Tag: cancer

“I Thought He Was Helping Me”: Patient Endured 9 Years of Chemotherapy for Cancer He Never Had

Anthony Olson wanted a career, children, a partner with whom he could hike Montana’s trails. Despite the diabetes diagnosis at age 4, the anemia, the kidney transplant that failed at age 29, the dialysis, he clung to those dreams. He attended community college and later moved from his parents’ house in Helena to study accounting at Montana Tech in Butte. He thought he might live a nearly normal life.

All of that was taken away in early 2011 when an oncologist at St. Peter’s, Helena’s only hospital, diagnosed him with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder that’s often described as pre-leukemia. The life expectancy of MDS patients is short. “He told me that without treatment, I’d be dead before the end of the year,” Olson said. He was 33.

“That diagnosis changed the direction of my life,” Olson, now 47, told me.

Olson couldn’t have known that he was one of many patients who, according to court records, may have received inappropriate, harmful or unnecessary treatments from Dr. Thomas C. Weiner. As I reported earlier this month, administrators at St. Peter’s suspected Weiner, who directed the hospital’s cancer center, was hurting patients for years. Yet hospital administrators allowed him to keep treating people until late 2020, when they suspended and then fired him. Weiner has denied all the allegations.

“I trusted that he was doing what was best for me,” Olson said of Weiner. “I never really questioned that until someone else told me that there was reason to.”

I discovered Olson’s story in a cache of records related to an ongoing legal dispute between Weiner and St. Peter’s. I was struck by how similar his case was to that of another Weiner patient, Scot Warwick. Weiner had diagnosed Warwick with Stage 4 lung cancer and treated him with chemo and other therapies for 11 years, court records show; after Warwick died in 2020, his family learned, from both a biopsy and an autopsy, that he never had cancer. Weiner insisted that Warwick had cancer all those years and that other doctors “missed” the disease.

Olson’s diagnosis was similarly flimsy, and he had been treated over nearly the same period of time. But there was a key difference between the two men: Olson lived to tell his story.

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High-fructose Corn Syrup is Everywhere — Scientists Say It May Make Cancerous Tumors Grow Faster

Eating fructose boosts the growth of cancerous tumors — by two-fold or greater in some cases — without changing body weight, fasting glucose or fasting insulin levels, according to a peer-reviewed study published Dec. 4 in Nature.

The authors of the study showed that dietary fructose promotes cancer tumor growth in mice that have melanoma, breast cancer and cervical cancer.

Fructose is a naturally occurring sugar found in some fruits, vegetables, honey and table sugar, according to the Mayo Clinic. The consumption of fructose has greatly increased in recent decades since food and beverage companies started routinely using high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, the authors said in their report.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), high-fructose corn syrup is derived from corn starch. Corn starch is naturally made of glucose, but added enzymes convert some of the glucose to fructose — which tastes sweeter.

Gary Patti, Ph.D. — a professor of genetics and medicine at Washington University, the senior director for the university’s Center for Metabolomics and Isotope Tracing, and the study’s corresponding author — told The Defender:

“We put animals with cancer on a high-fructose diet and then compared the progression of the disease with animals who were on standard diets. We also fed fructose to cancer cells in a dish.

“We were surprised that dietary fructose drove tumor growth in the animals but that the same cells could not use it as a nutrient when isolated in a dish.”

This led Patti and his co-authors to discover that fructose does not feed tumor growth directly. “Instead, the liver transforms fructose into other nutrients that then drive tumor growth indirectly,” Patti said.

The researchers were also surprised to see how dramatic an impact fructose had on tumors. “In some cases,” Patti said in a press release, “the growth rate of the tumors accelerated by two-fold or even higher … Eating a lot of fructose was clearly very bad for the progression of these tumors.”

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FDA Updates Recall On Blood Pressure Medication Due To Possible Carcinogen

A third blood pressure medication was recalled across the United States in the past several weeks, according to a notice updated on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website on Dec. 16.

The notice said that New Jersey-based Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc. is recalling Nebivolol tablets in 2.5 milligram doses in 30-count bottles, which are only available by prescription. Nebivolol, a type of beta blocker, is used to treat high blood pressure.

The reason for the recall is because of the “presence of nitrosamine drug substance related impurity,” adding that discovered N-nitroso nebivolol levels are above the “acceptable intake limit,” it said. N-nitroso nebivolol is a nitrosamine and is considered mutagenic.

It was first initiated by Aurobindo earlier this month. The FDA classified the recall as Class II on Dec. 16, which occurs when there is a low chance of injury or death, and a possibility of “adverse events” that may have irreversible effects. They are issued if the product can cause medically reversible or temporary health problems—or if there is a small chance of serious health consequences.

The lot numbers being recalled are: NB0224001A and NB0224001B. It has an expiration date of April 2027 and a National Drug Code, or NDC, of 59651-137-30, according to the FDA.

Nitrosamines are compounds that can increase the risk of cancer in individuals if exposed to them above levels established by the FDA, or for long periods of time, the agency says on its website.

“A person taking a drug that contains nitrosamines at-or-below the acceptable daily intake limits every day for 70 years is not expected to have an increased risk of cancer,” the FDA adds.

People who are taking medications with possible “nitrosamine impurities should not stop taking their medications” and should instead speak with a health care professional.

Nitrosamines can be found in small levels in the environment and foods, including “meat, vegetables, and dairy products,” the FDA says.

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Democrats Run Disinformation Campaign Blaming Musk and Trump for Child Cancer Research Cuts — Turns Out GOP House Passed Funding Bill in March But Schumer’s Senate Stalls for 9 Months Until Exposed

Democrats and their media allies launched a coordinated disinformation campaign this week, attempting to pin the blame for stalled pediatric cancer research funding on Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. The reality, however, reveals a much different story.

For months, the GOP-controlled House has been ahead of the curve, passing a comprehensive funding bill for pediatric cancer research back in March.

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Democratic-controlled Senate let the legislation languish for nine months—only taking action after being exposed.

The firestorm began when a 1,500-page Democrat-Johnson continuing resolution (CR) packed with unrelated pork was shelved following public criticism from Musk and Trump, who vowed to challenge any Republican voting for the bloated measure.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wasted no time launching an unfounded attack, claiming that Musk was single-handedly responsible for blocking pediatric cancer funding.

“Republicans are marching America to a painful government shutdown that will crash the economy and hurt working class Americans because they would rather enact massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors than fund cancer research for children,” Jeffries told the press.

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Biden grants clemency to ex-doc sentenced to 20 years for diluting cancer patients’ chemotherapy drugs

President Joe Biden granted clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans this week, including to a former doctor convicted of Medicare fraud for providing diluted chemotherapy drugs to cancer patients.

The commutations, which the White House is lauded as “the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history,” has drawn significant criticism as some of those on the list have been reported on. According to a report from The Washington Free Beacon, several recipients were involved in serious offenses.

Meera Sachdeva, a Mississippi doctor, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 for defrauding Medicare and was required to reimburse $8.2 million to her former cancer facility. Sachdeva provided cancer patients with diluted chemotherapy drugs. She also provided them with old needles, which resulted in one patient claiming to have gotten HIV from a needle used by her clinic.

The White House announced that the individuals who received clemency had demonstrated rehabilitation and “a strong commitment to making their communities safer.” In addition to commuting sentences for nearly 1,500 individuals on home confinement, Biden pardoned 39 people convicted of non-violent offenses.

“Together, these actions build on the President’s record of criminal justice reform to help reunite families, strengthen communities, and reintegrate individuals back into society,” the White House said in its announcement. “The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms.”

Other recipients of clemency included Daniel Fillerup, an Alabama physician sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally distributing fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose. The Department of Justice said that Fillerup “directly contributed to the opioid epidemic.” Also included was Wendy Hechtman, who was serving 15 years for leading a drug ring linked to a surge in overdose deaths in Nebraska in 2017.

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Study reveals shocking levels of cancer-linked pesticides in imported food – and the fruit that’s most affected

Analysts have raised the alarm about potentially harmful pesticides linked to cancer and infertility that are found in fruit like satsumas and oranges imported into Britain.

Campaign group Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) used Government testing data to show 46 pesticides with links to cancer had been detected on produce imports to Britain as of the end of last year.

This was more than double the 19 such pesticides found in British produce. 

Similar results were found for pesticides linked to fertility and damage to the nervous system, with twice and thrice as many such chemicals found on imports compared to British fare.

By food group, ‘soft citrus’ — which includes satsumas, tangerines and clementines — had the highest change of having a cocktail of multiple pesticides present, with 96 per cent of samples tested returning positive.

This was followed by oranges and lemons which had multiple pesticides detected in in 95 and 89 per cent of samples.

All three types of fruit contained as many as nine different pesticides — and all of these samples were imported from South Africa.  

For individual fruits, grapes from Lebanon that had the most pesticides of any item, with 13 substances detected on one sample analysed. 

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Psilocybin therapy offers relief from multiple psychiatric symptoms in cancer patients

New research published in Nature Mental Health indicates that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may offer comprehensive mental health benefits for individuals experiencing cancer-related distress. The study found that this treatment not only reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression but also reduced interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, obsession-compulsion, and somatization. These findings suggest that psilocybin could provide an innovative approach to addressing the profound psychological challenges associated with cancer.

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is a relatively new approach that combines the administration of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound derived from certain mushrooms, with guided psychotherapy. Unlike traditional psychiatric medications, which are often taken daily and may take weeks to show effects, research suggests that psilocybin can produce rapid and lasting relief after just one or two carefully supervised sessions.

These sessions typically include preparation with a trained therapist, the psilocybin experience itself in a safe and supportive setting, and follow-up therapy to help process and integrate the experience. This method has shown promise in treating mood and anxiety disorders, particularly for patients facing existential challenges such as life-threatening illnesses.

For cancer patients, the psychological toll can be overwhelming, often manifesting as depression, anxiety, and emotional distress that significantly affect quality of life and clinical outcomes. Standard treatments, including therapy and antidepressant medications, frequently fall short in effectiveness and may be accompanied by delayed onset or undesirable side effects. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy offers a potential alternative, with rapid and sustained benefits.

While prior research has demonstrated psilocybin’s ability to reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients, many individuals with cancer experience additional mental health symptoms, such as interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, somatization, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. These symptoms exacerbate the emotional burden of cancer, yet their response to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy had not been systematically investigated.

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Cancer, Chemotherapy and Establishment Ignorance and Lies

The media (persuaded by the drug industry and the medical establishment which are, sadly, much the same thing) often seems to believe that chemotherapy is the only way to treat cancer. They may be rich and powerful but they’re wrong. The Guardian newspaper in the UK recently told their readers that “the damage to healthy tissues tends to be temporary” and “side effects usually disappear once the treatment is over.” If The Guardian studies the evidence in this book, they may like to reconsider that advice.

Information is the currency and capital for everything worthwhile we do. But there is more misinformation about cancer than just about anything else. Much of the misinformation is deliberate and corporate and there is more fraud, more confusion and more lying in this area of medicine than almost anywhere else. Charities, which supposedly exist to care for patients, are too often simply part of the cancer industry, beholden to the international pharmaceutical companies which make billions out of selling drugs which do little or no good and which are known to kill people. I don’t know of any cancer charity which doesn’t have links (usually financial) with big drug companies. This is, sadly, by no means unusual. When specific charities and patient associations were first formed, they were usually dedicated to caring and campaigning for patients but, sadly, charities and patient associations in all areas of medicine have been corrupted by the money which big drug companies have available for so-called marketing programmes. In the global cancer industry, the charities largely provide marketing and public relations services while the drug companies control the research that is done. When commercially inconvenient results are produced, they quickly suppress anything which might be financially damaging.

Cancer is not a single disease. It is a word which describes a great many quite different diseases. The one thing these diseases all have in common is that there is an uncontrolled and disorderly growth of abnormal cells. It is quite normal for cells to grow and to reproduce. Every minute, in every human body, an astonishing ten million cells divide. Usually, everything goes well. The cells divide in the right way and at the right time. But when a cell becomes a “cancer cell” it grows and divides at an abnormally rapid rate. These abnormal “cancer cells” destroy or push aside the normal, functioning cells. If the “cancer cells” are not stopped they may spread to other parts of the body and take up residence in other, different organs. “Cancer cells” may be carried around the body through the blood vessels or the lymph channels. When a cancer spreads and appears in another part of the body, the new growths are known as secondaries or metastases. Cancer can also spread by “crab-like” outgrowths (hence the name “cancer”).

Cancer is not the unknown, dark shrouded mystery killer that it is often thought to be. We do not know enough to recommend a lifestyle which will enable all individuals to avoid all cancers. But we know enough to make a difference. If we make the decision to avoid those factors which research has shown can lead to the development of cancer, and to do those things which can strengthen our defences against cancer, then I believe that we can dramatically influence our susceptibility to the disease and we can reduce the chances of a recurrence. We can’t stop it permanently but we can adjust the odds in our favour.

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Marijuana Components Show ‘Promising Potential As Anticancer Agents,’ Study Finds, Though Mechanisms Of Action Are Still A Mystery

A new scientific review on cannabis and cancer concludes that a variety of cannabinoids—including delta-9 THC, CBD and cannabigerol (CBG)—”show promising potential as anticancer agents through various mechanisms,” for example by limiting the growth and spread of tumors.

But authors acknowledged that obstacles to incorporating cannabis into cancer treatment remain, such as regulatory barriers and the need to determine optimal dosing.

“Cannabinoids, including Δ9-THC, CBD, and CBG, exhibit significant anticancer activities such as apoptosis induction, autophagy stimulation, cell cycle arrest, anti-proliferation, anti-angiogenesis, and metastasis inhibition,” says the report, published late last month in the journal Discover Oncology. “Clinical trials have demonstrated cannabinoids’ efficacy in tumor regression and health improvement in palliative care.”

The workings behind those apparent benefits, however, are still largely unknown. “Despite the evident anti-cancer properties of cannabinoids from numerous experimental results,” the review says, “the exact mechanisms of action still require extensive research.”

It adds: “Despite the positive outcomes of using cannabinoids in cancer therapy, there remain significant gaps in knowledge regarding their modes of action, effects on the tumor microenvironment, and the physiology of the signaling pathways they affect.”

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Scientists Say “Substantial Risk” of Cancer from mRNA Vaccines

The Australian Government should immediately suspend the use of Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines due to accumulating evidence of high levels of synthetic DNA contamination in the shots.

which present a “substantial risk” of genomic integration and long-term health impacts, including cancers, say leading scientists and academics.

In a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Russell Broadbent, independent MP for the federal seat of Monash, said that “immediate action through a suspension of these products is critical to mitigate further risk”,.

After independent testing of Australian vials of modified RNA (mod-RNA) Covid vaccines detected residual synthetic DNA at levels up to 145 above the legal limit.

The letter, circulated to all Australian MPs and Senators, is co-signed by 52 scientists and academics, many at the top of their fields, including Professor of Oncology Angus Dalgleish.

Emeritus Professor Wendy Hoy, an expert in chronic disease, Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy, an immunologist who developed a bronchitis vaccine, geneticist Professor Alexandra Henrion Caude and microbiologist Professor Sucharit Bhakdi MD.

An accompanying science summary describes the concerns of Broadbent and co-signatories, who are asking the PM to adopt a “precautionary approach”, with the recommendation that “the Minister for Agriculture initiate a Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis of these products, potentially leading to the suspension of these products due to the risks they pose to human health”.

“Excessive synthetic foreign DNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles can integrate into human cells, potentially leading to genomic instability, cancers, immune system disruption and adverse hereditary effects,” explains the summary, which details the results of independent testing of the vaccines to date.

Residual synthetic DNA, a byproduct from the mod-RNA vaccine manufacturing process, is allowed under TGA regulations in levels of up to 10 nanograms (ng) per vaccine dose, a regulatory limit that was set for traditional vaccines and was not amended for mod-RNA products using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs).

The summary goes on to explain why the LNP packaging of residual synthetic DNA makes these products different to traditional vaccines that may contain “naked” residual DNA.

“Crucially, naked DNA has no ability to cross cell membranes and enter cells. In contrast, synthetic DNA encapsulated in LNPs possesses a high transfection efficiency, meaning, the LNP-modDNA complexes are efficient at delivering synthetic DNA into human cells,” the summary states.

The summary cites research indicating that the presence of foreign DNA within the cell alone can induce cancer, but the risk is increased if the DNA enters the cell nucleus.

This can occur in dividing cells, and the presence of an SV40 enhancer sequence (in Pfizer only), which is “long known to assist entry into the nucleus, even when cells are not undergoing cell division”, increases the risk further.

Once synthetic DNA is inside the cell nucleus, genomic integration is possible, the summary explains.

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