Peter Moore: Deadly cancer myths - the online ‘cures’ costing lives

It is always hard to lose someone, but it must be even harder when the death could have been prevented. We know most cancers have a much better outlook if picked up and treated early.

When I was a student back in the 1970s, a man was admitted with terminal cancer. It had started in the bowel but had now spread. I spent some time talking to him. He seemed sensible with a lovely family. The tragedy was that his situation had been entirely preventable.

Even in the 1970s, if bowel cancer was diagnosed early and removed, the outlook was excellent. His cancer had been picked up early, at a time when it would have been curable. Instead of attending an NHS hospital, he had been seeing an “alternative practitioner”. All the treatments were useless, and it was now too late.

Sadly, these tragedies continue today and are made worse today by misinformation on social media. According to many top cancer specialists, people are dying by refusing life-saving treatment and choosing “radical diets” and natural “cures”. They are sold the line that anything ”natural” must be better than medical treatment even though the medical treatment has been shown to be effective and safe following years of international research.

The British doctor, Dr Julie Gralow, the executive vice president of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, told a recent conference in Chicago that the amount of misinformation around cancer seen by the NHS is “alarmingly high”.

She said: “Several patients of mine wanted an all-natural treatment approach after I explained the cancer and my treatment recommendations. They go online and search for something natural and find a clinic in Mexico that promises all-natural treatment for cancer, which includes caffeine, vitamin C infusions, and other things.” They return a few months later, and the scan shows that the tumour has grown. Sometimes they did not return, and she heard later that they had died.

Another specialist, the chief medical officer at the charity Macmillan Cancer Support, has had the same experience.

There are several myths. Is “natural” always better? Deadly nightshade is natural. In 1765, before modern medicine was developed, life expectancy was below thirty-nine. By 2020 it had increased to over eighty-one. Of course, this is not all due to effective medicines. Improved nutrition has saved lives because we understand the science behind farming and how to avoid food poisoning. But Western medicine has made a massive difference. Immunisation has cut the scourge of many infectious diseases, and antibiotics have meant that many infections are no longer a death sentence.

Another myth on the internet claims that cancer thrives in an acid environment. All you need to do to stop cancer is to make your body alkaline, so just take bicarbonate of soda. Anyone who has ever studied any human biology will know this is nonsense. The pH of the body is tightly controlled naturally, and any change can cause serious problems or even death.

Worryingly, in one survey over half of the people did not trust information from scientists about cancer. Doctors are losing the information battle.

I have never understood what it is about medicine that attracts people to follow anyone with no medical qualifications. Would they fly on their holiday in a plane where the pilot had no qualifications but claimed to know far more than those mainstream pilots who are obviously a part of a conspiracy?

Unfortunately, dodgy medical advice is not new. In Victorian times there were so many “quacks” with dubious “cures” that it was difficult for the public to know who a qualified doctor was. The Medical Act of 1858 set up the General Medical Council (GMC) to register properly qualified doctors. The GMC is still around. There is no law that specifies which qualifications are needed to practice medicine. The law simply states that anyone practicing as a doctor must be registered with the GMC. It is the GMC who ensures doctors are properly qualified.

The outlook for many cancers has dramatically improved over the last few years. Somehow we have to get this message across. If anyone does find a “cure” online, discuss it with the doctor. But remember, rushing to follow “cures” on the Internet could be a death sentence.