Alternative therapies: what’s the harm?

We often see stories in the media about cancer patients who have chosen alternative treatments, either alongside or instead of conventional treatment.

Every cancer patient has the right to decide what, if any, line of treatment they wish to pursue.

But we believe it’s vital that people make fully informed decisions based on genuine evidence about the risks and benefits of any therapy – whether alternative, complementary or conventional – in discussion with their doctor.

To be clear, ‘alternative’ usually implies a treatment is used instead of conventional medicine, while ‘complementary’ therapies are used alongside regular medical treatments.

Unfortunately, media and online coverage of alternative therapies often doesn’t tell the whole story or include professional medical advice, and can be very misleading.

“Natural is better”

One of the big selling points advocates of alternative therapies use is to claim that conventional treatments are ’toxic’ while their favoured treatment is ‘natural’, implying that natural is somehow better.

This is a fallacy that we’ve previously explored in detail in our post about that infamous herb, cannabis.

Many treatments for cancer and other diseases were originally derived from naturally-occurring substances. The chemotherapy drug Taxol, created from a compound found in yew leaves, is a prime example.

Conversely, some of the most poisonous substances in the world – ricin, cyanide, arsenic, hemlock, snake venoms and mercury to name but a few – are all entirely natural.

Furthermore, alternative ‘natural’ therapies are not guaranteed to be safe. Examples include a serious risk of cyanide poisoning from laetrile, permanent scarring or disfigurement from cancer salves, and bowel damage, blood salt imbalances or even life-threatening septicaemia caused by coffee enemas.

“But it works… I read it in the news!”

Stories in the news about alternative therapies are usually framed in the words of a patient talking about their own cancer journey. But this is neither scientific proof nor any kind of guarantee that a treatment is effective or safe.

News reports may provide incorrect or confusing medical information, such as misreporting the type and stage of disease or the true chances of survival, and failing to point out any conventional treatments that were used alongside or before seeking alternative therapy.

In some cases this may be the result of accidental omissions or errors, especially if a reporter is only relying on the patient themselves as the source of their story.

Cancer is a complex disease, and without access to detailed medical records – which are confidential – it is impossible to paint a fully accurate picture of an individual’s cancer journey and whether alternative therapies played any role in their recovery.

More worryingly, there are some cases where evidence points towards a murkier interpretation of ‘truth’ and fact.

For example, Australian blogger Belle Gibson built a large media profile and business around the story of having apparently ‘healed herself’ of a brain tumour through diet and lifestyle changes, but has now admitted that she never actually had cancer at all.

People pushing alternative therapies frequently wheel out stories from ‘survivors’ who are apparently alive due to their treatments, yet without providing solid evidence to prove it is true. This raises false hope and unrealistic expectations that there is a hidden miracle cure that can be unlocked for the right price, or by eating exactly the right foods.

As a result, patients and their loved ones may feel guilty or angry for not trying everything that they possibly could have done, despite there being no evidence that such treatments would have helped.

Stories of people ‘healing themselves’ through diet or other therapies make good headlines. However, if the same person later dies from their cancer it often goes unreported, leaving readers with the misconception that the alternative treatment was a success.

Understandably, there may be huge reluctance among family members to admit that alternative therapy failed, especially if it came at a high cost or reduced quality of life. This problem goes back more than a century, as detailed in a paper published in the British Medical Journal from 1911.

It reveals how an alternative “cancer curer” continued to reassure a husband that his wife was recovering after she had actually died, even going so far as to continue applying dressings to the poor woman’s body. Her husband and friends were “ashamed of having been duped and they kept quiet,” while the quack went unpunished.

Where’s the evidence?

“Do you know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proved to work? Medicine” Tim Minchin, Storm

When a doctor recommends a course of treatment their decision is based on the best available information about the chances of saving or prolonging a patient’s life, along with any risks and benefits.

Sadly we know that in too many cases even the best treatments can fail, which is why we’re continually researching more effective ways to diagnose and treat cancer. Even so, the treatments we have today – including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy – have helped to double cancer survival rates since the 1970s.

We understand that people want to hang on to any glimmer of hope that they or their loved one can be cured, particularly when facing a terminal cancer diagnosis. But despite what alternative therapists may claim, they do not have evidence to support the effectiveness of the treatments they offer. Yet they do normally stand to make money – many thousands of pounds in some cases – from selling ineffective treatments and advice.

Of course, pharmaceutical companies stand to make money from cancer treatments too and we’ve written about this at length. But they must provide evidence of the effectiveness, safety and side effects of their treatments through lab research and clinical trials. This information is assessed by doctors and healthcare providers when deciding whether a treatment should be made available for patients and paid for by the health service or insurance.

We have extensive information outlining the scientific evidence – or lack of it – for a wide range of alternative and complementary treatments on our website.

If there was good evidence that alternative treatments work, then they should stand up alongside conventional treatments.

But the truth is that they don’t.

In addition, the potential costs to patients of placing their hopes in alternative treatments go beyond financial ones.

The hidden costs

One of the biggest risks of seeking alternative therapy is postponing or declining evidence-based conventional treatment, which might otherwise prolong or even save a patient’s life.

Perhaps the most famous example is Steve Jobs, the former head of Apple. He was widely reported to have pancreatic cancer, but in fact he had a very different type of cancer called a neuroendocrine tumour which started in his pancreas. After diagnosis he refused medical advice to have surgery and chemotherapy, opting for alternative therapies such as acupuncture, juicing and other treatments he found on the internet.

By the time Steve finally agreed to surgery, his cancer had spread and was untreatable. There is no way of knowing if delaying conventional treatment made a difference to his ultimate outcome, but it’s a decision he reportedly regretted.

Then there is the issue of pursuing unproven alternative treatments overseas. Travelling abroad can be risky if a patient is unwell, even leading to emergency hospital admissions if anything goes wrong or their health deteriorates unexpectedly. Because arranging appropriate insurance can be difficult, sorting out any problems that occur while abroad can be extremely costly and stressful.

Another risk is that patients choosing to use alternative therapies may miss out on opportunities for palliative care, such as effective pain relief or reducing the symptoms of advanced cancer with radiotherapy or drugs. Although they cannot provide a cure, palliative therapies can make a big difference to quality of life in the end stages of cancer.

Whether you love or loathe the concept of the ‘bucket list’, pursuing unproven alternative treatments – particularly abroad or involving arduous and restrictive regimes – robs people of valuable time that they could be spending with family and friends.

Making informed choices

We’re continually looking at the evidence behind all kinds of cancer treatments, whether conventional, alternative or complementary, providing extensive information about them on our website. And we are working as hard as we can to develop more effective, kinder treatments for all types of cancer, bringing more tomorrows for patients and their families.

We would like to encourage everyone to ask for the evidence behind claims made for ‘miracle cures’ and consider whether it is scientifically robust and convincing.

To help, we have a web page about finding and judging reliable information on the internet. This piece in The Conversation about scientific evidence is helpful, as is their collection of articles about understanding research.

Finally, if you or someone you know has questions about cancer and treatment, please give our Cancer Information nurses a call – they’re on freephone 0808 800 4040, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, or you can send them an email.

Emma

Snake oil image by Wesley Fryer from Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-2.0

Comments

Jane

28 July 2015

What a load of rubbish. This is a terribly written load of pop science.
Ian

11 June 2015

Hi Emma thank you for your reply.I think the only way to see if these alternative therapies work is to actually go to one of there clinics and do case studies there.Its such a grey area at the moment so everything should be done to see if there is any truth in the claims.If these therapi s don’t work at all then surely the people selling them and making money should be arrested.
Emma

9 June 2015

Hi Chrissie,
Thanks for your comments, and we’re very sorry to hear you have cancer.

As you point out, research has shown that many cancers could be prevented by lifestyle changes – this is something we have promoted through our health messaging for many years. For example, we recommend that people stick to a healthy balanced diet (with plenty of fibre, fruit and vegetables and less red and processed meat and salt) in order to help cut cancer risk, as well as providing lots of information and advice around not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, cutting down on alcohol and more. You can read more about diet and cancer on our website: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer and cancer prevention in general here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer.

The evidence for what cancer patients undergoing treatment should eat is a little less clear. But it’s important that patients eat enough to enable their bodies to cope with therapy. You can read more in this blog post: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2011/11/01/what-should-you-eat-while-youre-being-treated-for-cancer/

Best wishes,
Emma
ENG

8 June 2015

Reading the title I said to myself: what an interesting topic however reading the blog was really disappointing. The text is unfair and biased. Unfair because, right from the beginning (i.e. the pictures) it is suggested that there is nothing valuable in alternatives therapies (as could be the case in some of them but it is not shown here) and biased because a discussion of “harms” should necessary describe the harms associated to “standard” therapies(e.g. surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy) that are very far from being negligible…Not really what I expect from a serious scientific institution.
Chrissie

5 June 2015

The photos of snake oil are deliberately misleading – most natural therapists actually recommend a natural diet rather than any magic fairy dust:
A diet full of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need for optimum performance;
An organic diet that doesn’t have the pesticides and herbicides most of our so-called “fresh” food is often tainted with
A diet that isn’t out of a ready made box or McDonald’s drive-thru
A diet that isn’t full of bottled carbonated drinks full of aspartame and other chemicals

They also recommend we cut down on the toxins we’re exposed to daily.

Surely this is common sense and not “snake oil”? Does Cancer Research UK really believe that by eating cr@p and not doing this we are in any way helping our fight against cancer? The fact that the richest nations in the world have the highest cancer rates is very telling. Stand at a supermarket checkout and how many people actually do have a diet that isn’t destroying their body by leaving out essential nutrients and overloading with sugar and high salt?

I have cancer – and this prompted me to research widely. I was shocked at just how bad my diet had become over the years, I was unwittingly killing myself from within. I’ve changed this radically and my diet now includes 70% raw fruit and veg (blended into smoothies) and my energy levels are through the roof and my skin is glowing. We’ve cut down on dairy and gluten and my daughter’s ezcema has cleared up – her GPs have simply given her steroid cream for 15 years, treating the symptom and not the cause (and not too successfully at that either).

Whenever someone dies who has used a naturopathic route, they are held up as some kind of proof that the approach doesn’t work. If we use the same approach for conventional medicine, chemo needs to stop RIGHT NOW! How many people do you know who’ve followed a conventional path and still died? I personally know 3 in the last year in my usual friend’s circle.In two of those cases the months before were blighted by the most horrific toxic treatments that left them debilitated. And you say this is better? An Australian study claims that the contribution of cytoxic chemotherapy to the 5 year survival of adults was estimated to be no more than 2.3% for a wide number of cancers.

If a naturopath (or indeed any other site) suggests drinking the blood of virgins or dancing naked to a full moon to cure cancer, then yes, they deserve to ridiculed. In essence they’re recommending turning back the clock to eat and live as our bodies were designed to, rather than surrounding ourselves with daily stresses and chemical overload. This is exactly the advice sites like Cancer Research should be giving out – not necessarily to replace conventional medicine (if that’s someone’s choice) but to complement, to build our bodies and our immune systems to fight this condition. Sticking your collective head in the sand and ignoring the effect of diet on our overall well being doesn’t add to your credibility at all I’m afraid.
Emma Smith

29 May 2015

Hi Ian,
It is very expensive to run clinical trials, and as a charity we can only fund high quality research that is most likely to benefit cancer patients.

Scientists from around the world have carried out large studies following patients who have chosen to try Gerson therapy. Evidence from their research showed no benefit for cancer patients. Here are a couple of examples if you’d like to read more:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24403443
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20361473

Emma
Ian

28 May 2015

Can someone from cancer research UK please answer why they don’t put alternative treatments like the gerson therapy through strick clinical trials like they do chemotherapy drugs.Surely it’s in there best interests.Ive watched many interviews with Charlotte gerson and its very hard to think she’s lying about everything she is saying.
Emma

28 May 2015

Hi John,
On rare occasions cancer can disappear without treatment – this is called ‘spontaneous regression’. It’s something doctors have noticed can happen for hundreds of years, but why it happens in some patients is still a mystery. It’s a phenomenon researchers are urgently trying to understand though.

One popular theory is that something (like an infection) activates an immune response, and this can help the immune system to suddenly recognise the danger posed by the cancer cells and then destroy them (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_remission). But there’s no conclusive evidence to show that this is the reason for spontaneous regression.

However, one example of where this theory has been turned into an effective medicine is the use of BCG (the bacteria used to vaccinate people against tuberculosis) to treat bladder cancer (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/bladder-cancer/treatment/early/treatment-into-the-bladder#bcg). The presence of bacteria in the bladder can activate a potent immune response, which can turn against the cancer too.

And treatments to direct the power of the immune system against cancer are at cutting edge of research, and have already brought much-needed new drugs to patients. You can read more about new immunotherapies here (http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/06/02/new-immunotherapy-drugs-hit-the-headlines-how-do-they-work/) and here (http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/05/27/virus-therapy-for-melanoma-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/).

Returning to cases of ‘spontaneous regression’, it is true that it can happen. But it’s really important to stress that these rare cases don’t provide evidence that alternative therapies work, or that ‘miracle’ cures exist.

Emma
john

28 May 2015

Can someone from cancer research please answer this question. Has any human being cured their cancer without chemotherapy or radiation or surgery or conventional medicine? Are all the people who say they have cured cancer naturally lying?
stephen

20 May 2015

More propaganda and lies from cancer research
Ian

20 May 2015

Chris from Chrisbeatcancer has actually replied to this article through a video on YouTube and basically rips it to bits.Im sure cancer research uk could put him right on a few things but a lot of what he says raises some very valid points.
Ian

20 May 2015

The problem I have with this article is that it says “there’s no evidence to show that alternative therapies work”.Well there’s no evidence to show that they don’t work either and unless Cancer research uk invests millions of pounds into ‘proper’ trials into alternative therapies like they do for chemotherapy drugs then we will never no.Until they do this then the dury will always be open on this one.
N0jo

19 May 2015

For IVA: https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/chris-beat-cancer/
Tracey

14 May 2015

I’m not 100% sure how I feel about this article. I was successfully treated for breast cancer 14 years ago when the diagnosis was very bleak – this included trial drugs. The entire process brought me to me knees with feeling so ill. I remain grateful to science as having saved my life. The article makes some excellent points – for example I was refused a massage by a massage therapist due to the fact that the massage “moved lymphatic fluid” with the basis of this being that this could “move my cancer” – it was one of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard – lymphatic fluid moves all the time! So some therapists are simply ignorant of basic anatomy and physiology having taken a 6-10 week course. This being said … There are some brilliant and wise therapists out there and plenty of complementary options and I have tried many that helped. I realise the article is trying to put a word of caution here but there is also a lot we don’t know and the pharmaceutical industry is a profit making industry as well – who also make millions – so yes take care when checking what you need. If I was ever unfortunate to have my dancer come back…. If it was not curable? I don’t truly think I could have life prolonging treatment conventionally again – I would use complementary therapy to help me cone to terms with this diagnosis and elevate discomfort –
Iva

14 May 2015

http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/category/natural-survivor-stories/
Iva

14 May 2015

http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/alternative-therapies-whats-the-harm-my-response-to-cancer-research-uk/
belle

14 May 2015

Cancer research blog posts are so dumbed down. First you say listening to one person is unreliable as it lacks scientific evidence, then site what Steve jobs is ‘thought to have thought’ in the next paragraph. Speaking from my experience, my oncology team are only interested in my cancer. When quizzed, they had zero advice or interest in my overall health, diet ( and I quote, ‘eat whatever makes you happy’), emotional health or fitness. Eating healthily, keeping a positive attitude and staying fit has become ‘alternative health advice’. Why are cancer research repeatedly so down on this.
Emma

30 April 2015

Hi A,

Thanks for your comment. As we point out right at the beginning of our post, we draw a distinction between alternative treatments – treatments that replace conventional therapy, which are the focus of our concerns – and complementary treatments, which are used alongside medical treatments. We provide information about both on our website here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/

Another commenter raised similar concerns about information about supportive complementary therapies such as yoga – please read our reply to her below: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/04/27/alternative-therapies-whats-the-harm/comment-page-1/#comment-48872.

You may also be interested in reading this post we’ve just published about the importance of physical activity for cancer patients: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/04/29/advice-on-being-active-should-be-routine-in-bowel-cancer-care/ And we’ve also written about a trial we’re funding looking at whether curcumin, one of the chemicals in turmeric, can help treat bowel cancer: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2012/05/07/new-trial-to-test-spice-extract-curcumin-against-bowel-cancer/

Emma
A

29 April 2015

This article is not a very well balanced article. It fails to address the scientifically proven “alternative” thearapies such as a healthy and balanced diet in both preventing and aiding the recovery of cancer patients.

It also fails to address the many herbs and plants that can complement traditional thearapies by boosting the immune system for example tumeric’s anti-inflammatory properties; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12676044 . It also does not address things such as meditation, yoga etc that whilst may not directly “cure” cancer they have a massive effect on mental health by helping to reduce stress; a known contributing factor to cancer recovery; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19023879.

Your mention of Taxol is also misleading as it is used as a Chemotherapy agent and it may have been derived from Yew, however any herbalist or any one that knows anything about traditional folk medicine would know that yew has been known to be toxic for many hundreds if not thousands of years.

Unfortunatley this article seems like an opionion peace based on the common idea that “western” medicine is the only medicine worth practicing and that any “alternative” or traditional medicines are quakary, the picture at the beggining of the article of the snake oil immediately informs the reader that this is not wholly based on fact and is a largly the writers opinion.

I am disappointed as I feel that cancer research UK should be promoting all types of treatment for cancer and providing a balanced view on everything rather than denouncing natural alternatives that have at least some scientific, peer reviewed evidence to support their use along side more traditional treatments.

To any one reading this there is a wealth of knowledge and data out their, it can be difficult to filter out the fact from opinion on the internet but if you see something that is opinion, try searching for peer reviewed data on it, as it may have a factual basis aswell.

Incase anyone thinks I am just trying to promote “alternative” thearapies, I work in an NHS laboratory and have an MSc in Biomedical Science.
Steve Muir

28 April 2015

Well done. A very readable and informative article, with lots of interesting references and links.
Anna Buckley

27 April 2015

Thank you for your response Emma, I appreciate you spending the time to include all that information, v much appreciated. Anna xxx
Ronny Allan

27 April 2015

a most excellent blog, I will share it widely. My reposting of your ‘Debunking Cancer Myths’ blog got 3500 hits! Thanks also for reconfirming Steve Jobs had a Neuroendocrine Tumour and not Pancreatic Cancer as widely reported in certain areas.

Ronny Allan
Campaigns Ambassador (New Forest West)
Emma

27 April 2015

Hi Anna,
Thanks for your comments. We really wanted to focus on the risks of alternative treatments in this post – therapies that people pursue instead of taking conventional treatment – but as we mention in this post, we have extensive information about a range of alternative and complementary treatments on our website, including hypnotherapy (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/hypnotherapy) , yoga (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/yoga) visualisation(http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/visualisation) and massage therapy (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/massage-therapy).

Having a healthy diet and being physically active (if possible) is important for people with cancer, and we have lots of information on our website about this – for each type of cancer there is information and advice about living with that disease, including diet and activity advice where applicable. Plus we have more general sections on coping physically and emotionally: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping-with-cancer/ We’ve also blogged about what to eat when being treated for cancer: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2011/11/01/what-should-you-eat-while-youre-being-treated-for-cancer/

If you have any questions at all, please do get in touch with our cancer information nurses on Freephone 0808 800 4040, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.
Best wishes,
Emma
Edmund Auckland

27 April 2015

Excellent article, and well worth sharing. All these points bear constant repetition, because like Mark Twain said, it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. Clearly articulating the dangers of alternative medicine really does save lives.

Keep fighting the good fight!
Anna buckley

27 April 2015

Hello Emma. A well written and convincing blog post, however I think it would have been more helpful if you had also included some of the very well researched and evidence based proof on ways in which people can support themselves through their treatment in a holistic way, such as with diet, exercise, mindfulness techniques and complementary therapy, as this does come off a bit too much as alternative medicine bashing which does cancer research no favours in the eyes of those of us who have had to cope with cancer diagnosis and the treatments that go with it! More carrot and less stick perhaps?!!! Anna

Highlighted content

Comments

Jane

28 July 2015

What a load of rubbish. This is a terribly written load of pop science.
Ian

11 June 2015

Hi Emma thank you for your reply.I think the only way to see if these alternative therapies work is to actually go to one of there clinics and do case studies there.Its such a grey area at the moment so everything should be done to see if there is any truth in the claims.If these therapi s don’t work at all then surely the people selling them and making money should be arrested.
Emma

9 June 2015

Hi Chrissie,
Thanks for your comments, and we’re very sorry to hear you have cancer.

As you point out, research has shown that many cancers could be prevented by lifestyle changes – this is something we have promoted through our health messaging for many years. For example, we recommend that people stick to a healthy balanced diet (with plenty of fibre, fruit and vegetables and less red and processed meat and salt) in order to help cut cancer risk, as well as providing lots of information and advice around not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, cutting down on alcohol and more. You can read more about diet and cancer on our website: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer and cancer prevention in general here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer.

The evidence for what cancer patients undergoing treatment should eat is a little less clear. But it’s important that patients eat enough to enable their bodies to cope with therapy. You can read more in this blog post: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2011/11/01/what-should-you-eat-while-youre-being-treated-for-cancer/

Best wishes,
Emma
ENG

8 June 2015

Reading the title I said to myself: what an interesting topic however reading the blog was really disappointing. The text is unfair and biased. Unfair because, right from the beginning (i.e. the pictures) it is suggested that there is nothing valuable in alternatives therapies (as could be the case in some of them but it is not shown here) and biased because a discussion of “harms” should necessary describe the harms associated to “standard” therapies(e.g. surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy) that are very far from being negligible…Not really what I expect from a serious scientific institution.
Chrissie

5 June 2015

The photos of snake oil are deliberately misleading – most natural therapists actually recommend a natural diet rather than any magic fairy dust:
A diet full of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need for optimum performance;
An organic diet that doesn’t have the pesticides and herbicides most of our so-called “fresh” food is often tainted with
A diet that isn’t out of a ready made box or McDonald’s drive-thru
A diet that isn’t full of bottled carbonated drinks full of aspartame and other chemicals

They also recommend we cut down on the toxins we’re exposed to daily.

Surely this is common sense and not “snake oil”? Does Cancer Research UK really believe that by eating cr@p and not doing this we are in any way helping our fight against cancer? The fact that the richest nations in the world have the highest cancer rates is very telling. Stand at a supermarket checkout and how many people actually do have a diet that isn’t destroying their body by leaving out essential nutrients and overloading with sugar and high salt?

I have cancer – and this prompted me to research widely. I was shocked at just how bad my diet had become over the years, I was unwittingly killing myself from within. I’ve changed this radically and my diet now includes 70% raw fruit and veg (blended into smoothies) and my energy levels are through the roof and my skin is glowing. We’ve cut down on dairy and gluten and my daughter’s ezcema has cleared up – her GPs have simply given her steroid cream for 15 years, treating the symptom and not the cause (and not too successfully at that either).

Whenever someone dies who has used a naturopathic route, they are held up as some kind of proof that the approach doesn’t work. If we use the same approach for conventional medicine, chemo needs to stop RIGHT NOW! How many people do you know who’ve followed a conventional path and still died? I personally know 3 in the last year in my usual friend’s circle.In two of those cases the months before were blighted by the most horrific toxic treatments that left them debilitated. And you say this is better? An Australian study claims that the contribution of cytoxic chemotherapy to the 5 year survival of adults was estimated to be no more than 2.3% for a wide number of cancers.

If a naturopath (or indeed any other site) suggests drinking the blood of virgins or dancing naked to a full moon to cure cancer, then yes, they deserve to ridiculed. In essence they’re recommending turning back the clock to eat and live as our bodies were designed to, rather than surrounding ourselves with daily stresses and chemical overload. This is exactly the advice sites like Cancer Research should be giving out – not necessarily to replace conventional medicine (if that’s someone’s choice) but to complement, to build our bodies and our immune systems to fight this condition. Sticking your collective head in the sand and ignoring the effect of diet on our overall well being doesn’t add to your credibility at all I’m afraid.
Emma Smith

29 May 2015

Hi Ian,
It is very expensive to run clinical trials, and as a charity we can only fund high quality research that is most likely to benefit cancer patients.

Scientists from around the world have carried out large studies following patients who have chosen to try Gerson therapy. Evidence from their research showed no benefit for cancer patients. Here are a couple of examples if you’d like to read more:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24403443
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20361473

Emma
Ian

28 May 2015

Can someone from cancer research UK please answer why they don’t put alternative treatments like the gerson therapy through strick clinical trials like they do chemotherapy drugs.Surely it’s in there best interests.Ive watched many interviews with Charlotte gerson and its very hard to think she’s lying about everything she is saying.
Emma

28 May 2015

Hi John,
On rare occasions cancer can disappear without treatment – this is called ‘spontaneous regression’. It’s something doctors have noticed can happen for hundreds of years, but why it happens in some patients is still a mystery. It’s a phenomenon researchers are urgently trying to understand though.

One popular theory is that something (like an infection) activates an immune response, and this can help the immune system to suddenly recognise the danger posed by the cancer cells and then destroy them (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_remission). But there’s no conclusive evidence to show that this is the reason for spontaneous regression.

However, one example of where this theory has been turned into an effective medicine is the use of BCG (the bacteria used to vaccinate people against tuberculosis) to treat bladder cancer (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/bladder-cancer/treatment/early/treatment-into-the-bladder#bcg). The presence of bacteria in the bladder can activate a potent immune response, which can turn against the cancer too.

And treatments to direct the power of the immune system against cancer are at cutting edge of research, and have already brought much-needed new drugs to patients. You can read more about new immunotherapies here (http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/06/02/new-immunotherapy-drugs-hit-the-headlines-how-do-they-work/) and here (http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/05/27/virus-therapy-for-melanoma-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/).

Returning to cases of ‘spontaneous regression’, it is true that it can happen. But it’s really important to stress that these rare cases don’t provide evidence that alternative therapies work, or that ‘miracle’ cures exist.

Emma
john

28 May 2015

Can someone from cancer research please answer this question. Has any human being cured their cancer without chemotherapy or radiation or surgery or conventional medicine? Are all the people who say they have cured cancer naturally lying?
stephen

20 May 2015

More propaganda and lies from cancer research
Ian

20 May 2015

Chris from Chrisbeatcancer has actually replied to this article through a video on YouTube and basically rips it to bits.Im sure cancer research uk could put him right on a few things but a lot of what he says raises some very valid points.
Ian

20 May 2015

The problem I have with this article is that it says “there’s no evidence to show that alternative therapies work”.Well there’s no evidence to show that they don’t work either and unless Cancer research uk invests millions of pounds into ‘proper’ trials into alternative therapies like they do for chemotherapy drugs then we will never no.Until they do this then the dury will always be open on this one.
N0jo

19 May 2015

For IVA: https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/chris-beat-cancer/
Tracey

14 May 2015

I’m not 100% sure how I feel about this article. I was successfully treated for breast cancer 14 years ago when the diagnosis was very bleak – this included trial drugs. The entire process brought me to me knees with feeling so ill. I remain grateful to science as having saved my life. The article makes some excellent points – for example I was refused a massage by a massage therapist due to the fact that the massage “moved lymphatic fluid” with the basis of this being that this could “move my cancer” – it was one of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard – lymphatic fluid moves all the time! So some therapists are simply ignorant of basic anatomy and physiology having taken a 6-10 week course. This being said … There are some brilliant and wise therapists out there and plenty of complementary options and I have tried many that helped. I realise the article is trying to put a word of caution here but there is also a lot we don’t know and the pharmaceutical industry is a profit making industry as well – who also make millions – so yes take care when checking what you need. If I was ever unfortunate to have my dancer come back…. If it was not curable? I don’t truly think I could have life prolonging treatment conventionally again – I would use complementary therapy to help me cone to terms with this diagnosis and elevate discomfort –
Iva

14 May 2015

http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/category/natural-survivor-stories/
Iva

14 May 2015

http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/alternative-therapies-whats-the-harm-my-response-to-cancer-research-uk/
belle

14 May 2015

Cancer research blog posts are so dumbed down. First you say listening to one person is unreliable as it lacks scientific evidence, then site what Steve jobs is ‘thought to have thought’ in the next paragraph. Speaking from my experience, my oncology team are only interested in my cancer. When quizzed, they had zero advice or interest in my overall health, diet ( and I quote, ‘eat whatever makes you happy’), emotional health or fitness. Eating healthily, keeping a positive attitude and staying fit has become ‘alternative health advice’. Why are cancer research repeatedly so down on this.
Emma

30 April 2015

Hi A,

Thanks for your comment. As we point out right at the beginning of our post, we draw a distinction between alternative treatments – treatments that replace conventional therapy, which are the focus of our concerns – and complementary treatments, which are used alongside medical treatments. We provide information about both on our website here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/

Another commenter raised similar concerns about information about supportive complementary therapies such as yoga – please read our reply to her below: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/04/27/alternative-therapies-whats-the-harm/comment-page-1/#comment-48872.

You may also be interested in reading this post we’ve just published about the importance of physical activity for cancer patients: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/04/29/advice-on-being-active-should-be-routine-in-bowel-cancer-care/ And we’ve also written about a trial we’re funding looking at whether curcumin, one of the chemicals in turmeric, can help treat bowel cancer: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2012/05/07/new-trial-to-test-spice-extract-curcumin-against-bowel-cancer/

Emma
A

29 April 2015

This article is not a very well balanced article. It fails to address the scientifically proven “alternative” thearapies such as a healthy and balanced diet in both preventing and aiding the recovery of cancer patients.

It also fails to address the many herbs and plants that can complement traditional thearapies by boosting the immune system for example tumeric’s anti-inflammatory properties; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12676044 . It also does not address things such as meditation, yoga etc that whilst may not directly “cure” cancer they have a massive effect on mental health by helping to reduce stress; a known contributing factor to cancer recovery; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19023879.

Your mention of Taxol is also misleading as it is used as a Chemotherapy agent and it may have been derived from Yew, however any herbalist or any one that knows anything about traditional folk medicine would know that yew has been known to be toxic for many hundreds if not thousands of years.

Unfortunatley this article seems like an opionion peace based on the common idea that “western” medicine is the only medicine worth practicing and that any “alternative” or traditional medicines are quakary, the picture at the beggining of the article of the snake oil immediately informs the reader that this is not wholly based on fact and is a largly the writers opinion.

I am disappointed as I feel that cancer research UK should be promoting all types of treatment for cancer and providing a balanced view on everything rather than denouncing natural alternatives that have at least some scientific, peer reviewed evidence to support their use along side more traditional treatments.

To any one reading this there is a wealth of knowledge and data out their, it can be difficult to filter out the fact from opinion on the internet but if you see something that is opinion, try searching for peer reviewed data on it, as it may have a factual basis aswell.

Incase anyone thinks I am just trying to promote “alternative” thearapies, I work in an NHS laboratory and have an MSc in Biomedical Science.
Steve Muir

28 April 2015

Well done. A very readable and informative article, with lots of interesting references and links.
Anna Buckley

27 April 2015

Thank you for your response Emma, I appreciate you spending the time to include all that information, v much appreciated. Anna xxx
Ronny Allan

27 April 2015

a most excellent blog, I will share it widely. My reposting of your ‘Debunking Cancer Myths’ blog got 3500 hits! Thanks also for reconfirming Steve Jobs had a Neuroendocrine Tumour and not Pancreatic Cancer as widely reported in certain areas.

Ronny Allan
Campaigns Ambassador (New Forest West)
Emma

27 April 2015

Hi Anna,
Thanks for your comments. We really wanted to focus on the risks of alternative treatments in this post – therapies that people pursue instead of taking conventional treatment – but as we mention in this post, we have extensive information about a range of alternative and complementary treatments on our website, including hypnotherapy (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/hypnotherapy) , yoga (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/yoga) visualisation(http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/visualisation) and massage therapy (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/massage-therapy).

Having a healthy diet and being physically active (if possible) is important for people with cancer, and we have lots of information on our website about this – for each type of cancer there is information and advice about living with that disease, including diet and activity advice where applicable. Plus we have more general sections on coping physically and emotionally: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping-with-cancer/ We’ve also blogged about what to eat when being treated for cancer: http://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2011/11/01/what-should-you-eat-while-youre-being-treated-for-cancer/

If you have any questions at all, please do get in touch with our cancer information nurses on Freephone 0808 800 4040, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.
Best wishes,
Emma
Edmund Auckland

27 April 2015

Excellent article, and well worth sharing. All these points bear constant repetition, because like Mark Twain said, it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. Clearly articulating the dangers of alternative medicine really does save lives.

Keep fighting the good fight!
Anna buckley

27 April 2015

Hello Emma. A well written and convincing blog post, however I think it would have been more helpful if you had also included some of the very well researched and evidence based proof on ways in which people can support themselves through their treatment in a holistic way, such as with diet, exercise, mindfulness techniques and complementary therapy, as this does come off a bit too much as alternative medicine bashing which does cancer research no favours in the eyes of those of us who have had to cope with cancer diagnosis and the treatments that go with it! More carrot and less stick perhaps?!!! Anna