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Page 287
| Surgery |
| Eli Jones, the famous Eclectic physician, stated, "I have never seen a cancerous tumor cut out by the knife that has not returned." Surgery can only "cure" the local tumor by removing it; it does not reduce the risk for the spread of cancer, and may even increase the chance of metastases. |
| Let's take a closer look at surgery. According to conventional wisdom, when a cancerous tumor is removed, the cancer is gone (or so we think). I tell breast cancer patients that it is not the breast they need to worry about but the liver, bones, brain, and the lungs; this is where the cancer is really life-threatening. So the question becomes: does having this operation inhibit or increase the chance of the cancer spreading to one of these sites? Sometimes, surgery may increase the chance, especially if the cancer has moved outside of the local area. Surgery causes trauma and inflammation, both of which weaken the patient. It also overtaxes the immune system's ability to fight the cancer, perhaps enabling the cancer to move at a more aggressive rate. |
| One problem that occurs frequently after surgery is that certain metastatic gene-inhibiting proteins diminish, thereby allowing aggressive cancer cells to invade and migrate. This can lead to the formation of life-threatening, organ-invading tumors at a much faster rate than if the primary tumor had not been removed. The nm (nonmetastatic) 23 gene is one such gene that has been identified. |
| I believe we need to look at this process and question the removal of all primary tumors as standard procedure if we are to maximize healing potential, inhibit recurrences, and prevent metastatic, life-threatening cancers. One possible solution is an aggressive cancer-inhibiting protocol to be used before and after surgery. This would help to prevent and/or reduce the risk of systemic cancer-cell activity. (See chapter 11.) |
| A recent report published in the Lancet questions the use, or misuse, of surgery. It states that surgery can kickstart cancer to spread and that cancer may work faster on injured tissue when the body's immune system is suppressed and in an inflammatory state. One breast cancer study showed an increase in damage, relapse, or death within three years after surgery. 1 |
| However, surgery alone can be the treatment of choice for certain early cancers of the cervix, breast, stomach, rectum, thyroid, colon, skin, and testis. |
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