Genetic Gamble

First thing this morning, I checked out The New York Times to see what was happening in the world of 'health and wellness'.

The first article talked about the 'heart-breaking ups and downs' of a new cancer therapy.

The story does not have a happy ending, but I was intrigued by the concept that some scientists have about treating cancer.

If you have cancer, the premise, in a nutshell, is that a geneticist will genetically sequence out your healthy cell and also sequence out your cancerous cell.  The geneticists will see where the sequence goes awry and will find the perfect chemo agent, or drug, to kill this mutation. 

In the case of the woman who was chronicled in this article, her form of cancer was T-cell lymphoma.  Her traditional chemotherapy had not killed or slowed down this cancer so (since her son was a doctor) she opted for 'whole genome sequencing' to see exactly where the mutation was occurring.

Once the sequencing was completed, her son determined that her mutation would respond well to a chemo agent for melanoma.  On July 28, she started her infusion with this new, promising, chemo drug.

Two things popped into my head immediately.

1. Flowers for Algernon.  (Have you read the book?  Maybe saw the movie, Charly, based on the book?)  If you read the book, or saw the movie, you know exactly how this story ends.
2. Charlotte Gerson and Dr Max Gerson.  Dr Gerson was a German doctor (survived the Holocaust) who treated disease with nutrition.  His daughter, Charlotte, is now in her 80's, and is tirelessly keeping his torch aflame.  When listening to her speak, I was struck by her statement, 'we can't heal the body by poisoning the body'.  So simple.  So true.

The part that confuses me most about oncology and chemotherapy is that we know, for certain, that cancerous cells are mutated cells, yet we expect these same cells NOT to mutate while we give the patient chemotherapy.  Really?  Why would the cells choose to behave now....and not mutate?  To me, the whole premise is flawed.  Unfortunately, fatally flawed.

The lady in the New York Times article rallied for a short window of time.  Crashed bad.  Had her cells re-sequenced and was given a 'kidney' drug for the second go-round.

She passed away on November 30.  The scientists donated their time to sequence her cells, so there was no fee for that service, BUT, the two chemo drugs used from July 28 to Nov 30 cost $49,000....More than $10,000 per month, and she still died!  This, of course, does not count the cost of her traditional chemo drugs that she was taking prior to the 'whole genome sequencing'.

I don't know why I get confused.....but I do.  Why am I the 'crazy' one when I suggest people eat healthfully  and exercise as a way to regain health?  It would be nearly impossible to spend $49,000 per YEAR on organic fruits and vegetables yet this family spent it in 4 months and the outcome was still DEATH. 

I am truly sorry for their loss.  I am not trying to minimize it in any way.

I am just hopeful that you, who are reading this, will take the time (before you get cancer) to watch a few great documentaries.  My favorites include:

• Dying To Have Known
• Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
• There is a movie about the life of Dr Max Gerson (don't know the name...please Google it and watch it)  I think it might be called, The Gerson Miracle.

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