Cancer is a Metabolic Disease

It is gospel truth both with patients and the cancer industry worldwide that cancer has a single cause: accumulation of genetic damage. Yet it is blatantly evident that that is not the case. The purported “father” of the genetic damage theory, Theodor Boveri, never actually studied the disease in humans himself, but only in nematodes (type of worm) and sea urchins along with observations of another scientist.1,2 There are so many holes in this theory that it is amazing that it has persisted for so long. For example, almost every kind of gene defect can be found in tumor cells and may not be related to the cancer at all.3 Yet medical students faithfully memorize that “X gene mutation is found in Y tumors.” However, we know that mutations in one tumor cell may differ from those in another tumor cell within the same tumor.4

One reason our diagnosis and mortality numbers are increasing5 is that we are barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. Researchers know that it is easier to get published if it involves a trendy area (hence, breast cancer – which checks the feminist box – is a popular area of research), and they are often just collecting random data in an effort to get published, not useful data which points to the ultimate cause of cancer.6 They saying in the halls of academia is “Publish or perish,” and all researchers can attest to the veracity of this. Current therapies enable Big Pharma to benefit from “personalized therapy” which is almost entirely ineffective, the single exception being Gleevec in CML.7 But on a positive note, the number of patients seeking treatment outside of the norm is increasing.8

Here is what actually causes cancer: inflammation, leading to mitochondrial damage. Not a single tumor cell has been found that has normal mitochondrial structure and function.9,10 And the greater the dysfunction, the greater the degree of malignancy.11 Unlike the genetic-damage theory, there are no holes in this theory. And why is the Cancer/Pharmaceutical Industry basically ignoring this? A profit cannot be made off of something that cannot be patented, and one cannot patent things found in nature. Hence non-patentable treatments have been disparaged or largely ignored, such as hyperbaric oxygen, mistletoe, bee venom (upcoming blog on that!) high-dose vitamin C, repurposed (off-patent, generic) medications and the list goes on. Incredibly frustrating for both patients who should not have to be doing research on their own and the physicians who want to help but for a variety of reasons cannot.

References:

  1. Wolf U. Theodor Boveri and His Book, On the Problem of the Origin of Malignant Tumors. In: German, J, editor. Chromosomes and Cancer. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.;1974.
  2. Seyfried, T. Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; 2012.
  3. Gibbs W. Untangling the Roots of Cancer. Sci Am. 2003;289-:56-65.
  4. Salk JJ. Mutational heterogeneity in human cancers: origin and consequences. Annu Rev Pathol. 2010;5:51-75.
  5. Faguet G. The War on Cancer: an Anatomy of a Failure, a Blueprint for the Future. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer; 2008.
  6. Seyfried, T. Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; 2012.
  7. Faguet G. The War on Cancer: an Anatomy of a Failure, a Blueprint for the Future. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer; 2008.
  8. Konigsburg, R. The Refuseniks: Why Some Patients Reject Their Doctor’s Advice. TIME. 2011; 177.
  9. Pederson PL. Tumor mitochondria and the bioenergetics of  cancer cells. Prog Exp Tumor Res. 1978;22:190-274.
  10. Warburg O, Revidsed Lindau Lectures: The prime cause of cancer and prevention – Parts 1 & 2. In: Burk D, editor. Meeting of the Nobel-Laureates Lindau, Lake Constance , Germany.: K Triltsch;1969.
  11. Pederson PL. Tumor mitochondria and the bioenergetics of  cancer cells. Prog Exp Tumor Res. 1978;22:190-274.