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CANCER
OF THE ALIMENTARY TRACT AND
MAJOR DIGESTIVE GLANDS
Case Histories
Include: Stomach Colon Rectum,
Anus, Liver, and
Pancreas
The death rate of patients with cancer of
the colon, rectum or anus who choose
orthodox therapy and who do not use Laetrile
is second only to cancer of the lung(1).
More than 98 out of every 100 patients who
have cancer of the pancreas and choose
orthodox therapy will be dead in five
years(2). More than 99 out of every 100
patients with cancer of the liver are dead
five years following orthodox treatment(3).
The following Laetrile case histories should
be read with these facts in mind.
(1)ClinicaI
Oncology for Medical Students and
Physicians, op. cit., p. 129.
(2)Ibid, p.
145.
(3)Ibid. p.
148.
S11lE: Inoperable
Cancer of the Rectum with Metastases to the
Lung:
This woman was
admitted to State University Hospital
Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York,
on May 29, 1975. The history and operative
report reads in part as follows:
This patient
is a sixty-four year old woman who was
admitted to the hospital with an admission
diagnosis of carcinoma (cancer) of the
rectum (established on recto-sigmoidoscopy
with biopsy). The patient’s current symptoms
were those of a presence of local mass
associated with symptoms of bleeding and
tenesmus along with associated symptoms of
early partial distal large bowel
obstruction....
Examination
showed the patient to be an intact young
appearing sixty-four year old woman whose
physical findings were confined to
examination of a rectum where digital
examination disclosed the presence of a mass
beginning 7 cms. cephalad to the anal verge
[about 2.75 inches past the anal opening].
The mass appeared fixed and was attached to
the posterior and lateral parietes....
Barium enema
demonstrated the presence of carcinoma of
the rectum along with diverticulosis. Chest
X-ray showed evidence of metastases to both
lung fields.... Alkaline phosphatase was
normal...
The patient
was taken to the OR [operating room] where,
despite the fixed appearance of the lesion
with typical apple-core defect, she was
explored in the hopes that a palliative
resection [surgery to relieve the problem
without curing it] could be performed.... At
operation, it was discovered that, in
addition to known pulmonary (lung)
metastases, the patient possessed a large
fixed, non-resectable [non-removable]
carcinoma of the rectum.
Procedure was
terminated by establishing a matured
end-sigmoid colostomy through a stab wound
and a mucocele through the distal operative
wound....
She
understands the significance of her
diagnosis and the extent of her disease and
will be followed in my office and
undoubtedly be placed on a course of
chemotherapy.
The doctor
just quoted is saying that before surgery
the patient had cancer in both lungs and in
her rectum, and after rectal surgery she
still had cancer of the rectum because they
could not remove it. All they could do was
by-pass the cancer and bring her colon out
through a hole In her abdomen (a colostomy)
so she could have bowel movements. No
attempt was made to remove the cancer of the
lungs.
Let us now
look at the "significance of her diagnosis"
from the point of view of one highly
respected surgeon. John H. Morton, M.D.,
Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery,
Member of the Clinical Cancer Training
Committee, University of Rochester, School
of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New
York:
Gastrointestinal neoplasms [cancers] are
mainly of surgical interest since the
radiosensitivity of normal gut is high and
most adenocarcinomas are radioresistant,
producing an unfavorable radiotherapeutic
ratio....
Colostomy for
incurable rectal lesions is rarely
palliative; such lesions should be removed
by abdominoperineal resection when feasible
whether or not cure is anticipated....
Chemotherapy
in the authors [John Morton, M.D.,]
experience has rarely been beneficial in
metastatic colon cancer. The following
statements have, however, appeared in the
literature:
"Progressive,
symptomatic, disseminated Colon carcinoma
can be palliated to some degree in about 20%
of the patients with 5-fluorouracil. . . .
"Objective responders show prolonged
survival (20 months vs 10 months mean
survival for non-responders) ." (1)
Now, what all
this means is (1) radiation generally does
more harm to the healthy gut than to the
cancerous part of the gut, (2) surgery is
the treatment of choice, and it cannot be
expected to do much good if the surgeon
can’t get all the cancer, (3) chemotherapy
in his opinion, rarely does anyone any good.
Some doctors, however, think it might help
one patient in five—at least a little bit
Some other doctors think you’ll be dead In
less than two years if you do just great,
and you’ll be dead in less than a year if
you don’t do so great.
When those of
us who have looked into Laetrile say that
patients, in general, are turning to it as a
last resort this is the kind of situation
about which we are speaking. This woman
submitted to surgery, the "treatment of
choice." Then she decided to try Laetrile
and metabolic therapy to see if it could
help her body defend itself against
impending death. Chemotherapy was refused.
Mrs. E’s
decision meant she had to make a 4,800-mile
round trip from New York. This patient began
metabolic therapy, Including Laetrile, on
August 14, 1975. Her alkaline phosphatase
before starting metabolic therapy was 92 mu/mI
(normal, 30-85 mu/nd). It had been normal
before surgery.
The patient
states that X-rays taken In March, 1976,
seven months after starting metabolic
therapy, showed improvement in the lungs and
the X-rays taken in December. 1976, showed
no cancer at all in the lungs. She said that
her local doctor, who knows she is on
Laetrile, says it is probably just a
"general remission," and she describes him
as "typical of AMA doctors who refuse to
acknowledge or even to condescend to accept
the existence of Vitamin B17."
The patient
was telephoned in January, 1977, and said at
that time, "For a patient who was only
supposed to live a month [following the May,
1975, surgery] I’m not doing bad." Her voice
was strong. She is leading an active life
nearly two years following the initial
diagnosis of inoperable cancer. She has had
no radiation and no chemotherapy.
R159RX Cancer of the
Colon with Metastases to Lymph Nodes and
Liver
This
fifty-year-old man had a history of audible
bowel sounds and abdominal cramps for three
months prior to a barium enema examination
on April 14, 1975, which revealed a 6-cm.
(about 2.5 inches) filling defect at the
junction of the descending and sigmoid
colon.
Surgery was
performed on April 22, 1975. The surgery
report read in part as follows:
The patient
was found to have a tennis ball sized mass
at the junction of the descending and
sigmoid colon. The lesion penetrated
entirely through the wall and there were
several enlarged lymph nodes in the
mesosigmoid colon at the site of multiple
metastases. Although there were no other
peritoneal metastases, the liver was filled
with nodules of various size, measuring from
I to 5cm. in diameter in both the right and
particularly, the left lobe of the liver....
[The tumor and a portion of apparently
healthy colon were removed. Total length was
18 cm., or about 7 inches.] An end-to-end
colostomy was then carried out...
Postoperative diagnosis: Carcinoma of the
colon with regional lymph node metastases
and multiple hepatic (liver] metastases.
Partial colectomy with end-to-end colostomy.
The pathology
report dated April 22. 1975, states in part:
Microscopic
Description:
The tumor is
made up of bizarre colonic-type glands which
are penetrating through the wall of the
colon. In some places, they are fairly well
differentiated. They arise from the surface,
they invade lymphatics. Three of the six
regional lymph nodes contain metastases.
Diagnosis:
Moderately
well differentiated adenocarcinoma (cancer)
of the colon, extending entirely through the
wall and metastatic to three of the six
mesenteric lymph nodes.
This patient
came to the Richardson Clinic within a week
following surgery and began metabolic
therapy for the liver metastases. This was
in April, 1975. At the time of this writing,
patient has been symptom-free for nearly two
years, and the only post-operative treatment
he has received is Laetrile and metabolic
therapy.
Patients whose
cancer of the liver cannot be removed
usually die within six months after the
diagnosis is made (1).
R168MS: Cancer of the
Sigmoid Colon with Lymph Node Metastases and
Extension
into
Mesenteric Fat
This
sixty-six-year-old woman sought medical
attention in June, 1975, because of a change
in bowel habits. During the previous four
months her stools had become reduced in
circumference. She had also experienced
lower abdominal cramping and some nausea but
no vomiting.
There is a
strong history of cancer in the family. One
sister had cancer of the abdomen, one had
leukemia, one had cancer of the brain, and
one had lymphosarcoma. Prior to the
patient’s admission for surgery, she had had
multiple biopsies of the rectosigmoid
(intestinal) lesion, barium enema, and
sigmoidoscopy (visual examination of the
inside of the bowel by instrument), all of
which confirmed the diagnosis of cancer. A
portion of the sigmoid colon measuring 12.5
cm. (about 5 inches) was removed, and the
remaining colon was sewn back together. The
patient does not have a colostomy. The
pathology report from Mercy Hospital,
Sacramemo, California, dated June 24, 1975,
states in part:
Microscopic
Description:
Sections of
the colon reveal the abrupt disruption of
the colonic mucosa by infiltrative malignant
neoplasm [cancer] Variously composed of
irregular glandular structures and solid
sheets of cells which in the central
position of the neoplasm totally replace the
muscularis and extend into the pericolic
fat... Extensive infiltration about the
arteries is identified and neoplasm is found
within vascular spaces which appear to be
lymphatics, although special stains will be
obtained to exclude venous invasion which
may be present in at least one area. Eleven
regional lymph nodes show metastatic
malignant neoplasm involving one node.
Perineural extension into the mesenteric fat
is identified as well.
Special stains
demonstrate elastic tissue in the walls of
vascular spaces described above:
Diagnosis:
Segment of sigmoid colon showing:
(A)
Extensively infiltrating poorly to partly
differentiated adenocarcinoma [cancer] with
extention into pericolic fat [fat around the
outside of the colon].
(B) Metastatic
malignant neoplasm [cancer] involving one of
eleven regional lymph nodes.
Discharge
summary dated July 2, 1975. States in part:
Dr. C. (name
omitted) saw her in consultation because of
pericolic fat involvement and the metastasis
to one node and he feels that chemotherapy
was indicated which she has begun now.
She is
discharged on Vistaril because she nausea
following 5-FU.
5-FU
literature states that it is effective in
the palliation (not cure) of "carefully
selected patients who are considered
incurable by surgery or other means. . . .
Fluorouracil [5-FU] is a highly toxic drug
with a narrow margin of safety."(1)
This
sixty-six-year-old Catholic nun described
her situation to Blue Shield of California,
which had refused to pay for her metabolic
therapy. She felt it was "discriminatory"
for them to pay for 5-FU, a palliative
medication which made her sick, and not for
metabolic therapy which made her feel well.
The three-page typewritten letter reads in
part:
After my
surgery in June of 1975, chemotherapy was
recommended. I tried it and was not able to
tolerate the medicine, since it made me very
ill, depleted my energy, and made it
difficult and even impossible to accomplish
my work. I had to discontinue the
chemotherapy.
Fortunately, I
heard of Metabolic Therapy which is a
non-toxic, energy-building,
disease-resistant treatment. I have been
receiving this treatment for about three
months with very beneficial results.
These results
are as follows:
a. An increase
of energy, enabling me to accomplish some
work without tiring excessively.
b. An upward
trend in feelings of physical, emotional,
and psychological well-being, with
confidence that further treatment will
maintain this upward trend.
c. Confidence
in the good effects of the therapy and in
the professional competence of Dr.
Richardson.
Therefore, my
right to choose a therapy that is good for
me rather than one that is harmful should be
allowed without discrimination....
Treatment with
vitamins and minerals as well as food
substances such as glucose is frequently
administered to patients in hospitals as a
means of building up the body to attain
health. Medicare pays for these medicines
when ordered by a qualified physician... It
is ironic that you have paid the maximum
amount for the chemotherapy (5-FU) I
received which caused me so much discomfort,
yet you refuse to pay for treatment which
has helped me.
This patient
came to the Richardson Clink on July 21,
1975. This was about four weeks following
surgery. She had had three injections of
5-FU and then abandoned chemotherapy. Blood
chemistry at the beginning of metabolic
therapy revealed alkaline phosphatase 109 mu/nil
(lab normals, 30-85), transaminase SGO 42 mu/ml
(lab normals, 7-40), white blood cells 4.0
TH/cu.mm. (normals, 5-10 TH/cu.mm), red
blood cells 3.8 mil/cu.mm (normals, for
females, 4.0 to 55 mu/cu.mm).
She had 20
consecutive 9 gm. Laetrile injections I.V.
and then gradually reduced doses of
injectable Laetrile supplemented with oral
Laetrile. She also received pancreatic
enzymes plus additional vitamins and
minerals.
Her initial
Bio-assay was 18.6 on July 24, 1975. Other
Rio-assays were (1) 10-17-75, 14.8, (2)
3-20-76, 15.2 mg./1 (3) 5-15-76, 14.8 mg./1
(4) 9-10-76, 21.8 mg./1.
The patient
stated in a letter received April 4, 1976,
that for the first six months of treatment
she was "almost 100% faithful to diet and
vitamin supplements." Originally, it appears
from her correspondence, she must have
stayed with her family and later returned to
her religious community.
She finds it
difficult to maintain her diet within the
confines of "institutional cooking," just as
many business people who must travel away
from home are challenged to maintain a
vegetarian regimen while having only the
restaurant or airline menus available to
them. It takes real determination for the
cancer victim, just as it does for the
diabetic, and in both cases there cannot be
too much emphasis on the value of the diet.
This patient’s
last contact with the clinic was January 17,
1977. At that time, one and one-half years
following the incomplete removal of her
cancer, her disease appeared to be
satisfactorily controlled. She was
experiencing no pain or other symptom5
indicating cancer growth, and was able to
lead an entirely normal and active life.
S163E: Cancer of the
Sigmoid Colon
This patient
was forty-nine years old at the time her
symptoms began in the summer of 1963. She
was troubled with persistent diarrhea.
Sigmoidoscopy revealed a tumor, and the
surgeon was insistent that the patient have
surgery.
This woman
decided to have a course of Laetrile prior
to surgery in order to contain the cancer.
This was administered by the late Byron
Krebs, M.D., of San Francisco. (We do not
have a record of the dosage. In general,
however, the amount of Laetrile routinely
administered was much less in the early
1960’s than in the 1970’s.)
The patient
entered Kaiser Hospital in Oakland,
California, and had a section of her colon
removed on December 18, 1963. The surgery
report states:
Final
Diagnosis:
Adenocarcinoma
of the colon arising in a villous adenoma.
Summary:
This
forty-nine year old white female has been
evaluated in the outpatient department with
findings of a mass biopsied with findings of
villous papilloma....
At exploration
on December 18, 1963, a bulky tumor mass was
noted in the mid-sigmoid colon involving a
major portion of the circumference of the
bowel with considerable surrounding
edema..... Standard anterior sigmoid colon
resection was carried out and the pathologic
diagnosis report revealed adenocarcinoma of
the colon arising in a villous adenoma with
three of six lymph nodes showing replacement
of normal tissue with tumor . . . there was
invasion of mucosal and muscularis
layers....
The patient
states that her husband was told by the
surgeon that they had not been able to
remove all the cancerous growth and she
would need additional surgery in six months
to a year.
She returned
to Dr. Byron Krebs, and continued Laetrile
injections twice a week for two years and
what she describes as "a maintenance program
at home."
The medical
secretary of the Kaiser Hospital record room
states in a letter dated June 5, 1975, "the
patient was last seen at our facility in
December, 1970, at which time sigmoidoscopy
to the hilt was negative [no evidence of
cancer]."
Following the
death of Dr. Byron Krebs, this woman became
a patient at the Richardson Clinic. Although
she has not been adhering closely to the
prescribed maintenance levels of Laetrile
recently, it is worth noting, that she is
still alive and well thirteen years
following surgery which left cancer
remaining in her body. She has not had any
radiation or chemotherapy.
L142N: Cancer of the
Rectum
This woman was
seventy-two years old when she came to the
Richardson Clinic in January, 1975.
Prior to
December, 1974, she had had a long history
of good health, with no surgery or serious
illness. In December she felt a small lump
at the anal opening when she was inserting a
rectal suppository.
Mrs. L. was
examined by her local doctor and
subsequently had a biopsy of the lump.
Physical exam showed "an upper canal
posterior tumor infiltrating up into the
mucosa . . . , plus palpable posterior
metastasis. Metastatic nodes, one at about
two to three centimeters above the tumor,
and another at about three centimeters above
the node." Pathology reports stated the
cancer was "infiltrating anaplastic squamous
cell carcinoma."
As the patient
was recovering in her room, she states, she
overheard the doctor tell another doctor
that she was, "too old to bother salvaging."
At this point the patient, who never in her
life had been a drinker, decided she would
simply go home and drink herself to death
since she could not be "salvaged". Upon
leaving the hospital she stopped by a liquor
store, and having concluded that sherry
would be the most lady-like alcohol with
which to commit suicide, proceeded to
purchase a case.
Mrs. L. was
found two weeks later by her landlady,
considerably the worse for having made a
sincere, but fortunately unsuccessful,
attempt to "sherry herself to death." It was
at this point that a friend suggested
Laetrile therapy as a substantially superior
alternative.
She began
metabolic therapy including Laetrile January
22, 1975. A notation on the chart one week
later says the patient states she "never
felt better in her life."
She has
continued to stay on the diet and vitamin
program. She has had no surgery, radiation,
or chemotherapy. She continues to be
symptom-free and in excellent health nearly
two years after her initial diagnosis.
Lest someone
assume this lady imagined the doctor’s
comment, it seems appropriate to include a
portion of the letter her physician wrote to
another doctor, a copy of which is in the
patient’s file. After briefly describing the
patient’s history and the biopsy results
(pathology diagnosis), he stated:
She certainly
needs local suppression, but did not yet get
X-rays of the chest, liver scan,
chemistries, etc.... After 5-6,000 rads,
maybe I might consider abdominoperineal
resectionl, although mortality in her age
group barely make it pay in terms of
salvage.[!]
She was
"salvaged" and without radiation or a
permanent colostomy.
H132I: Cancer of the
Colon
On April 5,
1973, two polyps were removed from the
sigmoid of this fifty-nine-year-old female
patient. The pathology report from Suffer
Community Hospital in Sacramento,
California, dated April 6, 1973, concludes,
"Diagnosis: Sigmoid polyps received as three
pieces: one piece showing adenomatous polyp.
Two pieces showing moderately well
differentiated adenocarcinoma".
Mrs. H’s local
doctor urged immediate surgery, explaining
to the patient that she possibly would have
a colostomy following surgery. She sought
the opinion of two other M.D.’s in the
Sacramento area, One of whom was a
proctologist, and both doctors concurred
that immediate surgery was essential to save
the patient’s life.
The patient
states that she was acquainted with people
who had been successfully treated for
various kinds of cancer with vitamin
therapy. She investigated and decided this
was what she wanted to do.
Mrs. H. began
vitamin therapy April 26, 1973. She gained
back the ten pounds she had lost and states
she experienced a sense of well-being and
increased energy soon after beginning her
treatments. Subsequent sigmoidoscopy
revealed the rectum and sigmoid to be
completely free of any cancer.
The patient
states she follows the diet "100%" and
continues to take the vitamin supplements.
She has had no
recurrence in the three years since she was
told to have surgery or die. She has had no
surgery, no radiation, and no chemotherapy.
L129G: Cancer of the
Colon, Previous Cancer of the Uterus and
Breast
This
forty-nine-year-old woman had her uterus
removed in 1965. She states she was told it
was not cancer but that she was a very lucky
person because they "got it all."(!)
In May of 1971
the patient discovered a lump on her left
breast. She did not seek treatment until
September, 1971. By this time, the nipple
had retracted, and the tumor was affixed to
the chest wall. Biopsy performed October 1,
1971, at San Leandro Hospital, San Leandro,
California, was positive. The patient was
advised she had six months to a year to
live, assuming she had cobalt treatments,
which she did. She describes herself as
looking like a "basted turkey" and feeling
very weak. The tumor still could be felt at
the conclusion of cobalt therapy. She states
the treated area is still numb to the
touch—four and one-half years later.
In April,
1972, the patient began to have the same
"tired all the time" feeling which preceded
her other medical problems, so she went to
Mexico for diet and vitamin treatments,
which did not include Laetrile.
The patient
states she began to have difficulty having
bowel movements, her abdomen was
swollen, and
then she developed severe pain associated
with bowel movements during March and April,
1973. She returned to her local doctor who,
after a diagnostic work-up, stated she must
have surgery. Part of the colon surrounding
the tumor was removed, and the remainder of
the colon reconnected in May, 1973. The
surgery report states:
There were
numerous areas of studding throughout the
mesentery of the entire small bowel, of
large lymph nodes and succulent glands seen
all along the colon mesentery as well as
from this widespread metastatic involvement.
[Eden Hospital, Castro Valley, California.]
Chemotherapy
was recommended but refused by the patient.
According to Mrs. G., her doctor advised her
that without chemotherapy she had only two
weeks to two months to live.
The patient,
at this point, returned to her program of
vegetarian diet and vitamins and also came
to the Richardson Clinic for Laetrile
injections. At the completion of her initial
course of therapy, she had fully recovered
from her surgery, had no more pain, had
gained weight, and was returning rapidly to
normal health.
Over three
years have now passed since she was told she
had only a few weeks to live. She continues
on metabolic therapy at a maintenance level,
and her cancer appears to be controlled. In
a letter to the Richardson Clinic dated
March 25, 1976, the patient states she feels
good, can put in a full day’s work, and
continues to have favorable check-ups from
her local doctor, who is dumfounded by her
continued good health.
P131B: Cancer of the
Colon
June 4, 1915,
this sixty-five-year-old female was found to
have a cyst in her rectum. Pathology report
was positive for cancer.
The patient
was admitted to the local hospital for five
days for further studies to establish the
probable extent of the cancer. Then, without
consultation with the patient, surgery was
scheduled.
The patient
and her husband were both startled by the
arbitrary attitude of the local doctor. The
doctor advised the patient that if it were
his wife, he would not let her leave the
hospital without the benefit of surgery. The
patient was advised that forgoing surgery
would be a drastic mistake and probably
would cost her life. Mrs. P. said she was
greatly disturbed by her physical condition
and "to add to the confusion the doctor
became very hostile."
The patient
came to the Richardson clinic for metabolic
therapy in July, 1975. She states in a
letter dated April 6, 1976:
I was very
weak when I started his [Dr. Richardson’s]
treatment and also had some pain. Very soon
I was able to attend meetings and do my
housework and am now living a normal life.
The growth has diminished in size and 1 now
have normal bowel movements. I am following
my diet closely and am feeling better.
It is one and
one-half years since her diagnosis. She has
had no surgery, no radiation, and no
chemotherapy. The tumor has receded, and the
patient is symptom-free.
C120C: Inoperable
Cancer of the Rectum
This
fifty-three-year-old male had a ten-year
history of colitis. He felt the problem was
getting worse in April of 1974 and went to
his local doctor. He advised the doctor that
he had lost thirty pounds in forty-five
days, but was told it was only colitis.
In August of
1974, he was found unconscious in his home
and rushed to the Veteran’s Hospital.
Emergency surgery was performed and a
colostomy was created. Cancer was found at
that time, but it was felt that the patient
was too weak to survive removal of the tumor
from the rectum. Plans were made for him to
go home and try to gain strength to
withstand the surgery.
The tumor of
the rectum was removed in November, 1974,
but the doctors decided to delay closing the
colostomy. The patient was readmitted for
the third time in February, 1975, to have
the colostomy closed. Examination revealed,
however, that there had been extensive
regrowth of cancer, that it was inoperable,
and closure of the colostomy was out of the
question because he would be unable to have
a bowel
According to
the patient, he was advised to "Go home,
make out a will, put your affairs in order,
and then come back to the hospital. We’ll
try to make you as comfortable as possible
during the little time you have left."
The story of
what followed is related here in the
patient’s own words on November 29, 1975.
When I took my
leave of absence from the hospital. I was so
weak I could hardly walk. I grabbed onto
things as I went down the hall to the
bathroom, which was very often. At night I
was taking the sleeping pills and the pain
pills the doctor suggested. That made
getting down the hall every fifteen minutes
even harder.
I talked with
my sisters, and we all cried about my
hopeless situation. Then I called friends in
Los Angeles to say goodbye, and they said I
should try Laetrile. That was about the
third time someone had said Laetrile to me.
I decided, since I had nothing to lose, why
not try it?
At this point,
I had been reduced to eating baby food and
broth. I was so weak I had to be driven to
the clink for that first visit [February 20,
19751.
I gained eight
pounds during the first two weeks of
treatment. I began to think there was
hope. I
decided to go to the race track near the
clinic and watch the horses. I’m a betting
man, and I know horses. I was careful, and I
finally made enough money to pay off my
loans, pay for my treatment, and have enough
money left to go to Hawaii in the summer.
While in
Hawaii, I had the Veteran’s Hospital
proctoscope me. They said the tumor was
twenty percent smaller than the Palo Alto
Veteran’s Hospital reported five months
earlier. That made me feel so damn good I
came back to California by way of Alaska. I
tell you, I really have hope. I may be
living on borrowed time, but I’m living
free, not all tied down in some gray
hospital room.
There is
little that could be said from a medical
point of view that would add much to the
above information.
This patient’s
hematology studies were all within normal
limits. His bio-assay tests were as follows:
(1) February 20, 1975, 25.6, (2) March 19,
1975, 22.8, (3) April 9, 1975,19.2(4)
July24, 1975, 18.5. Mr. C’s chances for
long-term survival are slim. By his own
admission, however, the year following
Laetrile therapy was quite different from
the original, grim predictions.
LI67MX: Cancer in the
Head of the Pancreas
This
seventy-two-year-old woman had suffered from
indigestion for a number of years. In March,
1975, her indigestion became worse.
Examination in April, 1975, indicated
possible obstruction of the common bile
duct.
She was
examined again in August, 1975. Hospital
summary states she had a bilirubin of 7mg.%,
alkaline phosphatase of 605 (lab normals,
40-85), SGOT 510, sedimentation rate of 30.
Echogram did not show a tumor in the
pancreas.
It was
decided, however, to perform surgery for
what was thought to be a gall bladder
problem.
Surgery was
performed on September 6, 1975. The
diagnosis before operation was, "Obstructive
jaundice secondary to extrahepatic biliary
obstruction."
The diagnosis
after surgery was, "Carcinoma [cancer] of
the head of the pancreas." A procedure known
as a Whipple operation was performed. Part
of the patient’s stomach, duodenum, the head
of the pancreas, the common bile duct, and
the gallbladder were removed.
The surgery
report states in part:
At this point
[in the operation] it was noted that the
mass palpable in the head of the pancreas
was intimately adherent to the posterior
wall of the portal vein. It appeared grossly
that the lesion was a carcinoma of the head
of the pancreas. By very tedious and slow
dissection, the adherence of the tumor mass
to the portal vein (vein to the liver) was
dissected free, and this was completed
without further trauma to the vessel.
It should be
noted that the tumor was divided in the
posterior aspects to accomplish this, and a
small portion of tumor was left in site as
the procedure was completed.
Following the
incomplete removal of this woman’s cancer of
the pancreas, the tissues removed were
submitted for pathology diagnosis. The
pathology report dated September 8, 1975,
concludes:
Diagnosis:
Portion of
stomach, duodenum, and attached pancreas
showing:
(A)
Well-differentiated infiltrating
adenocarcinoma [cancer] large duct type,
involving head of the pancreas with
extention to the surgical margins.
(B) Single
lymph node with metastic carcinoma.
Other body
parts which were removed did not contain
cancer, but were in some cases inflamed or
contained cysts.
The patient
states that following surgery she inquired
how long she might have to live and was
told, "You might live two weeks, two months,
or two years. We do not know." The
suggestion of two-year survival under the
circumstances of the operation seems to be
closer to psychotherapy than statistical
reality, for, in truth, the average patient
with advanced cancer of the pancreas lives
only six months following surgery.
According to
James T. Adams, M.D., of the University of
Rochester:
"Essentially,
the five year cure rate is less than two per
cent. In one of the few irradiation studies
reported, the average survival for the
advanced patient not irradiated was 6.1
versus 6.6 months for the patient
irradiated."
This patient
was not offered radiation or chemotherapy.
The patient
states:
I can well
remember the hopelessness I experienced
after being told by my surgeon, who had
discovered the cancer of the pancreas, that
I had, "two weeks, two months, or two years"
to live, probably because he was unable to
remove the entire cancerous growth. My
internist said there was really nothing he
could do....
A relative
suggested Laetrile, which I had never heard
of but as there was nothing to lose, I
started treatment.
This woman
came to the Richardson Clinic and began
metabolic therapy including Laetrile on
October 21, 1975. Blood studies were within
normal limits. Minerals were balanced based
on hair analysis. Her first most recent
Bio-assay was 26.2. She received twenty 9
gm. I.V. injections of Laetrile supplemented
later with oral Laetrile tablets. Her most
recent Bio-assay on November 2, 1976, was
19.6 mg./1.
She was last
seen at the Richardson Clinic on January 31,
1977. At that time it had been eighteen
months since her surgery and fifteen months
since beginning metabolic therapy, which she
had continued at a maintenance level. Her
diarrhea has gone, she had no pain, her
appetite had returned, and she reported that
she felt strong and healthy. Her disease
appears to be under control
F115L: Inoperable
Cancer of the liver, Previous Cancer of the
Breast
This patient
had a right radical mastectomy in September,
1969, which was followed by radiation
therapy. Nearly five years later, in June,
1974, during a routine physical exam, the
patient was found to have an enlarged liver.
Subsequent liver biopsy was negative.
Laparotomy was performed and the diagnosis
of metastatic cancer (of the breast) to the
liver was made.
The tumor
could not be completely removed, and
following surgery the patient was placed on
Methosarb. This had to be discontinued
because of adverse effects on her blood
chemistry.
Later, she was
started on 5-FU. This required her carrying
around a pump so the 5-FU could be
continuously pumped into her liver artery.
The artery became blocked, and by
mid-October of 1974 all chemotherapy was
discontinued. The patient states that after
the failure of an attempt to re-start the
5-FU she felt "deeply depressed."
In early
December, 1974, a friend told her about a
Symposium being held near her home. The
subject of the talk would be Laetrile. This
woman had been given up by orthodox
medicine, so she went to hear what had to be
said about Laetrile. Based on the
information at the symposium she decided to
try it.
She was sixty
years old when she came to the clinic. She
describes her first shot of Laetrile,
received on December 26; 1974, as her "day
after Christmas present." She said, "My
spirits rose, and I again had hope that I
might achieve a remission of sorts; but in
light of previous failures, I was hesitant
to let my hopes soar too high."
When this
patient visited the clinic in January, 1977,
she was a very young-looking
sixty-two-year-old. It had been two years
since she had received any treatment other
than Laetrile and metabolic therapy.
She stated
that she had been very faithful to the diet.
During the first two years following the
start of treatment she had eaten meat only
twice, once on Thanksgiving and once on
Christmas. She was continuing her
maintenance level of Laetrile, other
vitamins, and enzymes, and is leading a
completely normal life.
Under orthodox
therapy, cancer of the liver is almost
certain death. James T. Adams, M.D., of the
University of Rochester states "the course
of the disease [liver cancer] is rapid if
the tumor is nonresecable [cannot be
removed]. Most patients die within six
months after the diagnosis is made."(1)
[(1) Clinical
Oncology for Medical Students and
Physicians, op. cit., p. 148]
A139DJ: Metastatic
Cancer of the Liver, Primary Cancer of the
Colon
This
sixty-three-year-old male noted bright red
bleeding in his stools in October, 1974.
This continued intermittently, so he
consulted his local doctor in March, 1975.
An 8-cm. (about 3 inches) tumor was
discovered in the rectum, and the biopsy
revealed it to be cancer (invasive
adenocarcinoma of the colon, grade III).
The surgery
report dated March 20, 1975, from Permien
General Hospital in Andrews, Texas, reads in
part as follows:
Postoperative
Diagnosis: Carcinoma of the recturn
metastatic to regional nodes and to the
liver. Operation Performed: Abdominal
perineal resection with formation of
permanent colostomy.
Tissue
Removed: Distal sigmoid colon and recturn
Pathology
Found: To my great sorrow, Doug, a really
fine, fine, guy, has at least eight or nine
palpable nodules, unfortunately involving
both lobes of the liver, very typical of
cancer. There seems to be a node or two over
on the right side of the colon just beyond
the peritoneum, too. I did elect, in this
gentleman’s case, however, to go ahead with
the formal abdominal perineal resection,
because Doug has never been sick in his
life, and I just don’t see that he would
tolerate mucous and blood from his rectum on
a prolonged basis at all.
Mr. A. came to
the Richardson Clinic to begin metabolic
therapy on July 29, 1975. He has had no
radiation or chemotherapy for the cancer not
removed by surgery.
In a letter to
the Richardson Clinic dated April, 1976, Mr.
A. stated that he was maintaining his weight
and that his color and appetite had
returned. He was continuing on vitamin
therapy and adhering to the recommended
diet.
Since that
time, he has continued to have routine
check-ups from his local doctor, and as of
March, 1976, there had been no indication
that the nodules on the liver were
enlarging. Our last contact was one year
following colon surgery and identification
of inoperable cancer of the liver. At that
time the patient was well and leading a
normal life.
As we were
going to press a letter dated January 19,
1977, was received from the patient’s wife.
It stated in part:
I want you to
know how much we, Doug and I, appreciate all
you have done and are doing to help people
to get the necessary nutrition to help their
bodies overcome the deficiencies that exist.
Doug began his vitamin therapy in July of
1975. His color is good and he has
maintained his weight. We have other friends
who have not been on this therapy and have
not done as well. We feel that Doug’s
condition is due to the fact that he has
been on vitamins, including Laetrile and
B15.
Our prayers
are with you in this battle. Thank you again
for what you are doing.
This
represents nearly a two-year survival
patient with inoperable cancer of the liver.
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