Why are Chemo & radiation the only treatments for Cancer approved by FDA in the last 30-40 years?

Question

Have had cancer but hated chemo - refused radiation was told I would die soon by radiation onocologist 3 years cancer free now luck or what

Answer 1

Because the drug companies run the medical system. If they can't make money off it, they aren't going to pay for the clinical trials.

I just finished reading, "Sex, lies and menopause" by TS Wiley. Goes into great lenght about cancer, it's causes and it's treatments. Check for it at your library.

You were right to refuse treatment. It probably saved your life.

Answer 2

Your statement is a false conclusion.

Many non-traditional chemo medicines have been approved for the treatment of various types of cancer.

Retinoids, monoclonal antibodies, biological response modifiers, protein inhibitors, and so on. Some of these drugs are targeted at only a few types of cancer and some new drugs are still being assessed to see what types cancers they might be useful in treating in addition to the original type cancer they were designed to treat.

I'm sorry if this info doesn't apply to your type cancer or personal situation but I would encourage you to go to a large teaching hospital and see if there are any clinical trials that might be applicable to your type cancer and situation. good luck

http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials

Answer 3

The FDA requires that drugs go through stages to get approved - there's research and devlopement, testing on healthy patients to determine the maximum dose, small group clinical trials on the intended disease itself, then there are large, national clinical trials on the intended disease - all of that before it can be approved for marketing. THis process takes 12-16 years for each new drug.

Chemo drugs are highly toxic and need to be to kill the cancerous cells. Toxic drugs can have many very seriously undesirable side effects which may make them generally unsafe to use.

So let's say we develop a new drug and begin testing on the cancer patients(8-10 years into the process) and discover that the drug will kill you or make you worse than you already are?
Back to square one.

I think there are studies being done with cloning and DNA to use as cancer cures but imagine how long that will take.

I think there are answers out there - they will take time and a lot of careful research to get them to a usable state....hopefully soon.

In the meantime, glad you beat the odds and hope you stay healthy and cancer free for the rest of your life.

Answer 4

There are times that cancer does go into remission and it can't be explained. It is very rare, unfortunately. So you ARE VERY lucky!

Researchers have added much better chemotherapies and fine-tuned radiation therapies over the last 2 decades (especially). My father died of kidney cancer in 1970. There was nothing they could do for him at that time. I had breast cancer in 1999. I had 2-rounds of chemo and I am still cancer-free. My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer this past November. She had radiation. She goes in for her next mammogram in March. We are praying she, too, is cancer free.

Answer 5

Perhaps good fortune. A very few people with cancer will have their disease remit spontaneously.
Many cancer treatment protocols are developed by cooperating oncologists working at different medical centers in different cities. They submit their results to rigorous statistical analyses. Chemo and radiation are certainly radical measures, but we're up against a terrible condition - cancer.

There are all sorts of alternative medicine therapies claiming to cure cancer. They are supported by enthusiastic anecdotal endorsements. My opinion is that almost all are hogwash, sponsored by charletans preying on gullible persons with dreadful conditions.

Answer 6

As already mentioned, chemotherapy and radiation are NOT the only approved treatments for cancer in the last 30-40 years.

Examples of approved treatments not chemotherapy or radiation:
-abalation
by freezing (cryoabalation), RF abalation (EMF), heat, alcohol abalation
-photosensitive light therapy
-monocolonal antibodies (Rituximab)
-differentation agents (all transretinoic acid - ATRA)
-anti-agiogenesis drugs (Erbitux, Avastin, Nexavar, Iressa, etc.)
-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Gleevec, Sprycel, etc.)
-Interferon
-hormone blockers (Tamoxifen, Femara, Herceptin, etc.)

Spontaneous remissions can and do happen. You are certainly one of the lucky ones.

Answer 7

Interesting Question. Billions of dollars are collected each year for cancer research. Billions of dollars are also collected by medical professionals, drug companies and related fields. The AMA and the drug companies pay$$$ to lobyists to pass legislation to "protect us from ourselves" There are many natural things that can help prevent cancer, put cancer in remission etc. There are websites set up to be against anything natural that is posted and they are hosted by medical professionals or those connected to the drug company. A multi billion dollar industry does not want to loose all that money.
Having said that they do offer some good things that have helped thousands of people but if they would only open their minds to adding natural supplements to their drugs you would see a big reduction or remission in cancer. Please also take into account the FDA allows toxic chemicals and colorants to be added to our food each day, not to mention the hormones. It is a many pronged assult. Just my opinion

Answer 8

Because they work.