A Special Message for Cancer Patients Seeking "Alternative" Treatments
Don't let desperation lead you to try things just because someone advises you to do so. Read the information on this web site thoroughly. We strongly recommend that you avoid any "alternative" cancer treatment discussed on Quackwatch. If you or someone you know investigate or pursue any such treatment, please share your experience with us. Your name and report will remain confidential.
An Overview of "Alternative" Methods
These explain how promoters of dubious treatments manipulate the emotions of desperate cancer patients and their families.
- Be Wary of "Alternative" Health Methods
- How Quackery Sells
- How Quackery Harms Cancer Patients
- 25 Ways to Spot Quackery
- "Health Freedom" How It Harms Cancer Patients
- More Ploys That May Fool You
- Why Strong Laws Are Needed to Protect Us
Myths vs. Facts
- Questionable Cancer Therapies LONG ARTICLE - READ THIS FIRST
- Is There a Conspiracy to Suppress Cancer Cures?
- General Advice from the National Cancer Institute
- Can Any Cancer Treatment Strengthen the Immune System?
- "Miraculous Results" that Weren't
- Be Wary of Fee-Based Advice That Includes "Alternative" Treatment Options
- OTA Report: Unconventional Cancer Treatments (a 300-page book)
- ACS List of Unproven Methods (1971)
- Reports of the Swiss Study Group for Complementary and Alternative Methods in Cancer
- Book Review: American Cancer Society's Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Methods
Questionable Tests
Dubious Treatments
Topics with posting dates or links to other sites are detailed reports. Items without posting dates are linked to a brief report or a longer OTA passage on Quackwatch.
- AM-2
- Amyloxine
- Antineoplastons (Stanislaw Burzynski, MD)
- Anvirzel (FDA warning letter)
- Aveloz
- Bemer 3000
- Bio-Ionic System (Evans Rapsomanikis)
- Biotech Cell Information
- BioResonance Tumor Therapy
- Bioterrain Management System
- CanCell (also called Cantron, Entelev, and Protocel)
- Canova Method
- Cansema System
- Carnivora
- Cat's Claw (link to another site)
- Cellular Health™ (Matthias Rath)
- Cellular Therapy
- Cesium chloride
- Chaparral
- Controlled Amino Acid Therapy
- Coral calcium
- "Cure for All Cancers" (Hulda Clark)
- CWAT-Treatment: Bioresonance therapy (link to FTC complaint)
- Davidson Cancer Clinic/Monterrey Wellness Cancer
- Devices: General comments
- Devitalisation
- Di Bella therapy
- Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)
- Electron replacement therapy
- Elixir Vitae
- Escharotic Salves
- Essiac
- Fasting
- Forticel tea (link FDA warning letter)
- Fractional chemotherapy
- Galavit
- Galvanotherapy
- Gerson Method
- Gonzalez (Kelley) Metabolic Therapy
- Grape cure
- Greek Cancer Cure (Alivazatos) (posted 8/31/98)
- GS Drops
- Hallelujah Diet
- Hamer's "New Medicine" (also called German New Medicine)
- HANSI™
- Health Restoration Program (Lorraine Day, MD)
- Holt microwave treatment
- Hoxsey Treatment
- Hydrazine Sulfate
- Hyperthermia, whole body
- Immuno-Augmentative Therapy
- ImmunoPower
- Immunostim
- ImmuStim (Gregory E. Caplinger)
- Induced Remission Therapy (Sam Chachoua)
- Induced Hypoglycemic Treatment (IHT, also called Hypoglycemic Adjuvant Therapy)
- Instinctotherapy (raw food diet)
- Insulin Potentiation Therapy (IPT)
- Intra-Cellular Hyperthermia Therapy (ICHT)
- Issels' Whole Body Therapy
- Jason Winters tea
- Jomol
- Krebiozen
- Laetrile
- Livingston-Wheeler Regimen
- Macrobiotic diet
- MGN-3
- Metabolic therapy
- Manner Metabolic Therapy
- Questionable Practices at Mexican Border Clinics (link to American Cancer Society)
- MICOM
- Mistletoe/Iscador
- Moerman diet
- Mucorhicin
- Multi Wave Oscillator
- Naltrexone
- Nieper Therapy
- NeyTumerin
- Oncolyn
- "Oxygenation therapies")
- Pap Ion Magnetic Inductor
- Pau D'arco
- PC-SPES (link to ACS article)
- Polyatomic Oxygen Therapy
- Polydox or polyMVA link to ACS article)
- Pulsating Energy Resonance Therapy (PERTH)
- Psychic surgery
- Psychologic methods
- R-A therapy
- Recancostat
- Resan Antitumor Vaccine
- Revici Cancer Control
- Rife Frequency Generator
- RM-10
- Seasilver
- 714X
- Shark Cartilage
- Sodium bicarbonate injections (Dr. T. Simoncini)
- Stockholm Protocol
- Sundance Nachez Mineral Water (see MICOM)
- Tahitian Noni
- Thymus therapy
- Tian Xian Liquid
- Tumorex
- T-Up
- Two Feathers Healing Formula
- Ukrain
- Ultraviolet blood irradiation
- VG-1000
- "Vitamin B-17" Tablets
- Vitamin C
- Wheat grass
- Zoetron therapy (Cell Specific Cancer Therapy)
Other Questionable Activities
- Genetic Services Management (dubious "clinical trial")
Quackery Victim Reports
- The Death of Debbie Benson
- Ruth Conrad (burned by an escharotic)
- Lucillle Craven
- Lori Hoeksema
- An Experience with Robert H. Dowling
- Some Thoughts about the Klinik St. George
Legal and Regulatory Actions
- American Metabolic Institute (link to another site)
- Cancer Treatment Centers of America (1996)
- Century Wellness Clinic
- Court Rules Doctor Not Required to Tell Patients about "Alternative" Therapies
- Issels Medical Center
- Laetrile Spammers (Christian Brothers) Facing $631,585 Penalty
- Limits Placed on Burzynski's Cancer Treatment (1998)
- Phony Doctor Sentenced for Cancer Drug Scam (LK-200)
Nonrecommended Information Sources
- Amber's Alliance Foundation
- Arlin J. Brown Information Center
- Bioimmune Inc (formerly CancerOption.com) (link to Casewatch)
- Canadian Cancer Research Group (CCRG)
- Cancer Control Society
- Cancer Cure Foundation / Cure Research Foundation
- Cancer Information and Support Society
- Cancer Information Center
- Cancer Tutor
- CancerSource complementary & integrative therapies
- CANHELP (founded by Patrick M. McGrady, Jr.)
- Center for Advancement in Cancer Education
- Center for Alternative Cancer Research (Project Cure)
- Committee for Freedom of Choice in Medicine
- Commonweal
- Foundation for Advancement in Cancr Therapy, Ltd (FACT), formerly called Foundation for Alternative Cancer Therapy, Ltd.
- International Association of Cancer Victors and Friends
- International Cancer Association Network (Australia)
- International Council for Health Freedom
- National Cancer Research Foundation (New York City)
- National Foundation for Alternative Medicine
- National Health Federation
- Orthomolecular Oncology
- People Against Cancer
- Prostate Health Resources (Larry Clapp)
- Ralph Moss on Cancer
- Syracuse Cancer Research Institute
Recommended Information Sources
- About Herbs, Botanicals, & Other Products: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center database
- American Cancer Society: A few articles on "complementary and alternative therapies" are too bland.
- American Society of Clinical Oncology
- CancerNet: The National Cancer Institute's comprehensive resource for both doctors and patients. The information on standard treatment is excellent, but the information on "complementary and alternative medicine" is skimpy and not very useful.
- Cancer News on the Net
- CancerTrack: Index to relaible cancer information on the Internet.
- Clinical Trials
- Dictionary of Cancer Terms
- FDA Oncology Tools
- National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network
- National Guidelines Clearinghouse: Index to guidelines for detection and management of many types of cancer.
- Oncolink: University of Pennsylvania's Cancer database
- Pancreatica.org: All about cancer of the pancreas
Patient Support
- Helping People Cope: A Guide for Families Facing Cancer (1988). Published by the Pennsylvania Department of Health
- Oncology Mailing Lists: Active discussions with searchable archives on the general topic of cancer and for more than 20 specific types of cancer. These offer an opportunity to share ideas and experiences with other cancer patients. Messages promoting quack methods are sometimes posted. When that happens, they are usually debunked.
- Guide for Cancer Supporters: Appropriate strategies for dealing with cancer. Warning: The "mental welfare" section of Part 2 contains unsubstantiated statements and should be ignored.
Nonrecommended Books
- Beating Cancer with Nutrition (Michael Quillin, PhD, Rd, 1994)
- Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth (Phillip Day, 2001)
- Cancer and Common Sense (Douglas Brodie, MD)
- Cancer and Its Nutritional Therapies (Richard Passwater, 1978, 1983)
- Cancer & Nutrition (Charles B. Simone, MD, 1983)
- Cancer: One Disease, One Cause, One Cure (Mike Thompson, DC)
- Cancer: Treating Cancer with Insulin Potentiation Therapy (Ross Hauder, MD, Marion A. Hauser, MS, RD, 2002)
- Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth (Philip Day, 2000)
- The Cancer Industry (Ralph W. Moss.1980, 1989).
- Cancer Therapy (Ralph W. Moss, 1992)
- Choices in Healing (Michael Lerner, 1994)
- Comprehensive Cancer Care (James S. Gordon, MD, and Sharon Curtin, 2000)
- Cure for All Cancers (Hulda Clark, 1993)
- Definitive Guide to Cancer (W. John Diamond, MD, W. Lee Cowden, MD, and Burton Goldberg, 1997)
- Getting Well Again (O. Carl Simonton, MD, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, James L. Creighton, 1978)
- Living Well Naturally (Anthony J. Sattilaro, MD, 1984)
- B17: Metabolic Therapy in the prevention and control of cancer, a technical manual (Philip Day, 2002)
- Nutrition: The Cancer Answer II (Maureen Salaman, 1995)
- Options: The Alternative Cancer Therapy Book (Richard Walters, 1993)
- Prostate Health in 90 Days (Larry Clapp, 1997-2002)
- Recalled by Life (Anthony J. Sattilaro, MD, 1982)
- Thee Cancer Cure That Worked! (Barry Lynes)
- Third Opinion (John M. Fink, 1988, 1992, 1997)
- Ultimate Cancer Breakthroughs (Marco Wutzer)
- When Healing Becomes a Crime (Kenny Ausubel, 2000)
- World without Cancer (G. Edward Griffin, 1974, 1997)
This page was revised on March 8, 2008.