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Disclaimer Welcome Why Alternatives? Alternative Cancer Therapy Guides www.healingcancernaturally.com On Conventional Medicine On Modern Medicine On Cancer Research |
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Click here for an introduction and complete list of Healing Cancer Naturally articles: Why Choose Alternative Cancer Treatment, a powerful sequence of incisive, outspoken (and often shocking) statements & articles by cancer specialists, researchers, patients and thinkers on subjects surrounding conventional and alternative cancer treatment. Page 13 and many more pages here put the spotlight on animal-based toxicity testing of drugs & chemicals, particularly cancer research based upon animal
models of human disease Click
here for the complete list of Healing Cancer Naturally articles on Cancer Research, Toxicity Testing & Animal Experimentation: an Unholy Union? 1999 Cancer Research Reviewby New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society NZAVS, November 1999 Note by Healing Cancer Naturally: The following article while written for a New Zealand readership seems to have worldwide relevance and application. It covers most of the major points related to animal experimentation and the vital question whether animal-based cancer research saves or destroys human lives. Highly recommended reading.
Appendix A: Centre for scientific information on vivisection (CIVIS) principles Appendix B: A sample of medical opinions on cancer research using animals Appendix C: Further information sources 1) SummaryAnimal experimentation in cancer research has not resulted in any advances. Vivisection can not lead to any advances in cancer research due to the inability to extrapolate results across species and the problems of causing a disease in order to study it because an introduced disease is not the same as a spontaneous one. Animal experimentation itself is a cause of cancer and can lead to the onset of cancers. The New Zealand public demands the abolition of vivisection. Continuation of vivisection will lead to funds for cancer research no longer being available. Publication of easily discredited propaganda promoting supposed benefits of vivisection brings the scientific community into disrepute and undermines public faith in science. Therapies which appear to be economical and effective seem to being ignored, if research into these therapies occurs it must not be animal research nor should these therapies be compared to currently used therapies on the basis of animal experiments. 2) IntroductionThe New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society is an incorporated society formed by Bette Overell in 1978. We have members and supporters throughout the country and around the world. The Society's aims are to actively campaign for the abolition of vivisection on the grounds that it is medical and scientific fraud. We have adopted the CIVIS Principles originally written by our Patron, Hans Ruesch as our policy on vivisection. (Refer Appendix A) . Our Society has presented two Petitions to Parliament, in 1984 calling for the abolition of the LD50 Test and in 1989 calling for the abolition of vivisection on the grounds of scientific and medical fraud. 100,640 people signed the latter petition. Our present campaign is the distribution of the book Animal Research Takes Lives - Humans and Animals Both Suffer written by Bette Overell, this work rebuts - using sourced scientific information - every false claim made in the booklet Animal Research Saves Lives, a flimsy piece of pro-vivisection propaganda produced by New Zealand's vivisection industry (The Cancer Society of New Zealand being one of the booklets' co-producers). 3) Current state of cancer research in New ZealandSickness care costs are bankrupting our economy. This is because we have a 'health' care system based on vivisection, which is scientifically invalid. Cancer research has been a failure. This is due to much research being based on vivisection. The cancer establishment refuses to consider working with anyone whose views or theories conflict with the establishment's agenda. 3.1) New Zealand spends over six billion dollars each year on what is euphemistically called "health care". After more than 100 years of massive animal-based research at a cost of countless billions of dollars, crippling and deadly diseases of all kinds are affecting an ever-increasing number of New Zealanders. Far from curing anything we are losing ground in the fight against cancer and other diseases. Soaring "sickness care" costs are bankrupting our economy. 3.2) Animal research does not work, as every species of animal is a different biomechanical and biochemical entity. Non-human animals are different not only from humans, but also from each other: anatomically, physiologically, immunologically, genetically and histologically. 3.3) Animals react differently to different drugs, vaccines and chemical substances, not only from humans but also from each other. Aspirin kills cats and penicillin kills guinea pigs. Yet guinea pigs can safely eat strychnine - one of the deadliest poisons for humans but not for monkeys. 3.4) Human diseases cannot be recreated in animals because once a disease is "recreated" it is artificial and no longer the original, natural disease that the body itself produced. 3.5) Our environment - air, land, water and food supplies - is being systematically destroyed by thousands of pesticides and toxicants that no matter how destructive are routinely and conveniently found safe and thus allowed to be marketed based on inherently invalid and misleading animal tests. 3.6) The ethics committee system that 'rubber stamps' vivisection in this country is ineffective and was introduced merely to try and pacify public opposition to vivisection based on ethical grounds. It fails to address the public opposition to vivisection on scientific grounds. 3.7) It is estimated that in the United States of America 33% of people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The incidence of cancer in USA has
gone up 18 percent and the death rate 7 percent since President Nixon declared the "war on cancer" in 1971. After spending billions of dollars and decades of massive effort not only has cancer not been stopped but
also its incidence has increased. 3.8) "During the past fifty years scientists experimenting with thousands of animals have found 700 ways of causing cancer. But they had not discovered
one way of curing the disease." 3.9) "My overall assessment is that the national cancer programme must be judged a qualified failure." 3.10) "The five year cancer survival statistics of the American Cancer Society are very misleading. They now count things that are not cancer, and because we are able to diagnose at an earlier stage of the disease, patients falsely appear to live longer. Our whole cancer research in the past 20 years has been a failure. More people over 30 are dying from cancer than ever before... More women with mild or benign diseases are being included in statistics and reported as being 'cured'. When government officials point to survival figures and say they are winning the war against cancer they are using those survival rates improperly."
3.11) "For thirty-five years U.S. scientists labouring in the National Cancer Institute's screening programme have injected more than 400,000 chemicals
into leukaemic mice hoping to find chemotherapies that would help solve the riddles of cancer... We've been using the wrong system as the screening device." 3.12) Due to the use of animals, cancer research has been a failure. 3.13) The New Zealand cancer industry appears reluctant to adopt new ways of thinking and fails to even consider many areas that carry potential. For instance, "NO!" was the blunt reply given by the Cancer Society's Peter Dady in reply to television interviewer Paul Holmes' question in early 1999 about whether the Cancer Society was willing to work with 'alternative' therapists given that the 'alternative' therapists were willing to work alongside the Cancer Society. 4) Balance of research into various aspects of cancerCancer research on laboratory animals is prolific yet does not produce valid or useful results. It is generally accepted that a large proportion of cancers are preventable, yet funding for research into prevention is disproportionate. Meanwhile despite the emphasis on research for treatment, research funds and facilities are not made available for those who wish to study natural or holistic therapies. 4.1) "Almost all biomedical research being conducted today, including cancer research, is based on the animal model of human disease. Predictably the
absurd concept that spontaneous diseases can be recreated in the laboratory and that human medicine can be based on veterinary medicine has brought us increases in both the incidences and death rates in practically all
diseases, including cancer." 4.2) "Screening of over half a million compounds as anti-cancer agents on laboratory animals between 1970-85, only 80 compounds moved into clinical trials
on humans. Of these only 24 had any anti-cancer activity and only 12 appeared to have a "substantial clinical role". But these so-called "new" active agents were not so new: they are analogues of
chemotherapeutic agents already known to work in humans." 4.3) "Despite the general recognition that 85 per cent of all cancers is caused by environmental influences, less than 10 percent of the (U.S. ) National
Cancer Institute budget is given to environmental causes. And despite the recognition that the majority of environmental causes are linked to nutrition, less than one per cent of the NCI budget is devoted to nutrition studies.
And even that small amount had to be forced on the Institute by a special amendment of the National Cancer Act in 1974." 4.4) "According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, approximately 80% of all cancers are preventable." 4.5) "A shift in research emphasis from research on treatment to research on prevention is necessary if substantial progress against cancer is to be
forthcoming". 4.6) "Despite the present emphasis on research of treatment rather than prevention holistic cancer treatment is never given a fair go anywhere in the
Western world. There is no level playing field on which holistic health practitioners can work on equal terms with the Cancer Establishment. Well-documented systems offering revolutionary possibilities of cure have been offered
to the world's Cancer Establishment and rejected without a fair trial." 4.7) "Natural Therapies are not scientifically proven to give better results than conventional treatment. Those controlling research funds and facilities
give nothing to natural therapists to prove their case. In rare cases that natural remedies have been investigated by conventional medical institutions, it was done in such a way that a negative outcome was guaranteed." 5) Areas of future growth in cancer researchAny future use of animals in cancer research will prove to be a failure. The New Zealand public demands abolition of vivisection on the grounds of medical and scientific fraud. Future research must be restricted to valid non-animal methods such as epidemiology. Study could be made of how animal research itself is responsible for cancer. 5.1) The use of animals in cancer research will, if continued, be a failure in the future. Due to the reasons outlined in section 4) 5.2) Further to that the New Zealand public demands abolition of vivisection as evidenced by the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society's Petition to Abolish Vivisection 1989 which attracted 100,640 signatures demanding an end to vivisection on scientific and medical grounds. The 'Hearing' of the Petition by the Primary Production Select Committee attracted over 700 submissions in support of the Petition. 5.3) Future research should be restricted to valid methods such as epidemiology. To help humans we need to study the cancers that occur in humans not in other animals in laboratory conditions. One of the most natural ways of studying cancer in humans is that of observation. Observing what occurs spontaneously in as great a number of human models as possible scattered throughout the world. Epidemiology includes this kind of observation. This knowledge can enable preventative measures to be taken against cancers. Epidemiology is not used more often as it does not give instant, extravagant returns. It takes time, demanding sincere participation and co-operation on the local, national and international level. But fortunately in these days of computers and hi-tech global communications gathering data readily available in health institutions worldwide can facilitate epidemiology's job. Surely epidemiology must be looked upon as one of the key areas of future growth in cancer research. 5.4) Study should be made of cancer being caused by animal research. 5.4.1) Cancer in animal research workers, contracted through laboratory experiments. The contents of many laboratories represent a bizarre cocktail of viruses, biological reagents, chemicals, cancer agents and different species of animal. In 1986 the Institut Pasteur set up an external commission of inquiry to investigate three cases of bone cancer among staff at the same laboratory at the Institut. Two of those affected had died that year, and colleagues suspected that the cases might be linked to work on oncogenic viruses. One of the fatalities had been working on a project to bring about the transformation of mouse embryo carcinoma cells. In 1987, the London Hazards Centre reported that in at least one school, carcinogenic fumes have been regularly released into the classroom by the methods used
to soften rats' brains for dissection. 5.4.2) Cancer due to environmental pollution caused by animal research The use of animals in toxicological testing allows chemicals to be released or to remain on the market even though they may cause cancer in humans. Because animal tests are so ambiguous, studies are often repeated; debates over test results are so drawn out that regulation is delayed. Products typically remain on the market until decisions are reached. Even when positive human toxicity data are available, as in the case of benzene and DDT, chemicals are not withdrawn. Regulatory scientists habitually seek to confirm human findings in animals before regulatory steps are taken. For further information on the dangers of toxicity testing on animals and valid methods that can be used, refer Alix Fano, Lethal Laws - Animal Testing, Human Health and Environmental Policy, Zed Books, 1998. 5.4.3) Cancer caused by vivisection-based farming. Vivisection and Farming... The Connection Antibiotics, growth hormones, drenches, vaccinations, worm-killing chemicals, weight and profit producing drugs, pesticides, insecticides, tranquillisers, fungicides are all tested on animals. "Of the 143 drugs and pesticides identified as likely to leave residues in raw meat and poultry, forty-two are known to cause or are suspected of causing
cancer; twenty of causing birth defects and six of causing mutations." "Cancer Prevention Compare Vegetarians live longer. 5.4.4) Cancer caused by vivisection-sanctioned drugs. A small sample of drugs which despite being tested on animals were marketed and have been linked with human cancer: 5.4.4.1) Chloramphenicol "Responsible for causing leukemia and fatal aplastic anaemia in human beings. Damage not predicted by animal experiments." "Extensive experiments on dogs failed to show evidence of injury or disease to the canine species." 5.4.4.2) Tagamet (Cimetidine) Produced by SmithKline & French in 1977 after extensive testing on dogs, rabbits, hamsters, mice and rats, none of which gave signs of stomach cancer. By 1981 the British Committee for the Safety of Medicine had received 2,459 reports of adverse reactions which includes headaches, dizziness, skin disorders, psychiatric disorders, liver disorders, tremor, abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhoea and 21 reports of stomach cancer. "Despite there being no signs of stomach cancer in animals on which the drug was tested, there could be an increased risk of stomach cancer on the human
patients to whom it is prescribed." 5.4.4.3) Diethylstilbestrol "Diethylstilbestrol, tested without adverse effects on animals for years, caused cancer in girls whose mothers had been prescribed the drug in pregnancy.
Hundreds of women developed vaginal cancer because their mothers were given DES in pregnancy." 5.4.4.4) Monkey-based polio vaccine In the 1960s two and a half million New Zealanders were vaccinated with contaminated monkey-based polio vaccine. "It cannot be ruled out that two million New Zealanders could not be suffering in thirty years' time from cancerous brain tumours as a result of the
vaccinations." A recent study by Dr Janet Butel published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, USA, suggests that the SV40 cancer causing virus which contaminated the polio vaccine are being passed from those given the contaminated vaccine to their children. According to Professor Gordon McVie, the director general of the Cancer Research Campaign (U.K.), researchers have so far uncovered evidence linking SV40 to a number of cancers, including brain tumours and bone cancer. "I've a feeling that the virus might be implicated in more, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and prostate cancer", he said. 5.4.5) Deaths caused by vivisection-based cancer drugs: "From a scientific standpoint, what is pertinent that what are called 'animal model systems' in cancer research have been a total failure... Not a single
essential new drug for the treatment of human cancer was picked up by the animal model system... Thus the tens of millions of animals killed in the mass screening for new cancer drugs died in vain... Two high-powered promoters
were pushing a study which used a particular drug called '5-FU'. They presented animal data to support their claims for using this drug on human breast cancer. In our studies which included 5-FU, the doctors had unanimously
decided to drop it because there was no sign of benefit but very serious toxicity... My efforts to head off the poisoning of hundreds of women with breast cancer, with a dangerous drug that could destroy their host defence
systems failed. The National Cancer Institute went right ahead with its plan to fund this deadly study and others like it. Not a few women with breast cancer have paid with their lives for this stupidity... animal model systems
not only kill animals, they also kill humans." 5.5) Any human experimentation must not use vivisectionist methods such as causing the disease in order to study it. 6) Appropriate strategies and mechanisms for funding cancer research6.1) Zero funding to be allocated to research involving animals. 7) Ways the cancer society should adapt to changing patterns of cancer researchContinuation of funding and promoting vivisection will make it harder for the Cancer Society to extract public donations and sponsorship. The Cancer Society should publicly retract the leaflet it co-published titled 'Animal Research Saves Lives'. The Cancer Society should institute a written policy denouncing the use of animals in cancer research as medically and scientifically invalid. The Cancer Society should institute a written policy of no funding any research using animals. The Cancer Society should be lobbying for the abolition of vivisection on medical and scientific grounds. 7.1) The New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society has withstood all attempts by the likes of the Cancer Society and its cronies to demolish NZAVS. NZAVS will go from strength to strength as it seeks abolition of vivisection. As part of this process the New Zealand public will learn of the medical and scientific fraud of vivisection and it will become increasingly more difficult for the Cancer Society to obtain public donations and sponsorship as the public realises the role of the Cancer Society in its attempts to perpetuate medical and scientific fraud. 7.2) Further attempts to block legal channels for those working for the abolition of vivisection will see an increase in the activities of groups who partake in (sometimes illegal) direct actions such as the Animal Liberation Front. This may impact on the fundraising work of the Cancer Society as well as possibly destroying the 'research work' of vivisectors funded by the Cancer Society. 7.3) To avoid the loss of public donations and sponsorship and the possibility of actions by groups such as the Animal Liberation Front, we recommend the following: 7.3.1) The Cancer Society should publicly retract the leaflet it co-published titled 'Animal Research Saves Lives' . This booklet has been shown up as being merely emotional, unsubstantiated claims and blatant lies about supposed benefits of vivisection. Every claim made in the booklet has been demolished using sourced scientific evidence in Bette Overell's Animal Research Takes Lives - Humans and Animals Both Suffer. 7.3.2) The Cancer Society should institute written policy to the following effect: "The Cancer Society condemns research using animals as a hindrance to medical progress and a danger to human patients on the grounds that it is impossible to extrapolate between the species and it is also medically and scientifically invalid to cause a disease in order to study it." 7.3.3) The Cancer Society should institute written policy to the following effect: "The Cancer Society will not fund or promote research using animals on the grounds that the use of animals to study human disease is medically and scientifically fraudulent." 7.3.4) The Cancer Society should publicly denounce all research using animals in supposed cancer research as being scientifically invalid and recognise it as bringing science and cancer research into disrepute, destroying public faith and confidence. 7.3.5) The Cancer Society should be lobbying at the highest possible levels for the abolition of vivisection on the grounds that it is medical and scientific fraud. 8) Ways to improve the dissemination of the knowledge and advances gained from cancer research8.1) Publishing easily-discredited lies about supposed benefits of animal research brings science into disrepute and destroys public faith and confidence in cancer research. 8.2) The public is weary of news stories timed to coincide with fundraising events of latest cancer breakthroughs (often involving vivisection) that may lead to a cure for cancer. 8.3) The Cancer Society must cease its blatant lying and attempts to mislead the public. 9) Other aspects of cancer research which should be consideredA huge range of therapies and potential therapies for cancer appear to be ignored by the cancer establishment (refer for instance to the cases mentioned in the Soil & Health Association's Self-Help Cancer Cure Book). They appear to be effective and economical. If research into these therapies is to occur it must not be animal research. The therapies should not be measured against conventional therapies on the basis of animal data. 10) Recommendations10.1) That funding and promotion of vivisection in cancer research be ceased immediately on the grounds that it is dangerous to extrapolate results across species. 10.2) That funding and promotion of all other vivisection be ceased immediately as its existence and application can lead to the onset of cancers. 10.3) Promotional materials published by the Cancer Society that endorse vivisection should be immediately publicly withdrawn. 10.4) That future research should concentrate on valid methods such as epidemiology that directly relate to the human condition. 10.5) Any human-based research undertaken must not adopt vivisectionist methods of causing a disease in order to study it, as results obtained from an introduced disease are not necessarily the same as those from a spontaneous disease. 10.6) Current therapies must not be evaluated against potential new, or already existing (outside of the mainstream) therapies on the basis of animal data. 10.7) Valid research should be conducted on the therapies already in existence that have been unscientifically ignored or discredited by the cancer establishment. 10.8) Failure to take up these recommendations will result in a further public loss of confidence in science and will bring cancer research into further disrepute. This will result in difficulties obtaining donations from the public, government grants and corporate sponsorship. Appendix A
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