Alternatives in Cancer Therapy The Complete Guide to Non-Traditional Treatments

Chapter 1 The Cancer RevolutionOn Wednesday, December 26, 1990, the United Press International news wire carried the following headline:CANCER NOW LEADING KILLER OF MIDDLE-AGEDThe article reported that for people aged thirty-five to sixty-four cancer had overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death. (2)Cancer kills more women in the United States than any other illness, and it is estimated that by the year 2000 cancer will be the leading cause of death among all Americans. (7) The aging of the American population cannot be used as an excuse to explain the steady increase in cancer deaths. A 1991 study disclosed that "The overall rate of cancer among U.S. children is mounting steadily." (8) This is happening despite spending billions of dollars in the "war on cancer" that was launched in December 1971 by then president Richard Nixon.Comparing AlternativesTraditional cancer therapy is like a war. The tumor is the enemy. The patient's body is the battleground. The weapons used to attack are chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. In alternative approaches cancer is seen as originating in problems with metabolism, biochemistry, and the immune system, which are making the tumor. Many practitioners in the field of alternative cancer therapy say, "The tumor is not the cancer. The tumor is only a symptom of the cancer."Alternative ApproachesThe authors of a University of Pennsylvania study summed up the reasons for turning to alternative or unconventional cancer therapies very clearly: As patients and the public have become increasingly educated, dissatisfaction with conventional care for cancer has grown. The toxic effects of chemotherapy, the absence of new and markedly improved treatments despite decades of effort, and the lack of substantive improvement in rates of cure for the major cancers all contribute to the dissatisfaction. (3) As frustration with conventional therapies increases, interest in alternative treatments for cancer is growing steadily, even within the traditional medical community. In 1987 the United States Congress directed its highly respected research arm, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), to investigate alternative cancer therapies and to produce a report. (6) Congress requested this study in response to political pressure from growing numbers of cancer patients who are outraged because they feel they are being denied access to potentially life-saving therapies.The OTA report,Unconventional Cancer Treatments,recommended that funds be made available to study alternative therapies, based on indications that many of them may be beneficial. This recommendation eventually resulted in the formation of the Office of Alternative Medicine, which is currently determining which therapies to research. These startling developments are evidence of the growing influence of the revolution in cancer care, and the politics behind them will be presented in the next chapter.There is an international revolution in cancer therapy as well. The Federal Science Ministry in Germany found that seven out of ten general practitioners in Germany use some form of alternative medicine as part of their practice. In 1984 the ministry set up a research program to investigate alternative treatments for cancer. (9)In Israel the Minister of Health appointed a commission to evaluate alternative health therapies. (4) The main thrust of the testimony to the committee was that freedom of choice should extend to selecting medical treatment and that as long as no bodily injury is caused, it is not necessary to restrict the practice of unconventional medicine.These study groups and commissions are approaching alternative or unconventional medicine with an eye to finding out what it has to offer. Unfortunately, the primary official response to alternative therapies in the U.S. has been condemnation and persecutPelton, Ross is the author of 'Alternatives in Cancer Therapy The Complete Guide to Non-Traditional Treatments' with ISBN 9780671796235 and ISBN 0671796232.