Mainstream medicine and drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) are touting BMS’s new cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) as a “breakthrough” that offers the hope of longer life. A closer look reveals just how cruel and deceptive such claims are and how the new drug, rather than being a new breakthrough, is just one more example of mainstream medicine’s false promises and an indictment of the mainstream medicine’s failure in treating cancer.
One prominently featured TV ad utilizes an attractive view of Chicago as a backdrop and smiling healthy looking actors portraying lung cancer patients. The ad boldly proclaims that Opdivo is a huge breakthrough which works with the patient’s own immune system to “at last offer the hope for longer life” for chemotherapy patients.
Another overblown advertisement for Opdivo proclaims:
Researchers have made what looks like a “once in a generation” breakthrough in fighting cancer, advancing a technique that could become one of the “pillars of oncology,” next to surgery and chemotherapy. The technique enables the immune system, which ordinarily treats malignant cancer cells as if they were healthy, normal cells, to identify and attack tumors.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? But what are the “fine print” and audio disclaimers that are slipped in while our attention is diverted by the backdrop and actors? Well, first of all there are the warnings that Opdivo can cause the immune system to attack healthy organs with possible fatal results. Not so great, huh? Among the immune disorders caused by the new drug are Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Lupus. And then there is the real clincher: In clinical trials of patients with lung cancer, patients who took Opdivo survived for an average of 9.2 months compared to 6 months for those took chemotherapy alone.
Are you kidding me? Only three additional months of life for a cost of up to $100,000? And it is worth nothing that the quality of life during those extra months can be horrific – in one trial which used the new drug in combination with another BMS immune boosting drug (ipilimumab), 30 percent of the patients in the trial dropped out because the side effects became more than they could tolerate.
The Importance of the Immune System
As those in natural health circles have known and said for decades now, the immune system is key in beating cancer. It is, after all, nature’s first line of defense against cancer and other illness. Conventional medicine is slowly coming around to realizing the importance of a robust natural immune system, but in typical mainstream medicine form they choose to unnaturally alter the immune system with an unnatural, and hugely profitable, patented cancer drug created in a lab instead of actually turning to nature.
Harnessing nature is the way to strengthen the immune system. When the goal is to eliminate cancer, never have it return, and then to go on to live a relatively healthy and normal lifespan − nature prevails. Such goals are virtually impossible when it comes to allopathic cancer treatments. Conventional treatments seldom get rid of all the cancer and often leave behind the hardest to kill cancer cells to multiply and regenerate within the host. Given that such treatments compromise the immune system and major organs, allopathic doctors must attempt to kill the symptoms of cancer before they kill the patient.
A growing body of research indicates that conventional cancer treatment may actually be a major contributing factor in recurrence and progression. It is widely known that people do not die of their cancer, but rather from the complications and consequences of conventional treatment.
The Ineffectiveness and Dangers of Chemotherapy and Radiation
The woeful ineffectiveness of chemotherapy was previously illustrated by two studies − one in the US and one in Australia − which found that chemotherapy increased survival by less than 3% over patients who opted to forgo chemotherapy. Should the studies have compared chemotherapy against the best natural treatments the results would have been more startling. Some of the best natural anti-cancer protocols have significantly higher success rates (some as high as 90%)!
Unlike mainstream cancer treatments, alternative approaches utilize nature to treat both the cancer and the host, requiring patients to address not just the presenting symptoms, but also the cause of cancer and dis-ease. Plus, people who are aligned with natural approaches and utilize natural approaches in preference to conventional medicine typically maintain their healthy lifestyle changes after beating cancer making it more likely they will go on to live long, healthy lives.
Recent studies have found that both chemotherapy and radiation actually contribute to the recurrence and progression of cancer. These treatments often leave behind the hardest to kill cancer cells, including cancer stem cells, and that those cells ultimately multiply and are much harder to eliminate. In one startling study done by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers found that radiation therapy not only created cancer stem cells, but that these irradiated breast cancer stem cells had a more than thirty-fold increased ability to form tumors than non-irradiated breast cancer cells.
Research done at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena and presented at the 27th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium illustrated how chemo actually spreads cancer cells. It seems that Taxol, one of the “gold standards” of chemo, causes large numbers of cancer cells to be released, resulting in metastasis − the most life-threatening aspect of cancer.
Beating Cancer Naturally
It should be noted that there is no “cure in a bottle” (or in an IV tube or radiation machine) when it comes to beating cancer naturally. Healing from cancer naturally requires a dedicated and persistent effort that includes changes in diet, nutrition, and lifestyle, eliminating and avoiding toxins (a true cause of cancer) and stress management in addition to cancer-fighting and immune-boosting herbs and other natural supplements. And to keep cancer at bay and go on to live a long, healthy life means not reverting back to old habits that enabled cancer to gain a foothold to begin with, and continuing to live, eat, and supplement wisely.
In this author’s opinion, the new immune boosting cancer drug offers no breakthrough. Instead it offers only scant extra months of poor quality life at a huge cost (which often is the main goal of mainstream medicine’s drugs). It also illustrates the abysmal failure of mainstream medicine’s decades-long war on cancer.
Article Summary
Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is touting their new cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) as a “breakthrough” that offers the hope of longer life. A closer look reveals that these claims are deceptive.
In the fine print are warnings that Opdivo can cause the immune system to attack healthy organs with possible fatal results.
In clinical trials of patients with lung cancer, patients who took Opdivo survived for an average of 9.2 months compared to 6 months for those who took chemotherapy alone.
A growing body of research indicates conventional cancer treatment may actually be a major contributing factor in recurrence and progression of cancer. It is widely known that people do not die of their cancer, but from the complications and consequences of conventional treatment.
People who use natural approaches instead of conventional medicine typically maintain their healthy lifestyle changes after beating cancer, making it more likely they will go on to live long, healthy lives.
Healing from cancer naturally requires a dedicated and persistent effort that includes changes in diet, nutrition, and lifestyle, eliminating and avoiding toxins, and stress management. This is in addition to cancer-fighting and immune-boosting herbs and other natural supplements.
On 26th August 2016 I am attending a Cancer Podcast at Southampton University Nuffield Theatre.
I shall take with me a patented natural cure for cancer, at the moment its my guess to an confidential email about a cure for 619 diseases. Cost 16 UK pence per capsule. So if you need 3 capsules a day then that meets the one dollar a day cure in the email. So I need to find the thousands of studies. A lot of the natural supplements I take patentable extracts. What you need are the correct mathematics, a one to one relationship allows 100 % absorbable into your cells. Therefore Activation Products Oceans Alive phytoplankton delivers 170 to 200 nutrients into “One phytoplankton to one human cell” and I assume it can do this because the phytoplankton strain has DNA that can talk to human cell DNA, “Do you want me, do you not want me”. This allows the cell to rebuild itself which up and coming University Students say is impossible because they can only “Think inside the box”. It is these University Students who are carrying out medical research. Using Oceans Alive I have regrown all the organs of my body so I have increasing lung capacity, 600 to 700 litres per minute, new constant heart beat heart, new eyes, new hearing and a pee range of two metres, the rest of my organs don’t know because I have no mathematical figures. University Students don’t even know what a relational database is? I did not say all Students, some will but I have not talked to them.
Thank you for the excellent article. In 1992, I don’t think it was common knowledge that most people die from “the cure”. I wish I knew back then what I know now. My Dad had an acute type of leukemia, which was treated agressively with 2 rounds of chemo. The day we came to take him off of the resperator, his oncologist admitted that it was the chemo that killed him, but he would have died anyway in a short period, probably from pneumonia. In stead, he suffered so much that they had to keep him sedated. He had what we later learned was chemo brain, along with big black sores on his body. I remember that his whole lower lip was one big sore. One year later, the hospital had a memorial service for all who had died the previous year. Mom leaned over to tell me that their insurance company had been billed around $100,000!! Ofcourse today, it would be a million. Where else in this world do people get paid high sums of money for playing the hero and killing people? It has to change and will change when people.become educated and realize they have other choices..
this is the drug they gave my husband,against my wishes, who just got over pneumonia. almost immediately after,he spent his time in bed,couldn’t breath,lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks,he can’t afford. went back for 2nd shot,had pneumonia again. i think doctor forgot to read side effects,which one is pneumonia. thank God he didn’t get anymore. 1 was way too much
Hi, sorry to hear this. Can I ask if he had had chemo before starting Opdivo and did he have the other drug Yervoy alongside the Opdivo?
Being a RN for more than 4 decades, having worked at a cancer center and had family and friends with cancer, it is true that patients die from the treatment and not the disease. Most patients are scared and believe whatever the doctor tells them. So if you doctor does not believe in natural or alternative treatments or refuses to admit that there is any treatment other than chemo, surgery and radiation you have placed your trust and faith in someone who does not deserve it. It is up to the patient to learn about non toxic alternatives and not let the doctor make decisions because you are too afraid or trust that he is God. Just ask yourself why is there such a hurry to start chemo, get surgery or radiation and why continue when it makes you feel worse and is killing your immune system?? It is a big money making business and won’t stop until the patient takes control/responsibility by knowing what the alternative treatments are. There is no doubt that with conventional cancer treatment you will go broke, go bankrupt and die sooner rather than later.
I loved your show, however I am living proof that opdivo works! After 5 treatments, my stage 4 nsclc was beaten back into remission I have since had 22 treatments with no progression..This is a huge deal for me, please do not undermine the scientific treatments. I have also used frankincense, and 4 herb tea as well as prayer.
Hi there, great to hear. My husband starts this treatment today for Stage IV Metastatic Melanoma in the lungs. Did you suffer any side effects. We are also using natural treatments.
Thanks
How do you use the frankincense? What is 4 herb tea and where can I get it?
I am now NED for 9 months. I use the Frankincense orally 3 drops under my toumge 3X daily ad well as topically on my previous tumor sites. You can google essiacs tea and brew it at home. I have had no side effects
“K C” makes a good point: Opdivo is working remarkably well for some people. Tony Isaacs makes some good points too: the improvement in overall survival is small, on average. The problem in current practice of immunotherapy is that they don’t know in advance who will be long-term survivors, though that challenge may be solved with detailed genetic analysis. Although I certainly prefer natural approaches to cancer prevention and treatment, the problem for anyone seeking evidence-based science to choose between conventional and alternative treatments is that there are few controlled studies of alternative treatments (because it is so expensive). Of course, there are many testimonials of people who have been saved by alternative treatments, but there are also many people who tried them and did not survive. What we all need are controlled studies comparing both kinds of treatment on different types of cancer; only then will we know the facts.
In the Nivolumab group 42% are alive at 1 year vs. 24% treated with Docetaxel. At 2 years it’s 30% vs. 10%. Not only this but Nivolumab has a better response rate and fewer side-effect https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26028407