Cancer Update Email — It’s a Hoax!
STATEMENT: EMAIL HOAX REGARDING CANCER
Information falsely attributed to Johns Hopkins called, “CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS” describes properties of cancer cells and suggests ways of preventing cancer. Johns Hopkins did not publish the information, which often is an email attachment, nor do we endorse its contents. The email also contains an incorrect spelling of our institution as “John” Hopkins; whereas, the correct spelling is “Johns” Hopkins. For more information about cancer, please read the information on our web site or visit the National Cancer Institute. Please help combat the spread of this hoax by letting others know of this statement.
Another hoax email that has been circulating since 2004 regarding plastic containers, bottles, wrap claiming that heat releases dioxins which cause cancer also was not published by Johns Hopkins. More information from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Mythbusters: Please help curb the spread of this hoax by sending a link to this page to individuals that forward you this email.
The Truth about the “Cancer Update” Email Hoax
Emails offering easy remedies for avoiding and curing cancer are the latest Web-influenced trend. To gain credibility, the anonymous authors falsely attribute their work to respected research institutions like Johns Hopkins. This is the case with the so-called “Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins.”
The gist of this viral email is that cancer therapies of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy do not work against the disease and people should instead choose a variety of dietary strategies.
Traditional therapies, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, work. The evidence is the millions of cancer survivors in the United States today who are alive because of these therapies. We recognize that treatments don’t work in every patient, or sometimes work for awhile and then stop working, and there are some cancers that are more difficult to cure than others. These problems are the focus of ongoing cancer research.
We’ll go through each statement in the email hoax and provide real responses from Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center experts.
Statements:
The Hoax: Everyone Has Cancer Cells
The Hoax: A Strong Immune System Destroys Cancer
The Hoax: Cancer is Caused by Nutritional Deficiencies and Supplements Will Correct Them
The Hoax: Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy Harms Normal Cells. Surgery Causes Cancer to Spread
The Hoax: Cancers Feed on Certain Foods
The Hoax: Cancer is a Disease of Mind, Body and Spirit
The Hoax: Oxygen Kills Cancer Cells
The Hoax: Everyone Has Cancer Cells
The Truth: Cancer is a genetic disease resulting from a variety of mutations and alterations either inherited from our parents or, more commonly, acquired over time due to environmental exposures and behaviors, such as smoking and poor diet. These alterations turn off important cell growth regulators allowing cells to continually divide unchecked, explains Luis Diaz, a clinician-scientist in Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. This type of cell is called a malignant or cancer cell. Among the trillions of cells in the human body, inevitably everyone has some abnormal or atypical cells that possess some of the characteristics of cancer cells, most resolve themselves and never result in cancer, says Diaz.
There is no single or standard test for cancer. There are ways to screen for certain cancers with tests such as colonoscopy for colon cancer, mammography for breast cancer, PSA for prostate cancer, and the Pap smear for cervical cancer, and these tests can detect cancers in a very early and curable stage. For many cancers, there currently are no screening tests, and they are diagnosed when they begin to cause symptoms.
Diaz and other Kimmel Cancer Center researchers are working on new tests that detect abnormal DNA shed by cancer cells into blood and body fluids and have the ability to find cancers before they cause any symptoms. Approaches like this could lead to a broad-based screening test for cancer.
Tests like these also are being used to detect cancer recurrences and malignant cells left behind following surgery, and can find cancers that are not detectable under the microscope or in x-rays.
Other researchers are studying cancer stem cells. They are stealth cells that make up just a tiny fraction of a tumor. While small in number, investigators believe they may be the cells that drive certain cancers and lead to cancer recurrence. Therapies that target these cells are now being tested in clinical trials.
A team of our breast cancer researchers has developed a method that could make it possible to detect breast cancer from the DNA contained in a single drop of blood.
But, while evasive cancer cells are a challenge and the focus of ongoing research, it does not mean, as the email contends, that all patients, even those treated successfully for cancer, have cancers-in-waiting—undetectable but still there. People are treated and completely cured of cancer everyday.
The Hoax: A Strong Immune System Destroys Cancer
The Truth: When it comes to cancer and the immune system, it is not a matter of strong or weak as the fictional report contends, but rather an issue of recognition. “The immune system simply does not recognize cancer. In its complexity, the cancer cell has learned to disguise itself to the immune system as a normal, healthy cell. Cells infected with viruses or bacteria send out danger signals setting the immune system in action. But cancer cells do not, explains Elizabeth Jaffee, co-director of cancer immunology and leading expert on cancer and the immune system.” By deciphering the methods cancer cells use to make them invisible to the immune system, Jaffee and team have developed cancer vaccines that have successfully triggered immune reactions against prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, leukemia, and multiple myeloma.
The Hoax: Cancer is caused by Nutritional Deficiencies and Supplements Will Correct Them
The Truth: Dietary habits and lifestyle choices, such as smoking, contribute to the development of many human cancers, says Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson. Our experts recommend a balanced diet as a way of reducing cancer risk. In terms of supplements, Nelson points out that while they may help mediate vitamin deficiencies, taking doses above what the body needs provides no added benefit.
The Hoax: Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy Harms Normal Cells. Surgery Causes Cancer to Spread
The Truth: Chemotherapy and radiation therapy kills cancer cells with remarkable selectivity, says Nelson. There are some temporary and reversible side effects common to cancer therapies, including hair loss and low blood counts. Limiting and managing these side effects is an integral part of treatment.
Surgery is the first line of treatment for many types of cancer. It does not cause cancer to spread. Cancers spread to other tissues and organs as a tumor progresses and cancer cells break away from the original tumor and travel through the bloodstream to other body sites.
The Hoax: Cancers Feed on Certain Foods
The Truth: The premise is that cancer cells feed on certain foods, and if a person refrains from eating these foods, the cancer will die. According to our experts, a poor diet and obesity associated with a poor diet is a risk factor for the development of cancer. However, there is no evidence that certain foods alter the environment of an existing cancer, at the cellular level, and cause it to either die or grow.
While there is such a thing as tumors that produce mucus, the mucus made by a tumor does not result from drinking milk. And, eating less meat, while a good choice for cancer prevention, does not free up enzymes to attack cancer cells, explains cancer prevention and control expert Elizabeth Platz.
Moderation is key, says Platz. As part of a balanced diet, sugar, salt, milk, coffee, tea, meat, and chocolate—the foods the “Update” calls into question—are all safe choices, she says. The real concern with many of these, particularly sugar, is that it adds calories to a diet and can lead to obesity, and obesity is a major risk factor for cancer. A balanced nutritious diet, healthy weight, physical activity, and avoiding alcoholic drinks may prevent as many as 1/3 of all cancers. Platz recommends eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day and limiting red and processed meats, like hot dogs.
Several Johns Hopkins experts participated in the World Cancer Research Fund – American Institute for Cancer Research report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, published in November 2007, which is considered by cancer prevention experts to be an authoritative source of information on diet, physical activity and cancer. Their recommendations for cancer prevention and for good health in general are:
- Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.
- Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.
- Avoid sugary drinks. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fiber, or high in fat).
- Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans.
- Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats.
- If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day.
- Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with salt (sodium).
- Don’t use supplements to protect against cancer.
Our experts recommend that people meet their nutritional needs through their food choices. While vitamin supplements can be helpful in people with nutritional deficiencies, evidence suggests that supplementation above what the body can use provides no added health benefit.
The Hoax: Cancer is a Disease of Mind, Body, and Spirit
The Truth: Cancer is a disease caused by genetic alterations. Many times, these alterations occur through our own behaviors—cigarette smoking, a poor and unbalanced diet, virus exposures, and sunburns, says cancer prevention and control expert John Groopman.
How stress, faith, and other factors influence this is largely unknown. We would like people to be happy, loving, and stress free, simply because it is a nice way to live and can contribute to an overall feeling of well being, says Platz. There is no evidence, however, that a person prevents or causes cancer based on his or her state of mind.
Still, we understand that a cancer diagnosis can make patients and families feel stressed and anxious, and these are not pleasant feelings. So, we offer extensive patient and family services, including a cancer counseling center, pain and palliative care program, chaplain services and a meditation chapel, an image recovery center, and the Art of Healing art and music program.
Read more about Cancer Genetics in “A Genetic Revolution”
The Hoax: Oxygen Kills Cancer Cells
The Truth: Platz recommends regular exercise as a part of any healthy lifestyle, but says there is no evidence that breathing deeply or receiving oxygen therapy prevents cancer.
On its Web site, the American Cancer Society includes the following statement about oxygen therapy, “Available scientific evidence does not support claims that putting oxygen-releasing chemicals into a person’s body is effective in treating cancer. It may even be dangerous. There have been reports of patient deaths from this method.” Read more
Please pass this information on to family and friends.
Questions?
Contact:
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Office of Public Affairs
410-955-1287
I am sharing something I received from a doctor friend of mine on Facebook. I do not think you can cure cancer with what you eat (but there have been cases of people who have) but I do think you can improve your health and immune system and it cannot hurt to be in the best shape you can be in to fight infection, inflammation and disease. So read it and figure it out for yourself….
LATEST CANCER INFORMATION
from Johns Hopkins
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY …
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.
3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to STARVE the cancer cells by not feeding it with foods it needs to multiple.
What cancer cells feed on:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Note: Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells will starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes t o nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.
To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water–best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines will become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.
Anger, unforgiving and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
I have been off the Arimidex for over 4 weeks to see if the terrible pain in m joints is being caused by the drug or by arthritis or just plain old age. Truth be told, it is all of the above. There is a slight improvement, I think. What I really need to do is stay off sugar and white flour or flour all together and see how I do then. But I can’t seem to do that for more than a day! I haven’t called the medical oncologist yet because I want to rule out everything first. If I could stay away from sugar and wheat and know for a fact that they are not contributing to the pain, then I would call him asap. I once was off them for a few months and felt better I seem to remember.
What really bothers me is that all the literature says sugar is very bad for cancer so why am I anywhere near it? I have always said I am so thankful that the white substance I am addicted to is sugar, not heroin, but maybe it is just as bad since sugar could be killing me.
Addiction is addiction, isn’t it?
Angelina Jolie is a brave woman. I admire her grit and her decision to do what she did and then to go public. Her going public is not for her benefit but for what she can do for others. When the poor women goes out for coffee, there is an entourage following her around. So when she announces something like this, there is a big hullabaloo and the press goes crazy! Really, did you read about anything else for a few weeks? Every publication had to write about it and well they should.
The information disseminated and the people who it reached and for free is astounding! No cancer agency could have paid enough to get that reach in all those newspapers and magazines. Nor could they have gotten so many tweets! She really did a service to the community about the BRCAI gene and ovarian cancer.
Bravo Angelina! And Thank YOU!!!
May was a very eventful month. It was May 25, 2012 when I had the mammogram that found the breast cancer so this was the one year anniversary of my diagnosis. I saw my surgeon Dr Dahlia Sataloff this year on May 9, a day after my significant birthday and art opening/birthday bash (more about that later) for the 6 month check up. Everything looks good. I had had my first mammogram at the Jefferson-Honickman Breast Imaging Center since my surgery in April which was a fretful experience as well. After 3 hours, including several extra pictures, and an ultrasound, they said it was okay only scar tissue and that this was the new baseline. Dr. Tara Eisenberg, the same radiologist who found the cancer, was the doctor who was working with me so I was very confident. She is very thorough. I will be going back in 6 months for another mammogram just to be sure all is okay.
On May 8, I turned 70 (hard to believe how time has flown) and had an Artist’s Reception for my solo show and a birthday party combination to benefit Breastcancer.org which is the premiere website for breast cancer information. It gets millions of hits! Started by Dr Marisa Weiss, my own radiation oncologist from Lankenau Hospital, it offers a wealth of information. In lieu of gifts my generous friends donation money and I gave 20% of all sales. Some people brought cash and checks the night of the party, some bought art: others donated online. I am happy to report we collected almost $2000 by the end of the exhibit. Thanks to my great friends and supporters! See some pictures from the opening/party on my Facebook Page.
See some of my art on my website. If you want to buy anything, I would still give 20% to Breastcancer.org.
It was a month of a significant birthday and a significant anniversary.
I went into Saxby’s this morning for a simple cup of coffee. Only there was a special event happening for their 5th anniversary. Living Beyond Breast Cancer whose offices are next door was getting 5% of all profits for the day and giving out literature and goodies to all customers. A very nice couple were sitting amidst the pile of pens, hand sanitizers, pamphlets, pink (0f course!) wrist bands, and other stuff waiting for people to come over.
People pleaser that I am, I ambled over after I got my decaffeinated skinny vanilla latte (OK, not so-simple-cup of coffee) and spoke to them. We specifically talked about being cancer survivors, Yoga on the Steps at the Art Museum on May 19, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and Dr. Marisa Weiss, my radiologist at Lankenau Hospital.
Dr. Marisa Weiss was instrumental is starting Living Beyond Breast Cancer which empowers all women affected with breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life.
I went back to my car wondering if it was a good or bad thing that breast cancer pops up everywhere, even with my morning coffee.
Today I had my first mammogram at Jefferson Honickman Breast Imaging Center since I had a lumpectomy and radiation after they found breast cancer at my last annual mammogram on May 25. As I wrote in my last post, I was very nervous. Of course, I was always nervous before a mammogram since there was always a chance that they would find something. And a few times, it was necessary for extra pictures to be taken and even ultrasounds to be done.
Once, I remember, I was the last person to leave. I waited the longest and had seen the image where there was a white mass the size of a nickle. I had several go-backs to redo the images (before digital imaging) and had an ultrasound. I was really scared because I saw the mass myself and knew it was huge!. Turns out it was squished calcification and was really nothing when viewed the other way!
Today, I also was the last woman standing. I had several go-backs and an ultrasound. they were nice enough to come tell me that I was waiting because they only had one technician doing the ultrasound. Dr. Tara Eisenberg, the same radiologist as last year, read the results this year too. She called Dr. Sataloff for her reports from the surgery to be sure there were clean margins because she saw “things” and wanted to be sure it was scar tissue and not any problems. She expects it is only scar tissue and wants me back in 6 months to check the right breast again just to be sure that it is scar tissue. This will be the new base line.
This is my new normal.
Since returning from my trip, I made my appointments for the doctors I have to see. I saw Dr. David Mintzer who is my medical oncologist. That’s a sentence I never wanted to say! Who wants a medical oncologist? I am taking Arimidex and will be on it for 5 years. Problem is it causes tremendous joint discomfort and pain. It is hard to move in the mornings and getting harder to move all day. but statistically it keeps the cancer away, so I am taking it for as long as they tell me.
I also see my surgeon Dr. Dahlia Sataloff in May after my birthday party on May 8. But the scariest appointment I made is for the mammogram on April 11. In regular times, it was a scary deal to get a mammogram, given that 1 in 7 women have breast cancer, but now, after my experience last May, I am dreading this mammogram. How do I know? I wake up at 4 AM worrying! Sometimes, I am direct and worry about the mammogram itself and sometimes I am worrying about other things first. It takes a while until I come around to the mammogram and worrying that maybe they’ll find something wrong again. Maybe this, and maybe that… it can drive a person crazy. I try to calm my monkey mind. I know I will deal with whatever they find. I know the annual mammogram will ensure that it will be small, early, treatable and something I can live with.
But I hope that they find nothing and I can get a clean bill of health this time.
If you are due for a mammogram, please make your appointment and get it done. Putting it off does no good.
I just got back from a terrific 6+ week travel/vacation to South America and Antarctica. How wonderful it was to focus on nature- seeing new and exciting sites, meeting people from all over the world, experiencing things new everyday, learning about flora, fauna and history, culture and life style, getting out of my comfort zone and living in the moment. It was an adventure everyday!
We saw mountains- the Andes in Chile and Peru! We saw deserts in northern Peru and the Atacama in Chile. We saw beautiful scenery in Chiloe, Chile and the Sacred Valley in Peru. We saw magic in Machu Picchu, Peru. We lolled on beaches in Punta del Estes, Uruguay and Mancora, Peru at the beginning and end of our trip- perfect bookends for this long vacation.
And the crowing glory of our trip was the 10 day cruise to Antarctica where we took zodiacs out to the great White Continent to visit the penguins, seals and whales who inhabit it. We visited them, learning about where they live, observing the beauty and stillness of ice, sculpted by nature.
It was a pleasure to get away from doctors, treatments, and appointments- from the past and future and just be in the moment! To enjoy each day which was new, filled with new adventures- new places to go, new people to met and often, new places to stay. We stayed in incredible hotels in some awesome places. I am already dreaming about going back- once is not enough to visit Chiloe, Chile, for example. Refugia is so special. It must be visited again! Same for DCO Suites in Macora, Peru or tierra atacama in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The places and the hotel stays were exceptional!! I felt so relaxed and in tune with the places and times there.
Not that cancer doesn’t always come with me. It does. I am always aware. I take a pill every day to keep the cancer away!! I notice the different texture of the right breast. I notice the ache and pull of the muscle under my arm from the scar from the lymph nodes and the still discolored skin, but getting paler and less noticeable. But being away made such a difference and gave me such a break from the whole cancer experience- diagnosis- biopsy, surgery, radiation treatment. I did not see or think about doctors for over 6 weeks.
Now that I am back, I have to schedule my first mammogram since surgery for April and then see the surgeon, Dr Dahlia Sataloff. I am overdue for my next appointment with the medical oncologist, Dr David Mintzer, which was supposed to be in January but I was away. I am calling today for an appointment soon. I also will see my radio-oncologist, Dr Marisa Weiss, early this summer. My cancer team consists of these 3 doctors. Luckily, I have a crackerjack team! Cannot say that I missed them while I was away though. But I come back, ready to deal refreshed and renewed.
Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. ~Seneca
Beyond the Pink Moon Facebook Page started in 2011 is based on a memoir written by Nicki Boscia Durlester. It provides an active forum for people to share their breast cancer journeys, whether they are survivors or previvors. By telling your story you have the opportunity to save lives. I joined shortly after I had surgery. (My surgeon did not recommend testing for the BRCA gene) I do not write on it but do get email notifications from those who do. It provides support and information to women all over the world. I find it useful at times. This was one of the latest emails I received which I wanted to share with you.
Efrat Amir posted in Beyond the Pink Moon
Efrat Amir 8:27am Jan 6
Well I’m on my way home and thank G-D I’m ALIVE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR3TGeY5JIs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Love to all of you for all your prayers,love and unwavering support!!!
YouTube
http://www.youtube.com
Also, I recommend going to beyondthepinkmoon.com to hear an informative interview with Nicki and her daughter Ally about her family history and the BRCA gene. Nicki comes from a large Italian family of whose mom was one of 11 girls, 10 of whom got cancer!
They are committed to helping others through their experiences. Thanks so much to Nikki and her daughter Ally. There are over a thousand women on the Facebook site.
toooldtodieyoungblog 