1. health and fitness
2. disease
3. cancer

How to
Protect Yourself
— and Even
Heal CANCER
By Dr. Robert D. Willix Jr., M.D.
How to Protect Yourself —
and Even Heal CANCER
By Robert D. Willix Jr., M.D.
© Copyright 2005 by 1st Start Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 9516, Lake Worth, FL
33466. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher. Printed
in the USA.
This book is intended to give general information, not personal, one-on-one
medical advice. No action should be taken based solely on the contents of this
book; instead, readers who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities
assume the risk of any injuries.
How to Protect Yourself — and
Even Heal CANCER
By Robert D. Willix Jr., M.D.
Cancer is one of the most frightening words in the English
language. But I believe that the keys to fighting this dreaded disease in
its many forms are within our grasp, within your lifetime! But don’t look
for doctors who are part of the conventional medical establishment to
hand you these keys — because they had one of them for decades and
ignored it!
You may have read about the H. pylori bacterium, the one that is
now widely known to cause ulcers. But doctors have known this since
the 1940s! It took decades, until the 1990s, for most doctors to begin
treating this infectious invader as the cause of stomach and duodenal
ulcers.
The most important thing to know about H. pylori and other
infectious agents is that growing evidence links them to cancer. In the
case of H. pylori, researchers now believe that this bacterium is
responsible for virtually all cases of stomach cancer — the second
leading cause of cancer deaths world-wide.
In addition to being potentially deadly, H. pylori is common. Thirty
to forty percent of Americans carry it in their digestive systems. So why
not wipe out this bug with antibiotics?
Because these powerful drugs aren’t perfect. They’re a marvelous
weapon when used sparingly, specifically, and properly. But taken
improperly or frequently, all antibiotics do is weaken your body’s own
defenses. And if a few bacteria survive a round of antibiotics, they then
reproduce prolifically in the absence of your body’s good bacteria —
and become harder to kill. Antibiotics are the Pandora’s box of
medicine.
The viruses that pave the way for cancer.
At least doctors have a weapon against H. pylori. But cutting-edge
researchers are now linking cancer to common viruses, and they’re even
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tougher to fight.
• Human papillomavirus, a known cause of cervical cancer, is
also implicated in penile cancer. There are many human
papillomaviruses. Some cause warts; others cause genital warts that
can develop into cancer. This incredibly tricky virus “fools” the
body’s own cells into replicating so that it can reproduce inside
them, lying dormant and undetected by medical tests and the
body’s own immune arsenal. The medical establishment widely
recognizes this viral cause of cancer.
• Liver cancer and chronic hepatitis. Here’s another case where
we’ve known about the virus-to-cancer link for years. Because a
few scientists have been studying such infectious causes, our blood
supply is today screened for the hepatitis B and C viruses, so fewer
people are contracting the virus through transfusions. But it still
survives — damaging people’s health and causing liver cancer.
• Mouse mammary tumor virus and Epstein-Barr virus are both
found in human breast tumors, but not in healthy breast tissue.
But most breast-cancer experts ignore the possibility of an
infectious link — one that’s passed from mice to humans via house
cats — and focus instead on evidence for a genetic link.
• Brain and lung cancer has been linked to SV40 virus, a monkey
virus that hitchhiked into humans via tainted polio vaccine between
1955 and 1963. About one-third of U.S. citizens now alive got
polio vaccine during those years! This virus is found in most cases
of a rare, very dangerous type of lung cancer. SV40 is also found in
human brain tumors. It binds to the cells’ tumor-suppressing cells
and renders them inoperative. Do we know how many cases of
cancer this may cause in the future? Only time will tell.
• Colon cancer has been linked to JC polyomavirus — a relative
of SV40 virus that many people are already infected with.
You can’t live in a bubble. But you can protect —
and even heal — yourself!
Every one of us is constantly being bombarded with cancer
generators. We are besieged by bacteria and viruses. We live in a
polluted environment, we eat foods shot full of pesticides and our lives
are stress-laden. These combined factors pound our systems with
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millions of cancer-causing free-radical hits every day. But we don’t all
get cancer.
If you do get cancer, I believe that it’s because something causes an
imbalance in your body. As a result, your immune system gets
overloaded and can no longer protect you.
Are you working two jobs? Drinking too much alcohol? Smoking?
Do you find yourself with no time for your family? No time for fun and
relaxation? These are the kinds of things that cause imbalances that
compromise your immune system and ruin your natural resistance.
Strengthening your immune system is the foundation of my
approach. As your teacher, it is my job to help you correct the
imbalances in your body.
Start by empowering your mind and your spirit.
I never overlook the influence of the mind to both create and cure
disease. How you think and feel, how much stress you have in your life,
how much love and support you get from family and friends, and how
you think of yourself can make you either vulnerable or resistant to
everything from simple aches and pains to life-threatening illness.
Let me tell you about one of my patients. She has metastatic breast
cancer with extensive liver involvement — and two years ago, she was
told that she had three months to live. She is so jaundiced that she is
orange, and her ammonia levels are so high that she ought to be
bedridden. But she’s not. Why? Well, she eats a good diet, walks a halfmile a day, and she has a great relationship with her daughter. When I
see them together, I can feel the love between them. And that’s what’s
keeping her alive and functioning at such a high level.
Am I saying that love and friendship can help you fend off cancercausing toxins, bacteria, viruses and “bad” genes — and that they can
help prolong your life even if you are “terminally” ill? Yes! That’s
exactly what I’m saying. In fact, we have scientific evidence that
negative emotions depress the immune system and that positive
emotions bolster it.
So starting right now, today,
here’s what I want you to do:
• Pay attention to the people around you who mean something to
you. And if you’re not happy with those relationships, work on
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them.
• Involve your family and close friends in any discussions you have
with your doctor about your illness.
• Seek outside support. Contact your local chapter of the American
Cancer Society or the social work department of your hospital to
get information on support groups in your area.
• Nurture your spiritual side by meditating and praying every day.
Since 1981, we have recognized that the mind has
the ability to control the immune system.
In the field of psycho-neuro-immunology, we recognize that
positive thinking, meditation, imagery, and prayer stabilize the central
nervous system, change the chemicals in the brain that control the
immune cells of the body, and improve survival. Happy people — those
who have strong support systems — often outlive their unhappy
counterparts when it comes to any disease, including cancer.
• Meditation. In his book, Vibrational Medicine, Richard Gerber,
M.D., explains the way a change in the vibration of the cells may,
indeed, create a balance that stimulates the immune system and
prevents and treats all diseases, cancer being one of them. There
does not appear to be any vibration that does not help correct a
cellular imbalance in the human body. That is the way
aromatherapy works . . . and music therapy . . . and Reiki therapy.
So it seems to me that the creation of a vibration through the use of
a mantra in meditation can have incredible therapeutic value to
people with cancer — whether that mantra be “God loves me,”
“amhrita,” “hirim,” or “shimaya.”
I tell my cancer patients to meditate (using a mantra) twice a day,
every day — for 20 minutes before they start their day and for 20
minutes before dinner. Start this practice now — whatever your health
status — and I promise you that it will improve your life.
• Imagery. It has been shown in psycho-neuro-endocrineimmunology that intention changes the immune cells and can have
an effect on all diseases, especially cancer and immune-deficiency
diseases such as AIDS. So, in addition to meditation, all my cancer
patients are taught imagery. The image that I like to use for my
cancer patients is a light coming into the central portion of the
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central nervous system from the crown of the head (the crown
chakra) that illuminates the entire central nervous system and sends
energy to all the organs of the body. Those organs, then, produce
immune cells which in turn can destroy, immobilize, or eliminate
abnormal cells that are circulating or are lodged in specific tissues.
My cancer patients use imagery on a daily basis. I teach them to sit
quietly, meditate on the location of their cancer, and imagine
(image) that the cancer is either being removed by an army of
cancer-fighting cells that are attacking their abnormal tissues, or
that they are removing the cancer themselves. Imagery not only
works for solid tumors like those of the breast, prostate, liver, and
colon, it also works for tumors that exist within the cellular
elements like Hodgkin’s, lymphoma, leukemia, and metastatic
carcinoma. And it can work as well to fend off your daily
bombardment of cancer-causing agents.
• Prayer. The science behind the power of prayer in healing cancer
has been very well documented by Larry Dossey, M.D., in his
book, Healing Words. It has been proven that even cancer patients
who do not, themselves, believe in God, can benefit from the
prayers of those who love them.
Becoming a vegetarian is an
excellent way to fight cancer.
Many doctors have their heads in the sand about the infectious
causes of cancer. But there’s legions of proof of dietary causes of these
diseases — and still they can’t agree on the best food to eat to avoid
cancer!
We know that free radicals have the ability to alter cellular DNA
and subsequently cause the development and progression of cancer.
Vitamins C, E, beta-carotene and the mineral selenium are just a few of
the antioxidants that may help in slowly correcting this abnormal
growth. That makes a low-fat, high-fiber diet, rich in fruits and
vegetables, a must in fighting cancer.
This is the foundation of my anti-cancer diet:
No alcohol, no caffeine, no simple sugars, no white flour, no meats,
chicken or fish that could contain either hormones or contaminants such
as mercury or aluminum.
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• If you’re going to eat animal protein, make sure it’s as pure as
possible. However, even if you eat meat, your main source of
nutrients should come from vegetable protein — soy, beans,
walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds and legumes, and green leafy
vegetables. I permit eggs and dairy products, as long as they are
hormone-free. You can become what is known as an ovo-lacto (eggmilk) vegetarian and survive very well on your high-protein diet.
• Use wheatgrass juice, barley greens, and carrot, beet and apple juice
daily.
• Make pure, distilled water your liquid of choice. I permit green tea
even though it has some caffeine because of its high antioxidant
levels, and herbal teas are fine because they’re decaffeinated.
In countries where people drink a lot of green tea, cancer rates are
generally lower. Researchers from the University of Southern
California believe that compounds in green tea may prevent
stomach and esophageal cancers — terrible diseases with high
mortality rates.
• Eat rice and grains in moderation. Brown rice and basmatic rice
(brown or white) is preferred.
• If you have active cancer, detoxify your system by doing a juice fast
1-3 days every month.
• Try this savory cure-all side dish made with powerful immunestimulating, disease-fighting ingredients: Lightly saute in olive oil 2
crushed and chopped garlic cloves, 2 or 3 shiitake mushrooms and
1 chopped sweet onion. Remove from heat and toss with fresh
ground black pepper and about 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. Serve
mixed with additional steamed vegetables or over steamed brown
rice.
• Eat shiitake mushrooms. Fresh and dried shiitakes, which are
widely available in food stores, appear to have antiangiogenesis
properties that inhibit the growth of tumors. Shiitake mushroom
extract is also available at natural products stores. Another cancerfighting mushroom extract that you’ll find in capsule form is
Cordyceps sinensis, an excellent immune system booster.
If you have cancer, you must consider
the whole picture.
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Are we treating cancer appropriately when we consider only
surgery and chemotherapy? My answer is, categorically, no, No, NO!
This is obviously a bold statement, coming from a board-certified
cardiovascular and general surgeon. However, we know that
chemotherapy (generally used in connection with surgery in an attempt
to prolong life) has been a dismal failure. And I think we have the same
story when it comes to surgical resection.
When I see the overall physically debilitating effects (morbidity) of
surgery . . . the adverse psychological effects of surgery . . . the
devastating effect on quality of life of chemotherapy following surgery
. . . my heart goes out to cancer patients, and I ask, “Why don’t you
look for alternative therapies?”
Yes, surgery is worthwhile for certain types of tumors (I’ll tell you
about those later). But most tumors are removed without concern for
the patient’s overall well-being. And there’s even a possibility that
cancer is actually spread by the surgical procedure. What’s more,
surgery alone has not been shown to improve long-term survival. For
example:
In 1975, when I was at the University of Michigan, we evaluated
two groups of lung cancer patients — those whose cancer was removed
surgically, and those who were not treated at all. We discovered that in
patients whose tumors doubled in size in 90 days or less, survival with
surgery was 5.7 months (including 30 days in the hospital). Survival
with no treatment at all was 5.9 months.
And in the case of breast cancer, a recent article published in
Clinical Oncology states: “Breast cancer is the most common
malignancy in women and although identification of this multi-system
disease has increased, the survival rates have not dramatically altered
over the past four decades.”
If survival rates have not improved for the past 40 years, what on
earth have they been doing with our cancer research money?
I’m convinced that the alternative treatments demonstrated by my
Arc of Healing™ (such as nutritional therapies, imagery, immune
modulation, energy medicine, prayer and herbal remedies) may be just
as medically beneficial as surgical intervention for most tumors — and
far, far more beneficial when it comes to a patient’s overall quality of
life.
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Surgery and chemotherapy is not my
treatment of choice for cancer.
Twenty years ago, when I was still doing open-heart surgery, I
noticed that every time I operated on the heart of someone who had a
suspicious lesion anywhere in his or her body that had not yet been
confirmed as cancer — that patient died of cancer within a year, despite
attempts at resecting (surgically removing) the tumor. Because of the
way the patient’s blood is circulated by the heart-lung machine during
open-heart surgery, the question that occurred to me then was, “Is it
possible that cancer is spread through the blood by surgery?”
Now, after having seen many bypass operations end up in early
death due to cancer, I am not convinced that there is any benefit to
doing this surgery on a patient with a nodule of the lung, the prostate,
the colon, or the breast. The cancer should always be treated first.
“What about biopsies,” you ask? Good question.
Many times, a patient has asked me if there’s any chance that doing
a biopsy would cause the cancer to spread through his or her body. Up
until the last few years, my answer had always been, “No. We need it in
order to make a diagnosis.” Today, I recommend identifying a lesion
with a biopsy only if it can be done with a small needle aspiration
which does not violate the tumor, or if it completely removes the
suspected tissue (as in the case of Hodgkin’s lymphomas).
My reasons, as a surgeon, for thinking this way.
Remember, for many years of my life, I performed operations for
cancer. Not only on the lung, but also on the intestines, the bladder, the
pancreas and the breast. I found that it was virtually impossible for me
to remove a tumor (and every surgeon knows this) without inadvertently
touching the tumor. As a result, I believe that when a surgeon makes
incisions, the tendency is to infuse cancer cells into the lymphatics (the
drainage network of the immune system) — and initiate the spread of
the cancer throughout the body.
Quality of life in survival is just
as important as pure survival.
In my career, I’ve seen far too many cases of what I consider to be
unnecessary deaths and disabilities associated with cancer surgery.
Sixty percent of men who have prostatectomies are impotent.
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Women who have resections of the breast and radiation therapy are
debilitated by the swelling of their arms. Loss of hair may not be a big
deal to an oncologist who’s trying to prolong life, but when it’s
associated with a change in sexual function, problems with family
interactions, financial insecurity and all of the other consequences of
surgical resection for cancer — is it worth it?
Those of us who do not practice conventional allopathic medicine
have alternative therapies that are effective, that improve quality of life,
and that may prolong life to a greater degree than the 20 percent
survival rate for most cancer patients who have surgery.
Still, as I said earlier, there are certain tumors that
should be removed surgically.
In situations where a tumor is obstructing any bodily function,
causing pain in the spinal cord or in the esophagus, removal may be
beneficial. Gastrointestinal tumors which are causing obstructions in the
large intestine, the small intestine, the stomach, and perhaps the
pancreas should be removed. At the very least, the obstruction should
be bypassed with a minimum of surgery. Brain tumors — certainly
when they cause any kind of severe symptomatology such as intractable
headaches or neurologic deficits — should be removed, because
removal definitely seems to increase the patient’s chances for long-term
survival. Removal might also be warranted if a localized malignant
brain tumor is accidentally found (by an MRI, for example) before it
has gotten to the stage where it is causing any symptoms. In a case like
this, however, no further treatment (radiation or chemotherapy) is
necessary. Removal is also indicated for a breast cancer that is found on
physical examination as an isolated lump.
However, radical resections of the breast, of the prostate, of the
colon, of the pancreas, of the liver, of the stomach and of the lung have
not been shown to prolong life. The morbidity from leaving the tumor
in does not seem to be as great as the morbidity of taking the tumor out.
Stay off HRT to avoid increased cancer risks.
I wasn’t surprised when a large federal study of hormone
replacement therapy for postmenopausal women was halted because
researchers found it was increasing the study subjects’ risk of breast
cancer. The Women’s Health Initiative found that in 10,000 women who
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take HRT, 8 more will develop invasive breast cancer; 7 more will have
heart attacks, 8 will have strokes, and 18 will develop blood clots.
Perhaps those aren’t high numbers — unless it’s you or someone you
love.
I’ve always told women to avoid HRT at all costs. You just don’t
need to take those kinds of risks to relieve menopausal symptoms.
Black cohosh, soy foods, dietary modifications, and other natural, riskfree remedies are available, inexpensive, and won’t have you worrying
about cancer. Just a month after the Women’s Health Initiative was
begun, another study found that estrogen-only HRT, when used long
term, carries a higher risk of ovarian cancer. I think these risks are just
unacceptable for the millions of women who were taking HRT,
especially when so many safe alternatives should be tried first.
Time is on your side — way over on your side.
Cancer begins with a problem in a single cell somewhere in your
body. For whatever reason, the DNA of that cell is altered and the cell
begins to replicate with erroneous information. As a result, the cell can
no longer function as it should, and neither can any of the other cells
that grow from it.
But the development of cancer is slow. Very, very slow. In fact,
there is evidence that breast cancer, lung cancer or prostate cancer can
go through a 7-10-year growth phase before the person who has it is
even aware of it. And that’s great news! Why? Because if you have
cancer and you follow my recommendations, you will, at the very least,
dramatically short-circuit its progress. And if you don’t have cancer or
if your body is harboring only the very beginnings of the disease, you
have plenty of time to completely eliminate this threat to your health.
If cancer “experts” stop jumping onto the surgical bandwagon and
start to do some systemic therapies, we just may be able to win the war
on cancer.
Cancer is a systemic disease. It takes 5-20 years for a cancer to
grow large enough to be detected. In that time, toxins from the cancer
have an effect on the entire body. That’s why surgery is almost always
combined with chemotherapy in an effort to treat the disease
systemically.
However, in my opinion, chemotherapy is not an acceptable way to
treat cancer, unless we are talking about highly selective types of cancer
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such as childhood leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I get better
results with the alternative treatments of my Arc of Healing™, utilizing
nutrition, vitamin drips, guided imagery, meditation, prayer, Qi (Chi)
gong, aromatherapy and other forms of energy medicine than any
cancer therapist can get from resection and chemotherapy.
A few important cautionary words . . .
Cancer is a very complicated, multi-factoral disease. It has many
causes and therefore must be treated differently in different people,
even when we’re dealing with the same type of cancer. To get specific
advice for your particular case, you must seek out an alternative
physician who frequently treats cancer patients.
Also, keep in mind that some of the therapies I’m going to mention
in this report may be beneficial for some patients with certain kinds of
cancer, but useless for others. And keep in mind that there are some
cancers that respond better to traditional therapies.
Take advantage of the curative powers of plants.
Many herbal remedies, including garlic, onions, turmeric and
ginseng are an integral part of my cancer program.
Cumin, in particular, has significant anticarcinogenic properties. In
a study of patients with urological cancer, including prostate cancer,
urologists at Israel’s Western Galilee Regional Hospital found that the
consumption of cumin played a significant role in the prevention of
cancer. Researchers determined that 40% of those without cancer
regularly used cumin in their cooking, compared to only 12% of those
who had cancer. Animal studies conducted at the Adyar Cancer Institute
in Madras, India, support the Israeli findings. The Indian study looked
at 20 different spices and leafy vegetables for anticarcinogenic
properties. In one series of tests, cumin greatly increased the activity of
the body chemical GST, a detoxification enzyme known to protect
against certain cancers. In another test, cumin blocked 83% of the
chromosome damage normally caused by a powerful cancer-causing
chemical, while poppy seeds blocked 80% and turmeric blocked 54%.
The bioflavonoids found in soybeans also have anticarcinogenic
properties. Soy has tremendous disease prevention and treatment
qualities, and can protect against breast and prostate cancers. German
scientists found that soy protein contains a compound called genistein,
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which blocks growth of the blood vessels. Adults don’t normally form
new vessels unless they are pregnant, are severely injured, or have a
tumor growing. The theory is that genistein halts tumor growth by
cutting off its source of nourishment. New studies have found that it
also brings down cholesterol levels.
Take the right cancer-fighting supplements.
In the war against cancer, you need to arm yourself with high doses
of antioxidant nutrients. The doses that I normally recommend — which
are far higher than the government’s RDA (recommended daily
allowances) — are adequate to help prevent cancer. To treat cancer,
however, those amounts should be doubled or tripled.
Studies done at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
found that vitamin E (as vitamin E succinate) works directly against
cancer by reducing cell growth and by interfering in the process by
which cells become cancerous. It also reduces prostate cancer cells’
ability to grow and reproduce.
The daily antioxidant program I recommend to my cancer patients
combines vitamin E with vitamins C, A (as beta-carotene) and
coenzyme Q10, because these four supplements work together
synergistically:
• Vitamin C — 10 to 20 grams
• Beta-carotene — 50,000 International Units (I.U.)
• Vitamin E — 1,200 to 1,500 I.U.
• Coenzyme Q10 — 180 to 240 mg in Q-gel™ form. This is a higherpotency, more bioavailable form of this vital coenzyme.
I also tell my patients to take the following:
• Omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids (EFAs) in the form of
flaxseed oil, borage oil, black currant oil or primrose oil. These
nutrients are vital for the proper functioning of the immune system.
They also help circulatory health and help protect you from colon
cancer.
• Selenium. In animal studies, selenium slows the rate of growth of
chemically induced or transplanted breast tumors and, when used at
high levels, actually reverses malignancies. Take 100 to 200 mg
per day.
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• MAK4 (Amrit Kalash Nectar) and MAK 5 (Amrit Kalash
Ambrosia) are two potent Ayurvedic antioxidant, antibacterial and
anticancer herbal formulas. If you are healthy, take 1 teaspoon of
MAK 4, a fruit concentrate, twice a day as a preventive. If you are
immune compromised, 2 to 3 teaspoons twice a day is a must. If
you prefer the tablet form, take 1 tablet of MAK 5 twice a day for
prevention and 2 tablets twice a day if you are immune
compromised.
• Conjugated linoleic acid. Also known as CLA, this compound has
now been reported to have activity against two types of coloncancer cells and one type of prostate cancer cells. This research was
conducted by scientists at Harvard and reported in the journal
Cancer Letters. CLA is part of the omega-6 family of fatty acids,
but in the body it acts more like an omega-3 fatty acid. If you have
a family history of prostate or colon cancer, I’d advise taking 2 to 4
grams per day of conjugated linoleic acid. That’s in addition to
your fish-oil or other omega-3 fatty acids.
• St. John’s wort. You’ve probably heard of St. John’s wort and that
in Europe, it’s used twenty times more frequently than drugs for
treating mild to moderate depression. Now, there’s research that
indicates it might one day replace highly toxic chemotherapy drugs,
too. Hyperforin from St. John’s wort induced 16 types of cancer
cells to kill themselves in one study. I think St. John’s wort holds
promise as an anti-cancer agent — and because of its excellent
safety, I don’t think you need to wait for them to produce more
research. If you have a family history of breast cancer or other risk
factors, I’d recommend 300 mg of St. John’s wort (standardized to
3% hyperforin) per day.
• Quercetin. This natural antioxidant occurs in apples, onions, and
grapefruit. Cornell researchers found that it may be an even
stronger cancer-fighter than vitamin C. Take 600 to 1,200 mg of
quercetin per day, divided into three or four doses. (And don’t stop
eating apples and drinking tea, just because you’re taking quercetin.
There’s no such thing as too much quercetin.)
Vitamin and mineral supplements for patients
undergoing radiation or chemotherapy.
• A review of 20 studies of patients taking vitamin C while on
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•
•
•
•
radiation therapy showed that 67% of those taking vitamin C
supplements survived for over six months following the radiation
therapy vs. 45% of those who were not taking vitamin C
supplements.
Vitamin E can enhance the cancer-killing effects of radiation and
chemotherapy, as well as protect against the toxic effects (including
hair loss) of some chemotherapy agents.
Selenium has been shown to reduce the mutation of cells caused by
X-rays, making it useful not only as a preventive but also as extra
protection for patients undergoing radiation therapy.
Vitamin B6 helps reduce radiation-induced symptoms, such as
nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
Spirulina boosts the production and activity of the body’s own
cancer-fighters. I’ve known for decades about this green food’s
immune benefits. Now scientists at the Osaka Center for Cancer
and Cardiovascular Diseases proved that this blue-green algae not
only boosts the production of NK, or “natural killer” immune cells,
it gives them more cancer-fighting power as well. (Take only hot
water extracts of spirulina; that’s the most potent kind.) Spirulina
has no known side effects, so the more you use, the better.
Aromatherapy can maximize
the benefits of chemotherapy.
Aromatherapy is a very effective mind-body technique because the
nose is a direct link to the brain. In cancer therapy, it can play a key
role for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Those who use
aromatherapy while undergoing treatment — and then use those same
aromas afterward, find that their bodies act as if the treatment were
ongoing. Many patients require fewer treatments when they use the
aromas (and tastes) that they associate with chemotherapy in this way.
A successful natural treatment
for those with prostate cancer.
Men who have prostate cancer are finding hope with the use of an
herbal formula called PC-SPES, a formula from Asia that contains
eight Chinese herbs, including saw palmetto. A two-year clinical study
on PC-SPES, which contains eight Chinese herbs, was published in the
November 2002 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Some prostate cancers are hormone-dependent and others are
hormone-independent. When a study of PC-SPES was carried out in 70
men who had both prostate cancer and elevated PSAs, there was an 80
percent drop in PSA in those whose cancers were hormone-dependent;
97 percent of those patients had a steep decline in their testosterone
levels. In the men whose cancers were hormone-independent, half had a
PSA drop of greater than 50 percent.
Some people have reported side effects of PC-SPES, including
nipple tenderness and breast enlargement. Rarely have I seen these side
effects, or the loss of libido that’s often reported with drug treatment.
If you have prostate cancer, lycopene and PC-SPES should be part
of your herbal remedy, along with the natural treatments I use in
patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia — saw palmetto, pygeum,
zinc, beta-sitosterol, and the amino acids glycine, alanine, and
glutamine.
Exercise to release the forces in your body that can
help you heal and keep you healthy.
Aerobic exercise not only oxygenates the blood to promote healing
but also boosts the functioning of the immune system. At the very
least, you should be taking a 20-minute walk three or four times a
week. In addition to walking, you should be doing either yoga or t’ai
chi on a regular basis. These are not only good aerobic exercises, they
are energy stimulants.
Some of the most promising alternative
cancer therapies focus on immunotherapy,
not on killing cancer cells.
Cancer is like any other disease. If your immune system is strong,
you can fight it off — like you fight off bacteria and viruses and other
“invaders.” These are a few of the many therapeutic alternative
approaches to cancer treatment that work by protecting the body and
bolstering the immune system:
• Detoxification with the FAR infrared sauna. An important part of
cancer therapy is to remove toxins from the body. Detoxification
with infrared ultraviolet light seems to be the best modality for
removing toxins from the tissues, as well as for improving the
immune system without harmfully heating the body and allowing
cancer cells to grow. Low-temperature infrared saunas in the range
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of 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit provide an excellent means of
detoxification — for those who have cancer, and for those who are
seeking to bolster their immune systems after they have already
been treated for cancer.
High-dose vitamin C therapy. High-dose beet extract vitamin C
therapy in doses of 50-75 grams intravenously, given over a period
of 21 days and combined with glutathione, B-complex vitamins,
calcium and magnesium, along with trace minerals, may be
beneficial in cancer. According to one recent study, “Vitamin C
inhibits cell division and growth through production of hydrogen
peroxide, which damages the cells.” In other words, vitamin C kills
cancer cells. Another recent study tells us, “ . . . the use of
intravenous vitamin C in the treatment of cancer, developed over a
number of years in . . . Scotland [has been shown] to be both safe
and efficient . . . . The importance of continuous as opposed to
intermittent administration is emphasized.” Patients treated in this
manner showed increased survival rates.
Glutathione. Another very popular therapy is the use of glutathione,
one of the body’s major antioxidant protective systems. A 1999
study reported in Biochemical Pharmacology tells us that
glutathione has been shown to make resistant cancer cells sensitive,
regardless of the injuring agent (in this case, cadmium). The study
suggests that N-acetyl-L-cysteine that was increased in the cells
through glutathione protects these cells and allows cancer therapy
to be more effective.
Immunocal. One of the most popular immune-stimulating agents on
the market is a substance known as immunocal, which is being used
because it theoretically increases glutathione levels in the cells and
increases antioxidant values and detoxification. In my clinic, I use
intravenous glutathione in the treatment of cancer all the time.
IP6. IP6 (inositol hexaphosphate) is an active ingredient of a highfiber diet that has anti-cancer actions in both in vivo and in vitro
models. One recent study on IP6 concluded, “IP6 may be an
important candidate for the prevention and treatment of human
breast cancer.”
714-X. 714-X is a camphor derivative that is used by injection over
a six-month period of time. The theory (first described by Gaston
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Naesson) involves a cellular element, the somatatid, in the blood
that can be seen prior to the onset of cancer. By the use of 714-X
injections into the lymphatic system, we can reverse these cells and
revert them to normal. Naesson has shown that 714-X can be used
for the treatment of advanced cancer as well as for the prevention of
the spread of cancer throughout the body.
714-X is not available in the United States, but can be purchased
from a Canadian source and used by patients in the United States. I
have found 714-X to be especially beneficial for blood-borne types
of cancers such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia.
• AM-2. AM-2 is a patented product of Biorem, Inc. It was originally
introduced into the United States from Prague after extensive
clinical studies were done on its use to bolster the immune system.
The primary benefit of AM-2 is in early-stage malignancies, and as
a palliative treatment for those who have full remission, immunedeficiency diseases, and chronic inflammatory diseases.
AM-2, an injectable solution that contains ascorbic acid (vitamin
C), 2-deoxy-d-ribose, nicotinic acid, and DL-alanine, is a patented
formulation. It is injected intravenously for three consecutive
weeks. Repeat inoculations are carried out over the course of the
next six months to three years in individuals who either have
extensive cancer, or failed chemotherapy, or early-onset cancer. The
purpose of AM-2 is to enhance the immune system. During AM-2
therapy, patients must follow a very restricted diet that acidifies the
pH of the cell. They can go through mild detoxification during this
phase, but must avoid extreme body temperature changes. So they
cannot use sauna or steam treatments or subject themselves to very
cold temperatures.
I am currently using AM-2 in advanced cancer in my clinic. I
believe it is a safe and excellent alternative to the use of
chemotherapy and surgery — which so often fails.
• Gerson therapy. The foundation of many metabolic treatments, this
program was devised by the late Dr. Max Gerson, a German-born
physician who was responsible for curing Albert Schweitzer’s wife
of advanced lung tuberculosis. Gerson’s program aims to rid the
patient of deadly toxins by adhering to an extremely rigid diet that
includes linseed oil (a source of omega-3 fatty acids) and carrot and
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liver juices (sources of vitamin A). The treatment, which is
administered at the Gerson Institute in Tijuana, Mexico, has proven
successful for those who can stick to the demanding regimen.
Laetrile. Laetrile (also known as vitamin B17) is derived from the
chemical compound amygdalin, found in the seeds of all common
fruits and in 1,200 different plants. When used in conjunction with
a metabolic diet that includes megadoses of vitamins, minerals and
enzymes, laetrile has been shown to inhibit the growth of tumors.
Unfortunately, it’s been dismissed by the FDA and the traditional
medical community.
The Hoxsey cancer treatment. Administered at a cancer treatment
center in Tijuana, Mexico, this alternative therapy is perhaps the
most difficult to believe, but it has been proven to work. It was
originally formulated as a tonic for horses and was passed down to
Harry Hoxsey, who began prescribing it to humans in smaller doses,
along with a strict diet, in the 1920s. The tonic consists of various
herbs that have known anti-cancer properties, such as licorice, red
clover, burdock root, poke root and buckthorn bark.
Immunoaugmentative therapy (IAT). IAT was developed by
Lawrence Burton, Ph.D. , who was an oncologist for 15 years at St.
Vincent’s Hospital in New York City and currently directs an
outpatient facility called the Immunology Research Center at Rand
Memorial Hospital, Freeport, Bahamas. Burton found that certain
proteins must be present in the blood to enable the immune system
to fight cancer. IAT — which is nontoxic and produces few side
effects — consists of injecting patients with the missing proteins
twice a day.
The Livingston treatment. This is a holistic form of immunotherapy
developed by Dr. Virginia Livingston, a former professor at Rutgers
University. The treatment consists of two vaccinations — one
prepared from a culture of the patient’s own bacteria, the other a
tuberculosis vaccine (BCG) — along with a strict vegetarian diet
and psychotherapy.
Essiac. Essiac is another alternative cancer treatment that has shown
great success — a tea made from Indian rhubarb, sheepshead sorrel,
slippery elm, and burdock root. The treatment was first made public
in the 1920s by the late Rene Caisse, former head nurse at the
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Sisters of Providence Hospital in Haileybury, Ontario. Caisse ran
across this old Indian remedy when she encountered a woman in
Canada who had used the treatment to cure her breast cancer.
Caisse was smart enough to record the recipe and later used it
successfully to treat her aunt’s terminal stomach and liver cancer.
After two months on the tea, her aunt got better and lived another
22 years. Caisse began treating all her “terminal” patients with the
tea, with tremendous success.
The future of cancer research.
Researchers are experimenting with two promising approaches:
1. Antiangiogenesis. Antiangiogenesis — choking off the blood
supply of a cancer cell with the use of drugs, herbs and therapies
that control the creation of new blood flow to the tumor — is an
exciting area of cancer research. Keeping new blood vessels from
forming essentially starves diseased tissues and allows abnormal
cells to die like normal cells. Antiangiogenesis may also help in
other diseases such as arthritis and macular degeneration (a major
cause of blindness).
One of the most popular antiangiogenic therapies that may be of
benefit is shark cartilage, which slows the growth of blood vessels
to tumors (especially to solid tumors like those of the breast and
prostate), thus stopping the growth of the tumor and eventually
shrinking its size. Tumors grow on their own blood supply.
Cartilage, on the other hand, does not have its own blood supply
due to its “antiangiogenic contents.” Robert Langer, Ph.D., of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has demonstrated that shark
cartilage contains 1,000 times more of the antiangiogenesis
inhibitor than does any other type of cartilage. Furthermore, studies
have shown shark cartilage to be very effective in terminal cancer
patients. Though it initially met with a great deal of criticism from
the medical establishment, shark cartilage is now in Phase II trials
for solid tumors.
An antiangiogenic drug currently being studied is thalidomide (a
sedative that was banned in the 1950s because it caused birth
defects). Thalidomide is currently in clinical Phase II trials for the
treatment of breast, brain and prostate cancers, and for Kaposi’s
sarcoma (a malignancy often seen in HIV patients). And two
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proteins that naturally occur in the body, angiostatin and endostatin,
have been isolated and show promise as tumor inhibitors by
antiangionesis.
I believe that there are safer herbs in nature that may have
antiangiogenic effects, including cat’s claw and MAK4 (Amrit
Kalash Nectar, an Ayurvedic herb).
2. “Teaching” the cancer cell to behave as a normal cell. A normal
cell has a life cycle. It lives for 14 days or 20 days or even a month.
But a cancer cell does not have the “switch” that turns off a normal
cell. And so it lives for months or years and overgrows and
replicates without control. Even conventional medicine is
recognizing that cancer is a systemic, immune-compromised
overgrowth of cellular tissue that goes through a rapid growth —
and that the future of cancer therapy is to learn how to control the
life and death of these cells.
One example of this approach — (antineoplaston therapy — was
presented by Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, a Polish-born physicianchemist, 25 years ago) when he identified certain natural
substances that occur in normal people, but are missing in cancer
patients. He called these substances antineoplastons. (“Anti” means
against, “neo” means new, and “plastons” means cells or tissues.)
Burzynski discovered that these antineoplastons can be synthesized
and introduced orally or intravenously in order to teach cancer cells
to die like normal cells.
Despite many attempts by the FDA to inhibit Dr. Burzynksi from
practicing good anti-cancer medicine, antineoplastons are now
being used experimentally and in clinical trials for the treatment of
numerous cancers. The cancer that seems to be most benefited by
antineoplaston therapy is brain cancer. Prostate and breast cancers
also seem to benefit, especially in their early stages, by intravenous
antineoplaston. Though antineoplaston treatment is relatively
expensive, some insurance companies are beginning to cover the
costs.
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Always keep in mind that you have many, many alternative healing
options — and most of them can be used effectively in combination
with conventional medicine. Do everything possible to eliminate
your chances of ever getting cancer. If you do have it, take
advantage of all the remedies that abound in nature first, and you
have a good chance of beating this disease.
Keep me in your prayers, and I’ll keep you in mine.
Dr. Robert D. Willix Jr., M.D.
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