I recently watched the documentary Surviving Terminal Cancer. It was painful and sad.
As a cancer researcher I can testify that any treatment not approved by FDA in the U.S. is "anathema" among the researchers - it is extremely rare that one can obtain funding to (a) develop and study anything other than drugs churned out by big pharma, or (b) make microscopic advancements within the officially approved fads in cancer research. If one makes a mistake to go beyond these boundaries and proposes to do research that does not fit the mainstream science, s/he is never funded and abundantly ridiculed and chastised by the National Institutes of Health reviewers of grant proposals. Considering that cancer research requires huge funds, it is obvious that non-conformists would never be funded and their ideas would meet a dead end.
In clinic, in order to keep their licenses and reputations, the oncologists simply have no choice, but to obey the system and offer the cancer patients the three pillars of conventional therapy (i.e., radiation, chemotherapy, surgery).
What is the solution? It is spelled out in the movie - watch it and find out. The documentary is a must-see for everyone: for health care providers, researchers, patients, and in general, for everyone who wants to know how we design and structure cancer care today and how we could do better in the future.
This documentary delivers a very different message from the mainstream media - approved and pharmaceutical company - funded PBS documentary The Emperor of All Maladies. Surviving Terminal Cancer, above all, it delivers an ACTIONABLE message.
Thank you to the creators of the movie and the participants!
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