Month: December 2010

Tin (M597) was 38 years old in 2007 when she found lumps in her breasts during a regular medical check up. A CT scan done on 21 May 2007 indicated: no lung nodules or abnormal masses or enlarged lymph nodes. In the left axilla are slightly prominent lymph nodes – these are under 1 cm in size. There are no liver lesions seen.

Tin underwent a left mastectomy on 1 June 2007.  The histology report indicated:

1. Right breast biopsy – fibroadenoma in background of fibrocystic disease.
2. Left breast (biopsy and mastectomy specimen): multifocal ductal carcinoma in-situ with invasive ductal carcinoma; invasive carcinoma measures 4.3 cm in maximum diameter; DCIS and invasive carcinoma extend close to the deep resection margin; skin and nipple are not involved by tumour.
3. Left axillary lymph nodes: 4 out of 6 lymph nodes contain metastatic carcinoma, with extracapsular spread.
4. TNM classification: pT2N2aMx, Stage 3A.

The tumour is negative for oestrogen and progesterone receptors, weakly reactive to C-erb-B2 and strongly reactive to P53. These results suggest that the breast cancer is unlikely to respond to tamoxifen / endocrine therapy.

As with most cancer patients, Tin underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy after the surgery. Her husband was not sure how many courses of chemotherapy Tin had received. But one thing was sure – she was not getting any better. The oncologist behaved gently and encouraged Tin to continue taking the chemotherapy in spite of her deteriorating condition. She had full faith in her oncologist. According to her husband, Tin received Avastin towards the end of her chemo-treatment. Tin also underwent radiotherapy but her husband could not remember how many times she received the radiation treatment.

A follow up CT scan on 14 May 2008 indicated: no lung nodules or masses seen. Mediastinum remains clear of mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Liver also remains clear of metastatic deposits.

CT scan on 17 February 2009 indicated:

1. Multiple pulmonary metastases are noted. This shows interval increase in size and number when compared with previous CT dated 22 December 2008.
2. There is also interval development of bilateral pleural effusions, left larger than the right.
3. Mediastinal and bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy are seen. This is unchanged when compared with previous CT. There is however interval development of left axillary nodes.
4. There are now several small subcentimeter hypodense lesions seen in the liver compatible with hepatic metastases. These are not present in the previous CT.

CT scan on 8 June 2009 indicated:

1. There is extensive pleural shadowing seen in the lung fields on both sides with evidence of associated effusions noted.
2. This is associated with lung nodules in both lungs the largest of which measures approximately 1 cm in the mid zone of the left side.
3. A small associated pericardial effusion is seen.
4. In the lower cuts, the liver outline shows no abnormalities.

Tin’s husband and mother-in-law came to seek our help on 2 July 2009. This is the gist of what we were told.

Tin’s husband and mother-in-law did not seem to agree that Tin undergo such extensive medical treatment but Tin insisted in carrying out what the oncologist wanted her to do. She questioned:Herbs are not proven, what if I took herbs and these do not work. As a result, her mother-in-law was afraid to give further comment. Even when Tin’s condition had turned worse and she became breathless due to fluid in her lungs and pericardium, the oncologist was saying there was nothing to worry. Every three weeks she had to have a blood transfusion. After Tin gets out of the hospital, the oncologist said she should come back to him for more chemotherapy.

Realizing that she was not going anywhere with medical treatment, Tin as last agreed to try our herbs. This resulted in Tin’s husband and mother-in-law flying to Penang to see us. We prescribed some herbs but expressed our skeptism.

On 19 July 2009, Tin’s husband came to Penang again. He informed us that Tin had been hospitalized and was only able to take the herbs for three days so far. Her condition was deteriorating. The doctor had requested the family to take Tin home. At most she would survive for another 2 months. Tin needed oxygen to help her breathe.

All in all, the family had spent approximately S$200,000 for the treatment. Tin’s husband told us: Please try to save my wife.

Barely 3 days after her husband’s second visit, we received this e-mail:

Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 5:42 PM

Comments: Is losing a battle against cancer such as this something unusual? Definitely not. At CA Care we witness see such disasters all too often. Tin had undergone all the medical treatments necessary for cancer and she died within two years. Where is the proven science in this case?

Granted, Tin’s cancer was serious – Stage 3A, but her CT scan of 14 May 2008 indicated no problem with her lungs or liver. There were also no serious problems with her lymph nodes. But one a half years later, trouble started brewing. CT scan in December 2008 indicated recurrence and it became even more serious in February 2009 in spite of more treatments (more of different poisons?).

By June 2009 Tin’s condition became more critical and she had fluid in her lungs and also her pericardium (heart lining). What had happened? Was this due to her cancer or the results of her treatment?

Often treatments of breast cancer are referred to as Slash, burn and poison. It is also said that these treatments are worse than the disease. What could have happened if Tin were to do nothing invasive and go for alternative treatment?  Having to suffer and to spend S$200,000 but ending up dead within 2 years is no bargain at all.

Dr. Frank Daudert of Pro Leben Klinik in Igls /Innsbruck, Austria said: Doctors give chemo, chemo, chemo. And patients die, die, die. He went on to say: Doctors are blindly giving chemotherapy to some patients while the cancer cells smile and the patients die.

Tin was totally committed to curing her cancer by the medical way. To her, herbalists are quacks and the herbs are not proven. She had resisted seeking alternative therapy or help. According to her family she only agreed to take the herbs in July 2009, and a few days later she died. That was a bit too late! There are many patients who are like her. Let this be a lesson to  numerous others who come after her.

Life on earth is a living experience. Let the death of Yee be a valuable lesson for many others who come after her.

Yee was 40 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2005. She underwent a mastectomy. It was a Stage 2 disease with no lymph node involvement. The tumour was 3 x 2 x 2 cm in size.

After surgery, Yee received 6 cycles of FAC chemotherapy (5-FU, Andiamycin and Cyclophosphamide). No radiotherapy was indicated. Chemotherapy was completed in March 2006 after that she was started on tamoxifen.

Yee was well for about 9 months. Sometime in January 2007, she noted a swelling in the right side of her neck. A CT scan of the thorax on 19 January 2007 indicated: multiple nodules scattered in both lung fields ranging from 2 to 10 mm. This means the cancer had spread to her lungs.

Yee was given 8 cycle of taxane-based chemotherapy. This treatment was not effective. CT scan on 4 July 2007 showed the nodules in the lungs were progressing.

Yee received more chemotherapy – 6 cycles of Navelbine + Herceptin. This treatment cost about RM 50,000. CT scan in November 2007 showed stable disease. From November 2007 till December 2008 Yee was on the oral drug, Tykerb (lapatinib) 4 to 5 tablets per day. Each tablet cost RM 65.00. At RM 260.00 per day this medication cost RM 7,800 per month. It seemed that the total cost for about 14 months on Tykerb came to about RM 93,000.00.

By February 2008, failures started to show up again. A CT scan on 13 February 2008 indicated:enlarging pulmonary nodules ranging from 0.5 to 2.2 cm.

Six months later, 19 August 2008, CT scan indicated pulmonary nodules are increasing in number and measure from 0.5 to 5.0 cm. Subcentimeter mediastinal nodes are also seen.

In October 2008, Yee suffered right arm pain and there was palpable swelling in the right collarbone. CT scan on 13 October 2008 showed more serious disease progression:

1. fibrosis in the right axilla.
2. an irregular ill-defined node in the right infraclavicular region, approximately 2.0 cm.
3. another small right supraclavicular node, 0.7 cm is also present.
4. medistinal nodes,size slightly increased from the last CT examination.
5. pulmonary masses and nodules are enlarging. The largest mass, in the left lung is currently 5.6 cm. Other lesions measure from 1.0 to 4.8 cm.
6. A new hypodense lesion, approximately 1.0 cm is now seen in Segment 7. This is suspicious of liver metastasis.

In view of the progressive disease, Yee underwent 28 times of radiation treatment starting 13 October 2008 until 1 December 2008, while at the same time continuing with her oral-drug, Tykerb.

On 17 December 2008, York suffered headaches and was unable to sleep. A CT scan done on 19 December 2008, indicated multiple brain metastases.

Yee and her husband came to seek our help on 5 December 2008. Yee’s condition was serious. Her right arm was numb. She had no appetite. She was severely breathless. Even the supply of oxygen to her nostrils did not help at all. She told her husband she would rather die. In early February 2009, Yee was admitted to the hospital where the doctor suggested that she receive radiation to her brain. It was not to be – she died even before the treatment.

This is a tragic case. Yee’s story is similar to that of Fransiska of Indonesia. Fransiska underwent surgery and received chemotherapy, radiotherapy, Herceptin and Tykerb + Xeloda. Fransiska died. She was diagnosed in November 2004 and died in December 2008. Yee was diagnosed with a Stage 2 breast cancer in October 2005, underwent similar treatments and she died in February 2009.

Doctors, the media and patients always look to newer drugs and newer technologies as a new hopefor treating illnesses. We have been hooked and made addicted to the idea that something new is always better. Herceptin and Tykerb are new bullets for cancer which are now beginning to appear in our local landscape. Are they better or dangerous?

From the website (http://www.tykerb.com ) you can learn that:

1. There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. But it can be treated. What do you by such a vague treatment? Surely we can treat anything if there is money!
2. Some women may develop liver damage while taking Tykerb. The cause of this damage is not known. Liver damage may be severe and may cause death.
3. The most common side effects of Tykerb are diarrhea; vomiting; feeling sick to your stomach; feeling tired; red, painful hands and feet; and rash.
4. Dry cough or have shortness of breath may be signs of inflammation in the lungs.

Can Herceptin cause any serious side effects? Yes, according to the National Cancer Institute website (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/therapy/herceptin)

1.       Herceptin can cause heart muscle damage that can lead to heart failure.

2.       Herceptin can also affect the lungs, causing severe or life-threatening breathing problems.

3.       Herceptin can cause allergic reactions that can be severe or life-threatening. Symptoms of a reaction include a drop in blood pressure, shortness of breath, rashes and wheezing.

4.       Because of these potentially life-threatening side effects, doctors are WARNED to evaluate patients carefully for any heart or lung problems before starting treatment. Do you think they ever do this? In this case, Yee had metastasis (that is not severe problem enough?) to her lungs. As such would Herceptin not make things worse for her? When she came to us she was severely breathless. What could have been the cause?

And one most important question which patients (and doctors?) do not even care to ask: Does Herceptin cure breast cancer? The answer is absolutely NO. Addition of Herceptin to the normal chemotherapy regime prolonged survival by 4.6 months.  Nowhere in the website ever says that Herceptin cures breast cancer. Read the section: Possible Benefits of Herceptin (take note, even the title itself does not seem to inspire much confidence and hope) in its official website: http://www.herceptin.com/adjuvant/what-is/benefits.jsp

Dr. Ralph Moss wrote a report entitled: Herceptin or Deception. Michael Janson, M.D., past president of the American College of Advancement of Medicine gave this comment about the report: Dr. Mossreveals the hollow core of the recent medical reports on Herceptin, showing that it is not what has been claimed, and that the statistics were manipulated to make it seem far better that it is, while underplaying the potential risks.

In Yee’s case, like in many other cases before her, perhaps there is no point asking the same question: What has gone wrong? Things seem to go wrong most of the time. Allow me to think aloud:How could a Stage 2 breast cancer kill a patient within four years? Would she have died if she was to do nothing?

Breast cancer is less common among those in their thirties, but if breast cancer occurs in younger women, it tends to be more aggressive than in older women. While this may be true, some people want to make us believe that it is because Yee was young and had an aggressive type of cancer that make her treatment ineffective. Let me invite you read the case of three ladies who were before forty when they had cancer yet they survive. The only thing they did differently was that they did not blindly their doctors – they declined chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormonal treatments.

Tee, a 38-year-old lady who was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2005 (note: at about the same time as Yee) and she refused chemotherapy. Tee is still alive as of this writing (March 2009) while Yee died in February 2009. You can read Tee’s story in our Case Report series.

Sue was 39 years old when she discovered 2 lumps in her right breast in 2003. She underwent a mastectomy. Her oncologist told her that with chemotherapy she would have 5% chance more of survival. She but declined further medical treatment, including tamoxifen as suggested by her surgeon. Sue change her diet and lifestyle and took herbs. It has been 6 years now and Sue has been leading a trouble-free life.

Julia discovered a 4 cm lump in her breast in 1995. She was then 36 years old. She was asked to undergo a mastectomy. She declined and never went to see her doctor again. She declined chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormonal therapy and decided to seek alternative healing. She father is an herbalist and naturally she turned to him for help. Julia’s healing journey along the uncharted path is interesting and sometime dangerous. But to fact remains she is still very much alive and well as of this writing (2009). It was 14 years that she was first diagnosed with cancer. The detail story of Julia is found in our book: The herbal option, Chapter 3.

Cindy was 34-years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 1994. She underwent a lumpectomy. Since the margin was not clear she was asked to undergo a mastectomy to be followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She declined further medical treatment. She changed her lifestyle and diet, did qi gong and meditation and sought homeopathic therapy. It has been 15 years and Cindy has been leading a healthy without any problem (Chapter 2: The herbal option).

Dr. Gershom Zajicek, Professor of Medicine at The Hubert H. Humphrey Center For Experimental Medicine and Cancer Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (http://www.what-is-cancer.com) wrote: Modern medicine has the best means to treat disease, yet the basic tenets of treatment are false.

Dr. Frank Daudert, Pro Leben Klinik in Austria said: Doctors are blindly giving chemotherapy  … while the cancer cells smile. Doctors give chemo, chemo, chemo. And patients die, die, die.

In their book: More harm than good, Alan Zelicoff, M.D., and Michael Bellomo, J.D./MBA, wrote: (Physicians are) taught that doing nothing almost guarantees that the patient will suffer and that doing something outweighs doing nothing. The truth is that the vast majority of cancer – once spread – remain incurable despite the availability of many dozens of new chemotherapeutic drugs and even the use of antibodies directed against cancer cells.

Richard Deyo and Donald Patrick, professors, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, wrote in their book: Hope or hype – the obsession with medical advances and the high cost of false promises: We are born with our own blind trust in a medical establishment that preys on our deepest fears, all the while purporting to ride to our rescue with “miracles cures.” Indeed many medical advances do offer real advantages but there are as many others that offer little, if any, advantage and many have alarming side effects … marginally effective at best – and sometimes downright dangerous …. They often lead to useless, harmful and unnecessarily expensive care … When doctors introduce new products good money often trumps good science.

Case 1

Fay (not real name) is a 45-year-old Malaysian. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2006.

• She underwent a mastectomy with axillary clearance (removal of lymph nodes).
• After the surgery she received 25 radiation treatments and six cycles of chemotherapy. The drugs used were 5-FU, epirubin and cyclophosphamide (FEC). All treatments were completed in April 2007.
• Every 4 months Fay went back to her oncologist for routine surveillance check up. Everything was alright.
• In August 2008, cancer was found in her bones – L2, L5, sacrum and pelvis.
• She had been on tamoxifen for almost 2 years (November 2006 to August 2008). Tamoxifen had failed and the doctor suggested that she take another drugs, Arimidex.
• She received to receive more chemotherapy and suffered badly from the side effects.

Case 2

Rin (not real name) and is a 40-year-old Indonesian lady living in the United States. She wrote:

• First I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2004.
• I did the lumpectomy on the left breast in February 2005.
• After the surgery, I received 8 cycles of chemotherapy. After the chemotherapy I had menopause.
• I then had radiotherapy for 35 times and I finished it in October 2005.
• I took tamoxifen, 20 mg once a day.
• I did regular check up with my oncologist every 6 month and I did yearly mammogram and the past 2 years I also did the bone density test.
• In August 2008, I started feeling pain in my left leg and sometimes in my left arm. The pain did not go away and it hurt more and more. Then I was not able to and walk straight and could not bend. It was very hard for me to go up and down the stairs.
• In November 2008, I had a whole body scan and also CT scan. The cancer had spread to the bones –  left humeral head, left femur and L5.
• I again did radiotherapy for the effected area for 10 times.
• In Dec 2008, I developed blood clots in my left leg.
• My doctor changed my medication from tamoxifen to Arimidex.

Case 3

Gay (not real name) is a 43-year-old Australian. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. She wrote:

• I received 6 months of chemothrapy and 3 months radiation therapy.
• Then I was started on tamoxifen for 5 years followed by Arimidex.
• I have had no problems until the past 6 months. I had a slight pain in my right upper abdominal. My tumor markers were elevated.
• After a number of scans, it turned out to be bone metastases.
  

Case 4

Sri (not real name), 57-year-old Indonesian, was diagnosed with left breast cancer in 2003. She underwent a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. At the time we talked to her, Sri appeared to have chemo brain and was unable to recollect the details of her treatment. Her response to our questions was also very slow. Sri received all these treatments in New Zealand.

Sri went back to her doctor for routine check up and was told everything was fine. However, in 2007, she did not feel well. Further examination indicated bone metastases. She again received six cycles of chemotherapy and 10 radiation treatments. All treatments were completed in November 2008. Sri came to Penang in February 2009 and did a CT scan. The results indicated the following:

• Lesion in T1 and T5 vertebrae.
• Nodule in C5 and lesion in L4 vertebral bodies.
• Several lytic lesions in the left iliac bones.
• Suggestive of liver cirrhosis.

What can we learn from these four cases?

1. These patients had undergone all the required medical treatments – surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and oral drugs – tamoxifen and Arimidex. They had received the best that medical science has to offer but cancer still recurs.

2. Oncologists say all these are treatments are scientifically proven, FDA-approved backed by data reported in peer-reviewed medical journals. The questions are: What is so great about all these? Why do these patients still suffer metastasis? What is the “real and honest” truth about all these treatments?

3. Does it ever cross somebody’s mind that the inability to cure or the ability of the cancer to spread could also be due to the treatments themselves?

4. Look at these cases again. Fay in Malaysia suffered metastasis 1 year and 4 months after completion of her medical treatment. Rin from USA and Sri in New Zealand suffered metastasis barely three years after her treatment while Gay from Australia had metastasis about eight years after her treatment. These cases reflect similar problems faced by most patients everywhere in the world. It does not matter where you live and who or what you are, doing the same thing produces the same results.

Einstein said: Insanity is to the do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Can you learn anything from the wisdom of this great Man of Science? Patients in the USA,Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia received the same kind of treatments and all of them ended up with the same results. Over the years, I have observed similar stories being repeated over and over again so much so that bony metastasis can or is expected after such treatments.  To expect otherwise is what Einstein said is insanity.

The questions that boggle the mind are: Why are those in the know NOT doing anything about it?Why are patients kept in the dark and not warned about this possibility? Perhaps we can do MORE than just prescribing drugs? Tamoxifen is supposed to prevent recurrence but in all the cases above, it has failed miserably. Why don’t we look beyond what are being done today?