Ralph Moss on Cancer--Expert Guidance for Crucial Decisions

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EDITORIAL: CHEMO NOW?

From The Cancer Chronicles #22 © July 1994 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

"Millions of people no longer automatically believe what the leaders of the cancer establishment tell them. They are resisting the introduction of carcinogens into the environment; demanding alternative forms of therapy; suing companies; signing petitions; writing, picketing, and protesting."

I wrote those words in The Cancer Industry, first published (as The Cancer Syndrome) in 1980. These words are even truer today. There has been an upsurge of activism among prostate, kidney, and breast cancer patients, unimaginable 15 years ago. Last year, breast cancer activists marched on Washington, delivering a petition with 2.6 million signatures. They demanded more research money for breast cancer, and received the support of, among others, Sen. Tom Harkin, who himself lost two sisters to the disease.

What do these patients really want? I find that they are looking for radically new treatments and prevention strategies, which utilize the body's own natural healing abilities. Some exciting examples are given in The Cancer Chronicles.

However, there are also people who are trying to bend this movement to their own ends. These are the drug industry boosters, chanting "Chemo Now!" from the sidelines. They hope to harness the justifiable anger of women, and of all cancer patients, to get increased funding for the toxic drug agenda.

Their watchwords are tamoxifen, taxol, and bone marrow transplantation. But these "new" treatments are basically old hat. They are often ineffective and cause suffering for many patients. They also diminish chances of success when patients attempt to use natural, immune-based approaches. Patient activists should be discriminating about what they support. Non-toxic approaches are safer and more promising.

Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is director of the The Moss Reports for cancer patients. Dr. Moss is the author of eleven books and three documentaries on cancer-related topics. He is or has been an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Urological Association, Columbia University, the University of Texas, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the German Society of Oncology. He wrote the first article on alternative medicine for the Encyclopedia Britannica yearbook. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in the East, and Who's Who in Entertainment (as a film documentarian). This Web site does not advocate any particular treatment for cancer. We urge you to always seek competent medical advice for all health problems, especially cancer. Before consulting our site please read our full Disclaimer statement.