Results for: cancer

Contrary to what we are frequently told, we are not “losing the war on cancer” (2020 edition)

The narrative we hear from the media (and, of course, from alternative medicine mavens) is that we are "losing the war on cancer." It's actually not true. As the latest statistics from the American Cancer Society show, the mortality rate from cancer has been declining for decades.

/ January 13, 2020

Do dietary supplements affect the survival of cancer patients?

Do dietary supplements offer advantages or risks to breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy?

/ January 9, 2020

Herbal Products and Cancer Treatment

Oncologists increasingly are warning their patients away from alternative herbal treatments, and with good reason.

/ November 20, 2019

“Eliminating cancer” with Traditional Chinese Medicine and other state-sanctioned quackery

State-approved continuing education courses pump a steady stream of fresh pseudoscience into acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine practice. Courses include claims of "eliminating cancer" and "reversing pediatric asthma" as well as anti-vaccination tropes.

/ October 24, 2019
Chris Wark didn't beat cancer

Chris Beat Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide to Making a Killing

Chris Wark has a new book out, with the unsurprising title of Chris Beat Cancer. It purports to be a guide to beating cancer. It's not.

/ September 5, 2019

The FDA’s accelerated drug approval program is failing to protect cancer patients

Drug approval is a process that should be and, for the most part, is rooted in rigorous science. However, there is always a countervailing pressure to approve new drugs rapidly, particularly in cancer. That's why the FDA created the accelerated approval program in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, increasingly this approval process appears to be failing us in oncology. Reform is needed.

/ June 3, 2019

CAM and cancer: Who uses CAM, and why?

Many patients with cancer use complementary and alternative medicine, and it is important to understand why.

/ May 16, 2019

The NORI protocol: An unproven fruit-based nutritional treatment for cancer sold by a self-proclaimed “expert”

Mark Simon is the founder of the Nutritional Oncology Research Institute. He doesn't have an MD, DO, nor PhD. (He doesn't even have an ND!) Yet he claims to have discovered a dietary protocol that can cure cancer. Can it? (I think you know the answer to this question.)

/ May 13, 2019

Kidney Cancer and Incidentalomas

Kidney cancer diagnoses are increasing but there has been no increase in mortality or rate of metastases. Kidney cancer is most often diagnosed as an incidental finding on a CT scan that was done for unrelated reasons. Treatment may not always be needed.

/ February 12, 2019

Is An Israeli Company About to Cure Cancer?

Hyped claims for a cure for all cancers are inherently unbelievable. So don't believe them.

/ January 30, 2019