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The Ineffective War on Breast Cancer

In the 1970’s, a woman had a 1 in 11 chance of developing breast cancer. Currently, the risk factor is said to have increased to 1 in 8. [1][2]

The United States has the most cases of breast cancer in the entire world, with one woman dieing of breast cancer every 15 minutes.[2][3]


Tamoxifen

Breast Cancer Awareness Month was founded and sponsored by Imperial Chemical Industries in 1985, the world’s largest carcinogenic pesticide manufacturer. In 1993, Imperial Chemical demerged forming a separate company called Zeneca - AstraZeneca. All pink print, radio and visual ads for October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Months are paid for and approved by AstraZeneca.[4][5][6] 

In addition to creating carcinogenetic pesticides, AstraZeneca produces Tamoxifen – the most popular pharmaceutical drug used in breast cancer patients. In May 2000, the New York Times reported that the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences included Tamoxifen on its list of substances that are known to cause cancer.[7]

Tamoxifen was noted in causing roughly one case of uterine cancer for every four cases of breast cancer it prevents.[8]

The risk of uterine cancer doubled in patients who took tamoxifen for two to five years, and spiked sevenfold among those who took it for five years or longer. My mother, last year, was prescribed tamoxifen to take for 10 years after her bout with breast cancer.[8] 

The treatment for uterine cancer is a hysterectomy.

In 1999, the journal Science published a study from Duke University Medical Center that showed that after 2 - 5 years, Tamoxifen, the most popular drug for treating breast cancer, actually initiated the growth of breast cancer.[9]


But what does this mean?

It means that AstraZeneca, the founder of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, is the manufacturer of cancer-causing chemicals that cause cancer.

AstraZeneca, the founder of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, is a manufacturer of a breast cancer treatment drug that causes cancer, including breast cancer.

This means we must start to look at cancer in an alternative way because what we are doing now is not preventative nor effective.


*****


It was in 1971 when President Nixon declared a war on cancer in his State of the Union speech and signed the National Cancer Act. Rather than being cured, cancer is poised to surpass cardiovascular disease and become America's leading killer.[10]


In 2008, cancer will take the lives of about 230,000 more Americans—69 percent more—than it did in 1971.[10]


Whenever I am asked to donate to a cancer organization, I bear in mind that my support would be given to sustain a failing, fraudulent industry. 

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, I am here to tell you  there is HOPE . . . progressive, effective and non-toxic alternative cancer treatments of which you may not even be aware of exist.

Alternative, all natural cancer treatments DO HELP. Empower yourself….continue to read about how we can help together!


Websites:


Cancer Alternative Therapies – Medline Plus Website




Books:

Donald Abrams, MD & Andrew Weil, MD
Oxford University Press,, 2009

Provides a wealth of information for both practitioners and consumers on the emerging field of integrative oncology.


Joseph Beuth, MD & Ralph W. Moss, PhD
Thieme, 2005

Presents data on the efficacy of complementary methods, the necessary scientific background, and practical advice for introducing them into practice


John Boik, LAc., OMD, MAcOM
Oregon Medical Press, 2001
(Can be downloaded from www.ompress.com)

Sequel to Cancer and Natural Medicine - a systematic review of the actions, pharmacology, toxicology, and potential clinical use of over 36 natural compounds as anticancer agents.


John Boik, LAc., OMD, MAcOM
Oregon Medical Press, 1995

Systematically examines the principles by which anticancer agents may work, their potential uses, and contraindications.
(out of print but still available through Amazon)


Ralph W. Moss, PhD
Equinox Press, 1992

Summarizes information from human clinical trials and animal and test tube experiments on 103 alternative therapies including vitamins, minerals, herbs, diets, immune boosters, less-toxic drugs and other substances. Other books written by Moss include The Cancer Industry and Herbs Against Cancer.


H. Gilbert Welch, M.D., MPH
University of California Press, 2004

Examines what diagnostic tests can and cannot do, why screening can do more harm than good, and how to avoid overdiagnosis and overtreatment.


Peer Reviewed Journals

Alternative Medicine Review
Phone: (800) 228-1966
Email: kelly@thorne.com
This journal reviews scientific research on alternative therapies, including anti-cancer and immune-modulating agents.

Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
Phone: (800) 345-8112
A bimonthly clinical research journal with particular emphasis on mind/body approaches to wellness; has occasional articles on cancer.


Integrative Cancer Therapies (ICT)
This journal presents research, case studies, literature reviews, and educational roundtables, emphasizing scientific understanding of alternative medicine, traditional medicine therapies, and their responsible integration with conventional health care.


Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Phone: (914) 740-2100
Email: jacm-west@comcast.net
This clinical research journal is published 10 times a year and has occasional articles on cancer.


Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology (JSIO)
Toll free: (800) 568-7281
Phone: (905) 522-7017
Email: customercare@bcdecker.com
Published quarterly, the journal provides information about the evidence-based utility of complementary therapies.



References:

[1]US Breast Cancer Statistics – BreastCancer.Org Website – last modified Mar 2012

[2]Breast Cancer Facts and Figures: 2009-2010. American Cancer Society. 2009.

[3]Bellenir, Karen, ed. 2009. Breast Cancer Sourcebook. 3rd ed. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics.

[4]Andrew Ross Sorkin. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; AstraZeneca and Novartis To Shed Agricultural Units.The New York Times. Dec 1999

[5]Imperial Chemical Industries PLC History

[6]Imperial Chemical Industries. ChemEurope.com

[7]U.S. Report Adds to List of Carcinogens.The New York Times. May 16 2000

[8]Wilhelmina Hoogendoorn, Harry Hollema, Hester van Boven, Elisabeth Bergman, Geri de Leeuw-Mantel, Inge Platteel, Renske Fles, Petra Nederlof, Marian Mourits, Flora van Leeuwen. Prognosis of uterine corpus cancer after tamoxifen treatment for breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Dec 2007

[9]de M. Abukhdeir, Michele I. Vitolo, Pedram Argani, Angelo M. De Marzo, Bedri Karakas, Hiroyuki Konishi, John P. Gustin, Josh Lauring, Joseph P. Garay, Courtney Pendleton, Yuko Konishi, Brian G. Blair, Keith Brenner, Elizabeth Garrett-Mayer, Hetty Carraway, Kurtis E. Bachman, and Ben Ho Park. Tamoxifen-stimulated growth of breast cancer due to p21 loss. PNAS. Jan 2008

[10]Sharon Begley. We Fought Cancer…And Cancer Won. Newsweek Magazine. Sept 2008



Further Reading regarding Tamoxifen:


Bern HA. "The fragile fetus" in Chemically-induced alterations in sexual and functional development: the wildlife/human connection. Theo Colborn and Coralie Clement, Eds., part of Advances in modern environmental toxicology, M.A. Mehlman, Ed. (1992, Princeton Scientific: Princeton).

"Code of Federal Regulations," Title 21, Volume 1, Part 14, Subpart E, Sec. 14.80 and Subpart A, Sec. 14.1.

Comoglio A, et al. 1996. Effect of tamoxifen feeding on metabolic activation of tamoxifen by the liver of the rhesus monkey: does liver accumulation of inhibitory metabolites protect from tamoxifen-dependent genotoxicity and cancer? Carcinogenesis 17:1687-93.

Fisher B, et al. 1994. Endometrial cancer in tamoxifen- treated breast cancer patients: findings from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-14. J Natl Cancer Inst 86:527-37.

Fisher B, et al. 1998. Tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer: report of the national surgical adjuvant breast and bowel project p-1 study.

J Natl Cancer Inst 90:1371-1388. Gail MH, et al. 1989. Projecting individualized probabilities of developing breast cancer for white females who are being examined annually.

J Natl Cancer Inst 81:1879-86. Guillot C, et al. 1996. Alteration of p53 damage response by tamoxifen treatment. Clin Cancer Res 2:1439-44.

Hemminki K, et al. 1996. Tamoxifen-induced DNA adducts in endometrial samples from breast cancer patients [see comments]. Cancer Res 56:4374-7.

Kedar RP, et al. 1994. Effects of tamoxifen on uterus and ovaries of postmenopausal women in a randomised breast cancer prevention trial [see comments]. Lancet 343(8909):1318-21.

Li D, et al. 1997. Effects of chronic administration of tamoxifen and toremifene on DNA adducts in rat liver, kidney and uterus. Cancer Res 57:1438-41.

McGonigle KF, et al. 1998. Abnormalities detected on transvaginal ultrasonography in tamoxifen-treated postmenopausal breast cancer patients may represent endometrial cystic atrophy.

Am J Obstet Gynecol 178:1145-50. Nephew KP, et al. 1996. Tamoxifen-induced proto-oncogene expression persists in uterine endometrial epithelium. Endocrinol 137:219-24.

Ogawa Y, et al. 1998. Tamoxifen-induced fatty liver in patients with breast cancer [letter]. Lancet 351(9104):725.

Okubo T, et al. 1998. DNA cleavage and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine formation caused by tamoxifen derivatives in vitro. Cancer Lett 122:9-15.

Powell-Jones W, et al. 1975. Influence of anti-oestrogens on the specific binding in vitro of (3H)oestradiol by cytosol of rat mammary tumours and human breast carcinomata. Biochem J 150:71-5.

Powles T, et al. 1998. Interim analysis of the incidence of breast cancer in the Royal Marsden Hospital tamoxifen randomised chemoprevention trial see comments]. Lancet 352(9122):98-101.

Rutgvist LE, et al. 1995. Adjuvant tamoxifen therapy for early stage breast cancer and second primary malignancies. J Natl Cancer Inst 87:645-51.

Shuibutani S, et al. 1997. Miscoding potential of tamoxifen-derived DNA adducts: alpha-(N2-deoxyguanosinyl) tamoxifen. Biochem 36:13010-17.

Simon R. 1995. Discovering the truth about tamoxifen: problems of multiplicity in statistical evaluation of biomedical data. J Natl Cancer Inst 87:627-29.

Smith MA, et al. 1997. Role of independent data-monitoring committees in randomized clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.

J Clin Oncol 15:2736-43. Vancutsem PM, et al. 1994. Frequent and specific mutations of the rat p53 gene in eptocarcinomas induced by tamoxifen. Cancer Res 54:3864-7.

Veronesi U, et al. 1998. Prevention of breast cancer with tamoxifen: preliminary findings from the Italian randomised trial among hysterectomized women. Italian tamoxifen prevention study [see comments]. Lancet 352(9122):93-7.

Wilking N, et al. 1991. Breast cancer prevention with tamoxifen: results from a randomized trial in early breast cancer (meeting abstract). Proc Annu Am Soc Clin Oncol 10:A58.

Zimniski SJ, et al. 1993. Induction of tamoxifen-dependent rat mammary tumors. Cancer Res 53:2937-39. l.g om

7 comments:

  1. definitely going to bookmark this; would like to know what your mother decided to do about thhe tamoxifen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks for comment ; )

      my mom decided to forego the medication completely!

      Delete
    2. Did your mom treat her breast cancer? How is she doing now?

      Delete
    3. My mother went through surgery and chemo, but declined the Tamoxifen. She is currently "cancer free".

      Delete
  2. So I read the article regarding Tamoxifen fueling breast cancer growth.
    What is going on, based on one case study specifically, is that the cancer became resistant to Tamoxifen. A lot of cancers become resistant to therapies used to treat them, and the patients unfortunately progress.
    Please be careful when summarizing articles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for looking further into the drug Tamoxifen.

      Do you think the way we are preventing cancer is effective?

      Delete
  3. The doctor that was taking care of a relative of mine before prescribed Tamoxifen to her. After some research we found out about the dreaded history of Tamoxifen, thus we immediately searched for another option to treat her illness. That's where we found out about an Alternative Cancer Treatment Center in Mexico. So far my cousin's health is getting back to normal, and she has been more cheery compared to her previous treatment.

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful. If you are about to say something that you would not let your child hear, then please refrain from saying it.