In 1971 the American government under President Nixon declared war on cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) promised to slash cancer mortality in half by 2000. They constantly reassured the American people that great progress is being made while calling for ever increasing funding. So 40 years and billions of dollars later, is America winning the war? Sadly the statistics show otherwise.
Incidence rates (% change) for major cancers between 1975 and 2007 show a reduction for Male Lung Cancer (-22) but increases for other major cancers: Childhood (+30), Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (+82), Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (+67), Postmenopausal Female Breast (+23), Testes (+60), Thyroid (+145), Melanoma (+163), Kidney (+107), and Female Lung (+110).
Dr. Samuel Epstein in his 2011 book NCI and ACS: Criminal Indifference to Cancer Prevention and Conflicts of Interest explains why America is losing the war on cancer. The focus of the NCI and ACS is on pharmaceutical treatments rather than prevention. Less than 3% of NCI’s budget was allocated to environmental causes of cancer, and ACS actively defends known and suspected carcinogens like pesticides and cosmetic ingredients (possibly because its major corporate supporters are chemical and pharmaceutical companies?). Epstein documents many other conflicts of interest within the NCI – e.g. board members with ties to chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Instead of using tax and charitable money to research promising non-patentable nontoxic cancer treatments, NCI actively blocks their funding. The ACS goes further and attacks doctors who are successfully treating cancer with “unproven” therapies. Dr. Epstein concludes that prevention is the easiest and most effective way to reduce cancer incidence and death, but the war effort has been sabotaged.
See http://cancerdefeatedpublications.com/newsletters/11/071011.html for a review of Epstein’s book.
This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.
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