Nutritional programs for treating serious diseases like cancer are often criticized for not having controlled studies published in medical journals. Lack of funding for non-patentable therapies is one reason. Another is the reluctance of medical research organizations and the medical journals to become involved with “unconventional therapies”. Finally, even should a study be carried out, bias against the natural therapy can sabotage the results, as we shall see in the case of Dr Gonzalez.
Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, a researcher at Sloan-Kettering, became interested in the results of Dr. William Kelley’s work with terminal cancer patients using a nutritional program. Gonzalez wrote a monograph on 22 of Kelley’s advanced pancreatic cancer cases: 10 didn’t follow the program (dissuaded by family or doctors) –average survival 60 days; 7 followed the program partially and incompletely – average survival 300 days; 5 completed the full program – average survival 8.5 years. One of these was still living, cancer-free, 29 years later. Despite, or perhaps because of, these remarkable findings, Gonzalez was unable to find a publisher for his monograph. Even with the help of Dr Robert Good, president of Sloan-Kettering and a very respected author, no journal would publish so much as one case study because the results were “too controversial”.
In 1993 the National Cancer Institute (NCI) supervised a pilot study (funded by Nestlé Foods) with Gonzalez of 11 patients with advanced “untreatable” pancreatic cancer. Completed in 1999, the study showed that of the 11, 5 survived 2 years; 4 survived 3 years and 2 survived 5 years. By comparison, a chemo drug was approved for pancreatic cancer based on 18% (of 126 patients) surviving 1 year with none surviving longer than 19 months. Next the NCI funded a large scale clinical trial to test the nutritional program against the best available chemo. Unfortunately a flawed methodology included patients so sick they were unable to eat or died before even starting the program. Gonzalez estimates only 5 or 6 of the 39 patients in his group were able to do the program. The study of course concluded that the nutritional therapy was of little or no benefit. For the complete story including an interview with Dr Gonzalez, search “Gonzalez” on www.mercola.com or go to http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/23/dr-nicholas-gonzalez-on-alternative-cancer-treatments.aspx
For information on the Kelley metabolic cancer program see this critique by Melina A. Roberts BSc. (Hons.) University of Waterloo, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, published in the Townsend Letter June 2003. http://www.townsendletter.com/June2003/kelleycritique0603.htm
This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.
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