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Page 330
| flaxseeds, soy foods, calcium D-glucarate, and the many herbs mentioned throughout this book. |
| Bone Marrow Transplant |
| Bone marrow transplantation is a relatively new type of treatment that is sometimes used when breast cancer is first diagnosed at an advanced stage or it has become resistant to treatment with standard chemotherapy. Normally, very high doses of chemotherapy are used in this process, doses so high they can destroy bone marrow. Therefore, marrow is removed from the bones and frozen before treatment begins. High doses of chemotherapy, usually alkylating agents, with or without radiation therapy, are then given to treat the cancer. After this treatment, the patient has no residual bone marrow necessary to produce the white blood cells that protect against infection or the platelets that prevent bleeding. The marrow that was removed is then thawed and injected into a vein to replace the marrow that was destroyed. Autologous bone marrow transplant (use of the patient's own bone marrow) is the usual procedure in cases of breast cancer. |
| Bone marrow transplants, which have not yet been proven to have curative effects, are very costly; moreover, we do not yet know the long-term effects of this form of therapy. Based on my experience with patients in my practice who have undergone bone marrow transplants, I have serious questions about this procedure. This drastic attempt to put the cancer into remission rarely works for more than a year or two. Many times, the person is never the same again after it is done because of the weakened systemic vitality that often results. In evaluating over 19,000 patients who received transplants between 1964 and 1992, studies have shown that those undergoing bone marrow transplantation had an increase of other solid tumors following the transplant. 61 |
| My View |
| In general, conventional medicine tends to overtreat when not really sure what to do next. Hundreds of hospitals throughout the country have spent small fortunes to add bone marrow facilities to their institutions, without knowing the long-term results of such a procedure. As of this writing, there is |
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