Is There a Natural Cure for Cancer?
The ridiculous class action lawsuit levied against Taco Bell last week brought back memories of my first job: working the drive-thru window at the Taco Bell in Normal, Illinois. As a new employee, I received training on how to prepare the menu items, instructions on taking an order, and a mandate to ALWAYS try to upsell a combo:
“Welcome to the Border. My name is Stacy. Can I take your order? And would you like to add chips and a drink for just $1.49 more?”
I also discovered that the seasoned beef used in the Taco Bell menu offerings came in plastic bags labeled “Meat Product.” These bags were boiled in giant pots at the back of the store and poured into stainless steel containers on the food prep line. A manager told me once that the “meat product” was 85% beef. I didn’t think at the time to ask him what the other 15% was. (Turns out its mostly seasonings and some other common food additives.)
As I think about “all natural” therapies for cancer, I think about our relationship to food. At one time, the newly formed Earth contained all the things we needed to survive. We hunted wild game and gathered berries. We co-existed with the planet, and died when we broke a leg, had a baby, got a tooth infection or were killed by an angry mastodon.
But then we discovered antibiotics, chemotherapy, plastic, air-conditioning, automobiles, telescopes, and beta blockers. As we introduced more science, the natural world just couldn’t keep up. Rather than co-existing, we began not just to control, but to dominate the world around us in order to survive. This is one way I think about why we can’t bring only essential oils to a cancer fight.
You may or may not agree with my simplified explanation, but we have some data about what our fellow citizens believe. In the most recent National Cancer Opinion Survey, ASCO asked over 4,100 Americans including over 1,000 cancer survivors about their cancer-related beliefs and experiences. The survey found that nearly 4 in 10 Americans believed that cancer can be cured by using only alternative therapies.
Almost 4 in 10 Americans believe that cancer can be cured by using only alternative therapies.
Four in ten. That’s alot. This is despite strong evidence showing that patients who chose treatment with alternative medicine alone had over double the death rate than patients who chose standard therapies. This effect was particularly concerning in colorectal patients who halved their chance of survival when they chose alternative treatment over standard recommendations.
I can hear my integrative oncology friends shuffling nervously in the back. I see you. It’s important to note the difference between alternative medicine and integrative medicine. Whereas integrative medicine covers a wide range of therapies that are used in conjunction with conventional treatments, alternative medicine is an unproven therapy given in place of conventional treatment.
Many doctors resist talking with their patients about “natural” therapies due to outdated fears or lack of knowledge. And that’s wrong too. I have seen acupuncture relieve neuropathy symptoms better than any drug and all the data shows that nothing works better to combat fatigue than moving your body. Art therapy, healing touch, and mindfulness harness the untapped potential of our minds to manage symptoms and process the traumatic experience of cancer treatment. As doctors, we have to learn about these treatments and discuss them with our patients.
70% of Americans believe alternative therapies are helpful to use with standard cancer treatments.
We have to be cautious, however, when choosing complementary therapies. Research shows that taking certain supplements during cancer treatment may actually decrease the chance of cure. A recent analysis of dietary supplement use by breast cancer patients during chemotherapy showed that patients who reported using an antioxidant supplement (vitamins A, C, and E; carotenoids; coenzyme Q10) were 41 percent more likely to have their breast cancer return than those who did not report taking these supplements. Similar results have been found in head and neck and lung cancer patients.
So where does that leave us? Through scientific discovery we are now living longer and healthier lives. Chemotherapy has reduced the chances of a child dying from cancer by 70% in the past 50 years. Since 1900, our life expectancy has almost doubled. The benefits of “unnatural” chemicals and products we have developed to heal have likely surpassed the capabilities of the natural world. That doesn’t mean, however, we have to throw the lavender oils out with the chemo water.
describes this tension: “[W]e are torn between a hatred for the manmade and a love of just how useful artificial things can be.”
The good news is that we don’t have to choose one or the other. By moving past the polarized notions that anything manmade is dangerous and everything natural is helpful, we can optimally harness the power of each. I can eat my ultra-processed Beyond Beef product, prescribe anti-biotics for my patients AND use yoga to strengthen my body and clear my mind. Both traditional medicine and integrative therapies play important roles in health promotion and cancer treatment.
On my mind…
Congratulations,
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I live in both these worlds! Both can work in tandem. I actually love that you say acupuncture can help more for neuropathy! I’m going to give that a go! Thank you 🙏🏻 😊
Thanks for the shout out. I understand that some compounds, like IV vitamin C, contends with Cisplatin for the same cell receptors. It's a tricky chemical world out there. I am hoping that I've made a good down payment on my bid for survivorhood.