The truth about cancer? Don't be easily swayed
They say any press is good press, so with some hesitation, I am bringing you a partial review of an online documentary on cancer that has gotten some significant social media exposure since it was released last year. The Quest For Cures is produced and marketed by an accountant and former bodybuilder named Ty Bollinger. According to Mr. Bollinger's email campaign, up to two million people will view the docu-series, aimed at sharing natural cancer treatments "so that you can be able to make an informed decision if you face that cancer diagnosis." It quickly and consistently devolves into a run-on sentence of anti-pharmaceutical propaganda that one-sidedly promotes Bollinger and others' theories – and businesses.
First, the disclaimers – I am not spending the time to track down/follow up with 11 hours' worth of footage to determine legitimacy to treatment claims of cures. I am willing to speculate and concede there are nuggets of information in here that are not just true, but also would be a good thing for cancer patients to digest and consider. Finally, there's no need to debate some of the more outlandish suggestion and outright claims of conspiracy. One thing that is being proven truer with every ultra-expensive dose of anti-PD-1 is that Big Pharma is NOT oppressing the cure to cancer simply to keep making money on chemotherapy.
Let's start off by saying if you do watch this, or other documentary-type films on complementary and alternative treatments, you WILL learn more about what cancer is and how it affects your body. There's actual biological and chemical knowledge in there for the layperson to help understand the underlying mechanisms of how cancer functions. Good luck trying to extract that from the copious amount of fear-mongering and innuendo as Bollinger hopscotches between sound bites while rarely digging into things like tested hypotheses or controlled studies.
Other skeptics tackle the science behind this waaaaaay better than I ever could, both with Bollinger's book and The Quest For Cures documentary. The second link breaks this down eloquently, so head to Ms. Hall's post for more information, including the soberingly accurate conclusion: "people will die because they believed this was "the truth about cancer" and were persuaded to reject lifesaving treatment."
Some of the more difficult parts to swallow: the omnipresent conspiracy aura, which would make Mulder and Scully cringe. The constant references to the "Cancer Industry"; funny – there's not one to the "Alternative Medicine Industry", even though Bollinger makes big bucks from selling this narrative. The adjectives come fast and furious: Insidious. Cancer industrial complex. Toxic. Corrupt. Sovietization. Holocaust!!! (Really?!?! Have some tact, Ty!) Heck, there was even a "War of Northern Aggression" reference thrown in for good measure. Examples presented are laughable – comparisons of breast cancer to a farmer's dump, or saying a tumor is the check engine light on a car, only an indicator of an underlying problem.
The biggest danger is the conclusions being drawn, or being left open to interpretation for the viewer to draw. There's so many logical fallacies embedded in discussions it almost became a game to find the stuff that ISN'T making some grand leap of faith or using bent reasoning. Theory is presented informally, by men with "Doctor" in their title (note that Bollinger isn't one of them; he has the same amount of medical training as Dr. Seuss), and the "connect the dots" thing seems to work in your head. Except that's not how science is tackled in the real world. Just because something SEEMS logical and is presented compellingly does not make it truth. (Wait, am I writing a Health Blog, or in the Politics section??) Very rarely in the series is a point made and backed by evidence in a concluding fashion. To the medically uneducated, this becomes minor detail when considering the promise offered by alternatives to the evil picture being painted of the scientifically proven cancer treatments.
If Bollinger had the best interests of patients at heart, he would be working to engage oncologists, researchers, pharma, and the government both here and abroad, instead of slinging mud. Taken alone, a number of the preventative and complementary bits involving lifestyle and nutrition would be well-served to a cancer audience, especially as immunotherapies emerge (hey - your immune system, healing cancer… that sounds familiar!!) However, he chooses to package it up in a for-purchase series and pitch it to those most vulnerable; snake oil sales in a digital age.
To anyone reading this or watching The Truth About Cancer: yes, pharmaceuticals are a business, one that makes for an easy target. Go after the moneyed institutions and expect the medically undereducated to respond with vigor to accusations of corporate greed. Heck – Donald Trump AND Bernie Sanders are using a version of this to pile up primary delegates! We'll tackle the "Big Pharma business" debate soon, but the salient point is that pharma and biotech research, including (but certainly not exclusively) publicly-held and for-profit companies, have advanced the knowledge to diagnose and treat disease more in the last 40 years than all of recorded history.
Be careful. I cannot stress this any more strongly. Hearing hope is a lot easier than dissecting information and determining the incorrect leaps and unproven conclusions. If you watch this, or read Bollinger's books or many of the other contributors' literature, it is easy to be swayed by narratives and testimonials. Watch the documentary if your intellectual curiosity prompts you, as mine did. Understand some of what's in there (particularly the preventative parts) are good to take away. Just don't make life and death cancer treatment decisions off of what you watch on an internet infomercial.
T.J. Sharpe shares his fight against Stage 4 Melanoma in the Patient #1 blog. Read more »