Chemotherapy refers to the treatment of cancer by chemicals that kill cells, specifically cancer cells. Chemotherapy acts by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of cancer cells. This means that it also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal circumstances: cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles; this results in the most common side-effects of chemotherapy-myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells), mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract) and alopecia (hair loss).

Chemotherapy was first proposed as a treatment for cancer right after World War II, when research on mustard gas demonstrated that it has the ability to kill living cells, particularly those which rapidly divide, such as those in the intestinal tract, bone marrow and lymph system. Doctors soon came up with the idea that they could use mustard gas to poison cancer, which constitutes the most rapidly dividing cells of all. In fact, many of the drugs we use today are close cousins of mustard gas one reason we find them so toxic (The Immortal Cell, Dr Gerald B Dermer, Avery Publishing Group, Garden City Park, 1994).

Oncologists define "cure" and "response" in different terms. They look only at "response" that is, shrinking the tumour as a measure of success, without considering whether it increases survival or improves quality of life. Dr Urich Abel, a German epidemiologist, who examined virtually all the articles (several thousand in all) on chemotherapy, plus the work of some 350 scientists working on cancer therapies, has found that when a tumour mass partially or temporarily disappears, those tumour cells which are remaining and resist the effect of the chemo can sometimes grow much faster afterward. Often, patients who did not respond to chemo survive longer than those who do (Der Spiegel: 1990; 33: 174-6. See also J Otolaryn, 1995; 24(4): 242-52).

A top NCI scientist has observed that for most forms of cancer, many patients may initially respond. But in only three forms of cancer ovarian, small cell lung cancer, acute nonlymphocytic leukemia did any appreciable percentage survive without disease, and even then it was, at best, less than a sixth of the total group of patients. In all the other types of cancer, disease free survival was rare.

Shrinkage of solid tumours should not be overinterpreted, as it often has little or no survival benefit, according to oncology consultant GM Mead of the Royal South Hants Hospital (BMJ, January 28, 1995). Major chemo manufacturer Bristol Myers discloses that only 11 per cent of patients taking the carboplatin and 15 per cent of patients taking cisplatin had a complete response to the drugs; remission lasted on average, about a year, and both types of patients survived, on average, only two years.

One of the most used chemotherapy drugs is cyclophosphamide, which comes from mustard gas. It can cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss, anorexia, and damage the blood, heart and lungs. Another drug, cisplastin (Platinol), made of the heavy metal platinum, can damage nerves, kidneys, and cause hearing loss and seizures. It can also cause deafness, irreversible loss of motor function, bone marrow suppression, anemia and blindness.

Mechlorethamine, an analogue of mustard gas (the "M" of MOPP treatment, the standard procotol for Hodgkin's disease), is so toxic that those administering the drug are advised to wear rubber gloves and avoid inhaling it! This drug is known to cause thrombosis, jaundice, hair loss, nausea and vomiting. Merck, its manufacturer, warns in the PDR that "the margin of safety in therapy with MUSTARGEN is narrow and considerable care must be exercised in the matter of dosage. Repeated examinations of blood are mandatory as a guide to subsequent therapy. "

Chemotherapy can cause heart problems, destroy bile ducts, cause bone tissue death, restrict growth, cause infertility, lower white and red cell counts and lead to intestinal and lactose malabsorption. 90 per cent of the time it doesn't even work to eliminate the cancer completely.

Italian Oncologist Dr. T. Simoncini discovered some interesting facts:

The great lack of trust is evident even amongst doctors. Polls and questionnaires show that three doctors out of four (75 per cent) would refuse any chemotherapy because of its ineffectiveness against the disease and its devastating effects on the entire human organism.

This is what many doctors and scientists have to say about chemotherapy: "The majority of the cancer patients in this country die because of chemotherapy, which does not cure breast, colon or lung cancer. This has been documented for over a decade and nevertheless doctors still utilize chemotherapy to fight these tumors." (Allen Levin, MD, UCSF, "The Healing of Cancer", Marcus Books, 1990).

"If I were to contract cancer, I would never turn to a certain standard for the therapy of this disease. Cancer patients who stay away from these centers have some chance to make it." (Prof. Gorge Mathe, "Scientific Medicine Stymied", Medicines Nouvelles, Paris, 1989).

"Dr. Hardin Jones, lecturer at the University of California, after having analyzed for many decades statistics on cancer survival, has come to this conclusion: "... when not treated, the patients do not get worse or they even get better'. The unsettling conclusions of Dr. Jones have never been refuted." (Walter Last, "The Ecologist", Vol. 28, no. 2, March-April 1998).

"Many oncologists recommend chemotherapy for almost any type of cancer, with a faith that is unshaken by the almost constant failures." (Albert Braverman, MD, "Medical Oncology in the 90s", Lancet, 1991, Vol. 337, p. 901).

"Our most efficacious regimens are loaded with risks, side effects and practical problems; and after all the patients we have treated have paid the toll, only a miniscule percentage of them is paid off with an ephemeral period of tumoral regression and generally a partial one." (Edward G. Griffin "World Without Cancer", American Media Publications, 1996).

"After all, and for the overwhelming majority of the cases, there is no proof whatsoever that chemotherapy prolongs survival expectations. And this is the great lie about this therapy, that there is a correlation between the reduction of cancer and the extension of the life of the patient." (Philip Day, "Cancer: Why we're still dying to know the truth", Credence Publications, 2000).

"Several full-time scientists at the McGill Cancer Center sent to 118 doctors, all experts on lung cancer, a questionnaire to determine the level of trust they had in the therapies they were applying; they were asked to imagine that they themselves had contracted the disease and which of the six current experimental therapies they would choose. 79 doctors answered, 64 of them said that they would not consent to undergo any treatment containing cis-platinum - one of the common chemotherapy drugs they used - while 58 out of 79 believed that all the experimental therapies above were not accepted because of the ineffectiveness and the elevated level of toxicity of chemotherapy." (Philip Day, "Cancer: Why we're still dying to know the truth", Credence Publications, 2000).

"Doctor Ulrich Able, a German epidemiologist of the Heidelberg Mannheim Tumor Clinic, has exhaustively analyzed and reviewed all the main studies and clinical experiments ever performed on chemotherapy .... Able discovered that the comprehensive world rate of positive outcomes because of chemotherapy was frightening, because, simply, nowhere was scientific evidence available demonstrating that chemotherapy is able to 'prolong in any appreciable way the life of patients affected by the most common type of organ cancer.' Able highlights that rarely can chemotherapy improve the quality of life, and he describes it as a scientific squalor while maintaining that at least 80 per cent of chemotherapy administered in the world is worthless. Even if there is no scientific proof whatsoever that chemotherapy works, neither doctors nor patients are prepared to give it up (Lancet, Aug. 10, 1991). None of the main media has ever mentioned this exhaustive study: it has been completely buried" (Tim O'Shea, "Chemotherapy - An Unproven Procedure").

"According to medical associations, the notorious and dangerous side effects of drugs have become the fourth main cause of death after infarction, cancer, and apoplexy" (Journal of the American Medical Association, April 15, 1998).