BUST THAT MYTH

“There’s a miracle cure for cancer”

From vitamin C to coffee enemas, the internet is awash with videos and personal anecdotes about natural and miracle cures for cancer.

In many cases it’s impossible to tell whether patients featured in such anecdotal sources have been cured by any particular alternative treatment or not.

We know nothing about their medical diagnosis, stage of disease or outlook, or even if they actually had cancer in the first place.

This highlights the importance of publishing data from peer-reviewed, scientifically rigorous lab research and clinical trials. Firstly, because conducting proper clinical studies enables researchers to prove that a prospective cancer treatment is safe and effective. And secondly, because publishing this data allows doctors to judge for themselves and use it for the benefit of their patients.

That’s not to say the natural world isn’t a source of potential treatments.

For example, the cancer drug taxol was first extracted from the bark and needles of the Pacific yew tree.

But, and I cannot stress this enough, it’s an effective treatment because the active ingredient has been purified and tested in clinical trials. So we know that it’s safe and effective, and what dose to prescribe.

Always be wary of anything labelled a ‘miracle cure’, especially if people are trying to sell it to you.