Hello everyone,

Is anyone familiar with G. Edward Griffin's book titled "World Without Cancer"? Griffin advocates laetrile treatment--otherwise known as Vitamin B-17. The underlying assumpion behind this treatment, which was developed by Dr. Ernst Krebs, is that cancer derives from a vitamin deficiency.

In his book, Griffin also claims that much of cancer research is politically driven and that there are vested interests in insuring that only conventional cancer treatments be granted legitimacy. In other words, if people were to know that there is a much more effective (and much cheaper) way of treating cancer--it would undermine the multi-billion dollar cancer industry.

I was wondering whether anyone is familiar with laetrile treatment and what they think about it.

regards,
Gino

Gino,
The Laetril scam has been around since the 50's and is covered extensively on Quackwatch.com

Chuck

NO

Gino, best to stay with the establishment on this one. You are not dealing with a case of bunions here, but a nasty disease that needs a big stick to thump it out of existence. Unfortunately, there are always scams designed to separate vulnerable people from their money. Don't fall victim to one.

Laetrile was shown to be ineffective decades ago. The only places that still talk about it are some clinics in Mexico and some third world countries where their primary purpose at these facilities seems to be to separate those with no alternatives left for treatment, (and therefore a terminal prognosis) from their money, doing something that has NEVER worked. In spite of the fact that it is useless, in foreign countries where medical care is to a large extent unregulated, charlatans like this can thrive doing not only this but feeding you full of shark cartilage and more... All with the same outcome. You and your family are broke, and your physical outcome will be the same as before you went there.

By the way, just because someone wrote a book, or it apapears ona website....that dosen't make it true. There are enough self published books out there promoting quack ideas about curing illness, dieting, and more, to replace half of our old growth forrests if their pages could be turned back into trees.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your responses. I had never heard of laetrile until a few days ago. I picked up Griffin's book and immediately questioned its legitimacy, as many of his footnotes consisted of "personal notes" and/or "personal letters." I was simply curious as to what your opinions were.

Your opinions seem to echo a vast literature devoted to debunking laetrile, much of which one can find in scholarly databases that I happen have access to. Nonetheless, there are quite a few folks out there who swear laetrile treatment has cured them--something I find rather curious.

Brian, I'm quite familiar with the publishing industry and agree that there's a lot of crap out there.

best,
Gino

It's right up there with pixie dust and the tooth fairy. That's just the tip of the iceberg in bogus cancer cures out there...

The first amendment gives the right to publish whatever crap they want.

Try chasing down one of those people that claims a cure... it's an exercise that has been done before. Almost impossible to find them and most are probably made up. I also access major medical databases as a matter of routine, and I can't find one documented cure for this stuff. Like I said, you can say anything you want in print or on the web, but the peer reveiw process eventually weeds out the bogus stuff. It's too bad that it lives on in the realm of media that people who don't know how to do good research about something will find. It's a disservice to the public, and I think that this crap ( and much more that falls into this same bogus take your money for some promises realm) should be criminal and not allowed to be still out there for people to stumble on. Of course then we'd be stepping on someones first amendment rights to say what they believe, even if it is horseshit.

My first cousin went to Mexico for Laetrile treatments after he was diagnosed as terminal. They did nothing except, like Brian said, separate him from a large chunk of his money. He died over 12 years ago.
Darrell

The laetrile scam is a good one. People with bad diagnoses really want to believe in the magic of nature, or of something from the sea, or some newly discovered miracle. We just aren't there yet with cancer treatment. Perhaps one day, but not today, and not with laetrile. Tom

I suppose that by now most everyone has heard of the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. passing away in the last day, ovarian cancer. It has been coming for some time, though she has been active right up to the end. The part of the story that I found interesting, (not that she did not leave an extraordinary life and many aspects of it are interesting and have helped continue her husband

Kind of like chasing down the "Blue Butterfly" - a heart warming movie, but nevertheless, a sad ending - the reason to go to Mexico may have been purely having Hope, which is something we all cherish. Some things are best to try, some to just sit back & wonder.
Maria

False hope does not make your life better. Unrealistic expectations do not either. That doesn't mean I am about to go quietly into the night. I will fight the end with all the tools available including very early clinical trial drugs, RFA of big lesions to buy time, and surgical ablation to reduce tumor mass as long as there is something else out there in the drug pipeline that is showing promise. Inevitably, I will reach a point where the quality of life vs. the continued fight no longer balance out. When that time comes, and I will have consulted with many doctors to determine that the resources and options have run out. I will then work toward acceptance of the end that we all, whether though cancer or some other mechanism, will come to.

Then I will work on closure with those close to me as a productive manner to spend my time, and finally coming to emotional terms and peace in the acceptance of my end. I will not be draining my wife's bank account, on some flight to some third world medical facility, chasing what is false hope.

We do a poor job in the US of embracing the true nature of existence, and that is that it is finite. We used to bring our very old family members into our homes where they weakened and died in the presence of their loved ones and families including the children. Now we shuffle them off to nursing homes (a multi-billion dollar industry) in droves. If, when you are a child, you are exposed to death as a normal part of your own existence, you realize that for all the perceived invulnerability that comes with youth, the reality of how we all end is not to be denied. From this realization, I believe comes a concept of living each day to the fullest, making and achieving goals, maximizing the interpersonal relationships that we are lucky enough to enjoy, giving some of ourselves to the service of others, and in general not spending our lives drifting as froth on the wake of life. Hope is good to a point when it is balanced by a realistic understanding of the situation; false hope wastes precious moments in time and other opportunities to emotionally complete our circle.

Brian - sometimes, and this is a compliment, your writing sounds poetic. Very insightful and considered and, ultimately, calm-inducing. I showed John and he really liked reading your last post.

Mary

Yes, that's a wonderful post, Brian. I agree false hope is damaging. I personally know of two stories where someone with advanced cancer, blindly pursuing anything advertised as a cure, left their young family (in one case) and their business as well (in another case) bankrupt from the chase, and, as you said with Coretta King died just about when the doctors had predicted anyway. Thats' certainly not the legacy I'd want to leave to my loved ones at the end.

Nelie

I always loved watching "Peter Pan" and I thought Pixie Dust was pretty neat. I also remember the "laying out" of my Grandfather's casket on Grandmother's dining room table as pretty impressive, as were all the people who came to the house to say goodbye. Now that I am 65 yrs. plus, I appreciate more each day the old-gentle-and matter of fact way our forebearers dealt with death. It was a part of life. My daughter called me about 6 pm tonite, sobbing and devastated, because a close friend of her's died instantly of an anurism this morning [at age 35]. There aren't many words of comfort for that. But that is what it is. Life and death go hand and hand. It pretty much boils down to how we are going to deal with it.

The truth is that we all die, however not all of us truly live. Fear is powerful thing, and it gets in the way (in my own life as well) of living in the present. How much of our time is sspent worrying about the future? I don't mean you shouldn't plan, organize, and develop strategies, but this is way different than worrying about that which we cannot control. How much time do we spend reliving, or regretting things in our past, or still carrying anger or frustration over that which has past? Earlier in my life I would have to say too much time. It is really hard to live in the moment. But the moment is in reality the only thing that we actually have... the past is gone, the future is promised to no one. While it did take cancer to bring my perspective and thought processes around, this paradigm shift in how I TRY to live, has made me happier, even in times of adversity, more productive in my daily endeavors, and closer to the people I care about because I am really interested, and paying attention to them...right now. This is probably to some, developing too much of the ring of some kind of 'new age

Brian, to me it's "new age" belief systems that are responsible for beliefs in herbal cures because they're "natural", etc.

Yours sounds like buddhism to me. A very old belief system actually...

Nelie

The 'slasher' email marketers just sent me an ad for a complete cure for cancer. Its from the ocean algae. This fellow started eating it and his cancer vanished. Now we wants to share it with ME. Imagine that.

Its totally natural you know. From the sea. Just like we are from the sea. Its from nature so its totally safe! It re-establishes the body's Ph balance - which as we all know is the REAL cause of cancer. Eat algae = tumors gone. Its a miracle. He wants to share it with US. Praise be. There is just a "nominal" fee for the actual processing costs. No profit is made of course.

I thought you would all like to know that your BIG problem is your Ph balance. Buy some totally natural, very pricey, green slime today! (let me know how that works out for you.....)

Be smart. Tom

On a slightly more serious note, I know several people who swear that blue-green algae is incredibly healthy and good for youre immune system (though they don't claim it cures cancer). The stuff tastes vile but since I'm pouring things down my tube anyway, I was adding a bunch of blue-green algea powder mixed with water once a day as well figuring what the heck, it coudn't hurt--and I sure wasn't getting salad or anything else fresh and green so maybe this would compensate.

But my sister, who works for the EPA, strongly suggested that wasn't such a wise idea. Apparently there's lots of toxic stuff in that lovely natural green algea. Stuff that an be really toxic. And since it's a food supplement, that isn't regulated by anyone. Just an FYI.

As Tom said above "be smart" ......

Blue-green algae isn't algae, it's a photosynthetic bacteria. Quite a few kinds are toxic but assume they aren't in the supplements!

There are supplements made from Chlorella, a true green alga, from Martek corporation which include essential fatty acids (DHA & EPA). These are often used by people who don't want to take fish oil capsules. However there is no good evidence that these fatty acids protect against cancer, according to a news report I read today. Good for your cholesterol and important in nerve development and functioning, however.

Btw, the algae are the initial source of the DHA and EPA which end up -- going up the fod chain -- in marine fish.

Gail