Alternative Therapies vs. Chemotherapy

[Mary]

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS AND BONE CANCER

Even if an alternative method has cured someone of cancer, one thing that we know about cancer is that each kind is different. For example, bone cancer does not respond to the same drugs as breast cancer! A drug that wipes out breast cancer might not TOUCH bone cancer. And if you compare the chemotherapy requirements for different types of cancer, you will discover that bone cancer patients are required to have much more chemotherapy than other types of cancer patients. The amount of treatment that helps a breast cancer patient may not help a sarcoma patient at all. So we must keep these principles in mind as we look at alternative methods.


THE MATH

There is no alternative method that is proven to cure sarcoma. There are no survival statistics of bone cancer patients with a particular alternative method. These are the statistics we DO know:

Currently, patients who have localized osteosarcoma that is treated with surgery (wide margins around the tumor) and the appropriate chemotherapy have a 75% survival rate. [stats from St. Jude]

Patients who choose against surgery, or who have inadequate surgery, and have chemotherapy have a tumor-free survival rate of about 23%. [see study here]

Patients who choose against chemotherapy when it is required, and only have surgery, have a survival rate of about 20% or less.


ALTERNATIVE (naturopathic) DOCTORS

In most states, naturopathic doctors are not regulated as we expect medical doctors to be. This means that it is difficult to know the quality of care you will receive for the payments that you make. Read more here.


A DOCTOR'S POINT OF VIEW

This is an interesting, though rather blunt, article:

http://www.sickkids.on.ca/journal/issue3/alternative.asp

I agreed with everything that this doctor said until she made the following statement. I think this shows why sometimes we have a hard time swallowing some of the things that our doctors say. Even though she said it with the best intent, and I agree with her conclusions, the fact remains that she seems to have no clue about what life is like after cancer treatment:

"However, once chemotherapy is finished, so are these side effects. This relatively short period of discomfort can buy the rest of a child’s life. Talking of chemotherapy as "poisons" as if they adversely affect the child forever is ridiculous."

If we truly want to fight the alternative methods that do NOT work on bone cancers, I think we need to do it by facing all of the facts. The fact is, chemotherapy is poisonous and it often affects our lives forever, just as our surgeries do. The fact is that these extreme measures are the only ones that have been proven to fight these extreme cancers. [Bone cancer is an EXTREME cancer! It is resistent to even the strongest medications and has a high recurrence rate if not treated aggressively.] And the amazing fact is that members in this group are finding ways everyday to deal with the effects of treatment and enjoy our lives.

Cancer is what has changed our lives. The treatment is a lifeline, even if the treatment is brutal. In all bone cancer cases that I know of, the alternative to traditional medical treatment is a life cut short. And even though I know that, I still understand what a difficult thing it is to choose chemotherapy. I cannot imagine having to do it, but I hope if I ever need it, I will.


A WARNING ABOUT CANCER CURE SCAMS

If you believe you have found a good alternative cancer cure online, make sure to do your research! One of the simplest things to do is search for the name of the cure on google. Dig through several pages of results, and you may find a site that explains how that particular cure is a hoax. You can also try adding the word scam or hoax to your search criteria, to see if you pull up those sites right away.

Here is an example of a cancer cure scam that has fooled others into spending precious time and money on something that does not work.

Here is another example of someone who is currently running infomercials about his books that will help naturally cure cancer. His infomercials sound so sincere and hopeful! Little would you know that he has already settled in court for making false claims about products that do NOT cure cancer. And the reason he is only selling a book instead of a product or a cancer-elimination program is because he is banned from doing that now! He agreed to the ban to avoid conviction for deceiving the public about a cancer cure.