it seems absurd that I should even have to defend myself from loony accusations but there you go.) More seriously, am I anti alternative medicine? Again, I think people should choose whatever treatment regimens they wish, but I think that if Reiki or homeopathy helps, it's more likely the body/mind connection than anything else. There's no scientific evidence for their efficacy.

The claims for a cure bother me so much because I think it's cruel.

(Like the author of this piece, I'm a fan of Orac's aka David Gorski who really is a surgeon and scientist, even if I don't agree with him on quite a bit. I think he takes the anti-alternative medicine thing way too far)
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/editorial-staff/david-h-gorski-md-phd-managing-editor/

I loved Science Blogs contributor Orac before I was diagnosed with cancer. I love him a whole lot more now. I'll get to why in a moment, but I want to share something personal first (cracks knuckles).

Well-meaning friends have suggested I try coffee enemas and Burzynskian "antineoplastons" and oxygen therapy to cure my breast cancer; others have told me the reason some of my cells went mutinous is because I offended the Great Invisible Beardy Man in the Sky.

Dude, I've heard it all.

I am active on Twitter in talking about cancer, sharing the experience of my treatment (which fucking sucks), and connecting with fellow persons with cancer.

<snip>
http://boingboing.net/2012/08/15/on-quack-cancer-cures-and-a.html


<snip>

One strand of the online rumours about cannabis and cancer is that there is some form of conspiracy to prevent research progressing into this area. This is not the case. In fact, we’ve previously written about how cannabinoids – the biologically active chemicals in cannabis – can slow the growth of tumours in lab tests.

But the fact remains that this work is still at an early stage. On top of this, there’s no robust scientific evidence to show that cannabis or cannabis oil can successfully treat cancer. And it’s possible that smoking cannabis can increase the risk of lung cancer.

At the moment, cannabis is illegal in the UK, although the medical use of cannabis and cannabis-derived chemicals is being investigated and debated.

Cannabinoids do have the potential to be useful for cancer and other diseases, but this needs to be explored in rigorous and safe studies. And accurate headlines about cases such as this one would help too.

<snip>
http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2011/05/05/cannabis-cure-for-brain-cancer-headline-is-misleading/

(The above site has some great accessible information about cannabinoid cancer research and lots of links)


Here's a site that presents and alternative view
http://www.beyondthc.com/

Here's a link to science blogs. It's a great site.

http://scienceblogs.com/

Finally, I want to mention this guy and one web site: Mark Sircus who claims that hemp oil cures cancer. He also claims that baking soda cures cancer. Yes, he's selling stuff. He's been used as an authority here on DU. The site I want to mention is "Natural News". It promotes a huge amount of quackery. If it promotes anything useful or fact based, that's lost in the mountain of misinformation.

Why do I even bother going to Naturalnews.com? Sometimes someone points out how badly misinformed it is, and I go, and each time, a little piece of me seems to die (metaphorically) as I see comments by others who buy into the endless stream of false and downright idiotic crap they spew. At least it works well as a one-stop-shop for all the quackery you can think of. Chances are, if there is medical advice that is false, it can be found there…

<snip>

http://depletedcranium.com/natural-news-takes-idiotic-to-the-next-level/

Note: I will not respond to posts that are merely vitriol and attacks. This op isn't an attack on medical marijuana or alternative medicine. I've tried to reflect the respect I have for people choosing their own treatments. It's directed at quacks who claim a CURE for cancer, which as every reputable site, from the ACS to the National Cancer Society, points out, is a broad group of diseases:

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.

Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start - for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in melanocytes of the skin is called melanoma.

<snip>
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Kick. The early studies showing THC shrinking cancer cells are promising.

But, they're just that... EARLY studies. In the short term, cannabis' use as pain reducer/appetite enhancer is well-proven and should be continued.

[mucifer]

2. Great post. Marijuana may kill cancer cells. But, do you know what else kills cancer cells?

chemotherapy. Yes, it works in many many people. Marijuana may work in some cancers. After the proper research they may find that marijuana kills cancer cells in mice but not humans or only works in certain tumors and not others. My guess is that one day it will be used as chemo with lots of other medications.

Pediatric oncologists have figured out ways to mix and match chemotherapies with different cancers in ways they call roadmaps. Almost every kid with cancer in a major city is in a research study. Some chemotherapies are plant based (vincristine, vinblastine) sometimes steriods are used as chemotherapies. The reason why kids survival rates are so much higher than adults is because many adults with cancer are elderly with other diseases. Kids are young with young and strong bodies.

I could see in a roadmap of treatment marijuana included somewhere in it or marijuana being used for some people for nausea and/or pain. But, like all meds there are side effects. Not everyone gets the side effects. But, to me marijuana is a drug like others and it won't be right for everyone.

Pediatric cancers now have an 80% cure rate:
http://www.acco.org/Information/AboutChildhoodCancer/ChildhoodCancerStatistics.aspx

I worry about when people talk about "natural treatments" Hemlock is herbal and natural, too. Lots of poisons are natural.

My experience with all of this is from years as a pediatric home health nurse who administered chemotherapy and my current job as a pediatric hospice nurse.

I have seen families lose everything, their house all their money, giving it all to some quack who has "the cure". Then they come to us in hospice. I have also seen families with very little money pushing their kids in their final weeks to months on expensive organic juicing regimens. I have never seen that work. The great thing is that now most kids survive cancer.

Cali I wish you the best!

[cali]

3. thank you so much for your post and kind words

I really appreciate you weighing in on this.

right back at you:

[RiffRandell]

4. As a caregiver to a spouse that is a survivor thank you for a great post.

Going along with the advice of his 3 doctors (ENT, oncologist, radiologist) we were aggressive as we could be with his treatment.

It was brutal but I firmly believe he is alive today because of it.

We are also both huge supporters of medical marijuana and think it should be legalized period.

[cali]

6. Thank you and I'm so happy to hear about your spouse

[90-percent]

5. What about those TV commericial cancer centers?

They strongly imply that they can cure what your local yokels can't.

There is a lot of conjecture about the cancer-industrial-complex. People just fine with the current system of offering expensive cures with low probabilities of successful outcomes. I find it hard to believe the medical cancer establishment would support dubious expensive treatments in the name of a few fat cats making obscene money off other people's suffering.

Someone in my family has stage 4a head and neck cancer and her chances are not good. It is painful not being able to help her beat it, but her prospects are just bad.

I feel if I just did more research I could find something for her that turns it around. The chemo and radiation oncologists advise no alt treatments, so hemp oil grape seed extract, essiac tea, B17, pot, etc. is all on hold.

-jim

[cali]

7. I've seen a couple of those ads. They raise my hackles

It would be great if you did an op on them.

I'm so sorry about your family member and I wish you and her the very best. I think doing research is great. I started doing it a few years ago when a dear friend was in stage 4.

Again, hoping for the best for you and your family member.

cali

[mucifer]

10. They are very slimy and they mess with the numbers

by only accepting people with high end insurance and not taking many elderly it fs up the data:

The experts were unanimous that CTCA's patients are different from the patients the company compares them to, in a way that skews their survival data. It has relatively few elderly patients, even though cancer is a disease of the aged. It has almost none who are uninsured or covered by Medicaid - patients who tend to die sooner if they develop cancer and who are comparatively numerous in national statistics.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-usa-cancer-ctca-idUSBRE9250L820130306

Here's another article from ,of all places, forbes, saying it's a scummy right wing company:

It sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory: a secretive businessman founds a for-profit medical center to treat cancer. His hospitals offer conventional treatments but also sell highly questionable, unscientific treatments to vulnerable patients. These treatments help to increase profits. The businessman uses the profits from his cancer hospitals to support his favorite right-wing causes. Patients have no idea that the fees they pay for treatment help support these causes.

It may sound unbelievable, but it’s true. Most of this story was described in a lengthy exposé just published in the Washington Post on Christmas day. The Post revealed that Richard Stephenson, the founder of a large for-profit cancer center, is also one of the primary funding sources for Freedom Works, a right-wing Tea Party organization that played a major role in the 2012 elections.

What the Post story didn’t explain was the source of Stephenson’s millions: Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), a private, for-profit company with five cancer hospitals scattered around the U.S. Stephenson is the founder and chairman of CTCA.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2012/12/31/making-a-profit-from-offering-ineffective-therapies-to-cancer-patients/

On the other hand the pediatric oncologists I have worked with take all patients. I work in Illinois and all kids get public aid so that helps. I must say the doctors I know are doing research are very intelligent and love their patients. They are not part of a scheme to screw people over.


90, I'm hoping for the best for you and your family.

[RiffRandell]

13. My husband had stage 3 head and neck cancer.

If you don't mind me asking, how old is the family member?

This website gave us a ton of helpful information: http://oralcancerfoundation.org/

[90-percent]

14. I don't mind answering

I'm actually trolling for advice here from anybody that's been in a similar situation. Thanks for the link.

She's 56 and has a history of making very bad health choices. Like smoking since 14. Hell, after 2 months in hospitals and rehab last fall, the first thing she does when she comes home is to resume chain smoking!

Thanks to you all for your inputs!

-jim

[RiffRandell]

15. So she's been through treatment?

I hate to say this, but if she continues smoking the prognosis isn't good. Stage 4 is beatable (Michael Douglas), my husband was 39 when diagnosed and in good health but the treatment is brutal which a lot of older people can't take (seventies/eighties).

Feel free to ask me any questions (you can pm me) as I learned everything I could about this disease because we were totally blindsided by the diagnosis.

[90-percent]

16. i will pm you

thanks for your generosity.

-jim

[loyalsister]

8. Thank you

I agree. When I read stuff that resembles Kevin Trudeau, I get very frustrated. I totally respect people's personal decisions when it comes to their medical care. But I am also frustrated by the miracle cures. People who are suffering and coming to terms with illnesses should not be bombarded with miracle cures and false hope.

[mountain grammy]

9. Thank you, Cali, for this informative and well written post. All the best to you in your fight.

As a life long marijuana user, I think the good news from this herb is yet to be discovered because it's been vilified for so long. Fear and superstition have held us back from life saving research, not just with cannabis but so many other areas.

If only we spent the money on medical research instead of the war machine... imagine where we'd be.

[Grammy23]

11. As a 23 year breast cancer survivor myself, I appreciate this post.

I have not had time yet to read all the links you included but will get around to that ASAP. Back in 1990 when I was diagnosed, like most cancer patients, I was flooded with information and misinformation about what I should do or NOT do. I guess the thing that surprised me the most was that the decisions I had to make were MINE to make. I thought I'd be told what to do and then would just do it. From the very beginning, I had options surgically and then the additional treatments that were recommended. Yes, there were standard treatments that were presented, but at the same time I was informed that I would be making the decisions. It was overwhelming and my education regarding cancer began right away and has continued throughout the entire time I've been a survivor.

You are 100 % correct that cancer is not just one disease. If only it were that simple! But due to the fact that it is 100+ diseases, the solution to prevent and cure it has not been quick nor easy. In addition the very word cancer is so loaded with meaning and instills so much fear in people that it's easy to understand why people are lured into treatments that are at best misguided or worst, outright quackery. Legitimate scientific studies are rigorous for a reason. They take years to complete and may involve animal studies that don't get to the stage of being tested in humans for decades. And as you pointed out, the proof that something cures cancer cannot be known until a long period of time has passed without a recurrence of the cancer. I can still remember reading that breast cancer is one of the ones that can recur many, many years after the original diagnosis. And my own surgeon warned me that he had had patients who had a recurrence 20 + years later. It is a sneaky and sometimes difficult disease to treat. So the notion of reaching a "magical" number of years when I could consider myself cured vanished. Yes, it's true that the longer I go without a recurrence the better my chances of being considered cured, but I'll always have to be monitored and checked for signs that it has come back.

In the time since I was diagnosed, I have known a number of people who have fought their battle with cancer and won and many who lost. I have witnessed incredible courage and sometimes downright defiance against a disease that can and does ravage the body. Sadly, I have seen people who thought they literally could will their cancer away by simply refusing to give in. They truly believed that their attitude toward the disease was all that mattered. I would be the first to admit that having a strong, positive attitude IS important but that alone will not kill cancer. I have seen people with a negative attitude get well and some of the most positive (Cancer won't beat me!!!), upbeat people lose in the end. It is complicated and not nearly as simplistic as just having the "right attitude" about the whole situation.

I wish you all the best in your treatment and continuing education about cancer and its treatment. I have seen many changes in 23 years, including the way that cancer is diagnosed & treated. I've been an active member of my local American Cancer Society Board of Directions since 1991. After all these years I still attend a cancer support group. Not for the reasons I started attending, but because I HAVE learned so much and hope to help someone else who is at that awful place I was when I was diagnosed. They face many choices and need experienced professionals AND cancer survivors to give them hope and information that is accurate.

Keep learning and trying to teach others how to discern fact from fiction. Truth from quackery. Potential good news about curing cancer to outright attempts to deceive people with false hope. When people are sick and looking for information and help, they are vulnerable to the dishonest or the misguided hucksters in the world. It's important to have a voice of reason to urge those diagnosed with cancer and their care givers to proceed with caution to anyone promising CURE. We are a long way from cure but with the help of legitimate scientists and physicians working toward that goal, maybe one day we will be able to say there is a cure and perhaps even more important, a way to prevent it from happening in the first place.

And one more thought that just occurred to me: The notion that the scientists and physicians who are treating cancer are in it for the money or are actively suppressing the cure offends me. I have known several doctors who treated me whose primary reason for getting into that business in the first place was because they had a family member who had cancer. In some cases, they lost a mother, sister or brother to the disease and were inspired to try to make a difference for other families. Like all industries, I know there are bad apples out there who aren't in it for the right reasons. However, the majority of the people I've encountered were hardworking, dedicated professionals who had my best interest at heart. I trusted them to guide me and help me make wise choices from the many that they presented to me and that I found through my own efforts. It is a team effort when you're dealing with a serious illness like cancer and the one who is and should be leading that team is the patient (or in the case of a child, the parents). It's YOUR life that is at stake and you owe it to yourself to know about your disease and work with your physician and other professionals to make informed choices that take you toward cure and not away from it.

Thanks again for your post. I am sure there will be much debate and maybe the readers here will learn and become better informed about this subject.

[cali]

12. Many thanks for your post and for sharing your story

Before I go any farther I want to clear something up: I do not have cancer as far as I know (I'm having a biopsy tomorrow on a skin lesion). My interest in this stems from the illness and death of a close friend and her interest in the hemp oil protocol.

I loved your post. Wish that you'd post it as an op. Your perspective is valuable and you expressed your point of view beautifully.

Wishing you the best.

cali

[cali]

17. kick

[MoonRiver]

18. Thank you for posting this.

I am very active on a breast cancer board, which has an alternative forum. I look on it out of curiosity and can't tell you how many times people proclaim the value of stuff like mushrooms and broccoli as absolute cures, and post links to the "doctors" who prescribe these potions! The people who buy into such quackery are usually very paranoid about conventional medicine. Many claim that BIG PHARMA is keeping the cure for cancer hidden behind closed doors because it fears losing its cash cow, i.e. a constant stream of desperate cancer patients. The concept is totally absurd, but too many buy into this nonsense.