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The Truth About Chemotherapy - It Is Dangerous
Chemotherapy refers to the treatment of cancer by chemicals that kill cells, specifically cancer cells. Chemotherapy acts by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of cancer cells. This means that it also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal circumstances: cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles; this results in the most common side-effects of chemotherapy-myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells), mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract) and alopecia (hair loss).

Chemotherapy was first proposed as a treatment for cancer right after World War II, when research on mustard gas demonstrated that it has the ability to kill living cells, particularly those which rapidly divide, such as those in the intestinal tract, bone marrow and lymph system. Doctors soon came up with the idea that they could use mustard gas to poison cancer, which constitutes the most rapidly dividing cells of all. In fact, many of the drugs we use today are close cousins of mustard gas one reason we find them so toxic (The Immortal Cell, Dr Gerald B Dermer, Avery Publishing Group, Garden City Park, 1994).

Oncologists define "cure" and "response" in different terms. They look only at "response" that is, shrinking the tumour as a measure of success, without considering whether it increases survival or improves quality of life. Dr Urich Abel, a German epidemiologist, who examined virtually all the articles (several thousand in all) on chemotherapy, plus the work of some 350 scientists working on cancer therapies, has found that when a tumour mass partially or temporarily disappears, those tumour cells which are remaining and resist the effect of the chemo can sometimes grow much faster afterward. Often, patients who did not respond to chemo survive longer than those who do (Der Spiegel: 1990; 33: 174-6. See also J Otolaryn, 1995; 24(4): 242-52).

A top NCI scientist has observed that for most forms of cancer, many patients may initially respond. But in only three forms of cancer ovarian, small cell lung cancer, acute nonlymphocytic leukemia did any appreciable percentage survive without disease, and even then it was, at best, less than a sixth of the total group of patients. In all the other types of cancer, disease free survival was rare.

Shrinkage of solid tumours should not be overinterpreted, as it often has little or no survival benefit, according to oncology consultant GM Mead of the Royal South Hants Hospital (BMJ, January 28, 1995). Major chemo manufacturer Bristol Myers discloses that only 11 per cent of patients taking the carboplatin and 15 per cent of patients taking cisplatin had a complete response to the drugs; remission lasted on average, about a year, and both types of patients survived, on average, only two years.

One of the most used chemotherapy drugs is cyclophosphamide, which comes from mustard gas. It can cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss, anorexia, and damage the blood, heart and lungs. Another drug, cisplastin (Platinol), made of the heavy metal platinum, can damage nerves, kidneys, and cause hearing loss and seizures. It can also cause deafness, irreversible loss of motor function, bone marrow suppression, anemia and blindness.
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