Refusing standard cancer treatment like Elle Macpherson is a huge risk

Half of us will develop cancer at some point in our lives, but how many of us will be able to consult dozens of doctors and then confidently reject the advice of traditional medicine?

In a recent interview with Australian Women’s Weekly magazine, Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson revealed she did just that. She told the publication that she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago, but refused chemotherapy in favor of “an intuitive, heart-driven, holistic approach” to treatment.

According to the magazine, Macpherson pondered the decision for several weeks after consulting with “32 doctors and experts.” Ultimately, in February 2017, she decided to pursue a non-drug response guided by her primary care physician, a specialist in “integrative medicine.”

Fortunately, Macpherson is now in clinical remission, or, as he prefers to say, “total wellness.” Without knowing crucial details about the extent of his cancer, the risk factors associated with it, and the advice he has received, it is futile to attempt to assess the riskiness of his decision to avoid chemotherapy. For example, he had a lumpectomy, the initial surgery to remove a suspicious nodule, which some doctors said It might have been sufficient treatment.

However, the story has proven to be a real bolt from the blue online, provoking both a growing number of people who are wary of “conventional medicine” and those who are trying to defend it from growing attacks.

What is behind this mistrust? Some researchers point to the Covid-19 pandemic as the cause of the increase “scientific skepticism” around the world, with its heated debates over the severity of symptoms, the merits of lockdowns, and the safety of vaccinations. Even the online world of “wellness” is more and more being used as a cover for anti-scientific views and even conspiracy thinking.

For members of black and minority ethnic communities, distrust in doctors – which extends to reluctance to undergo cancer screening and even treatment – ​​reflects public health and medical institutions failure that lasted decades to engage them and ensure equality of care in many countries.

And in the UK in particular, confidence in the ability of the NHS to treat cancer has increased. fallen in recent yearswith relations of months-long delays in starting essential cancer therapies.

All of which means that if you’re diagnosed with cancer today, your options may seem less clear than they once were. Add to that the typically brutal experience of chemotherapy, and it’s no wonder Macpherson’s story about “non-drug” alternatives has generated so much attention.

But it’s worth keeping in mind that Macpherson isn’t exactly representative of the vast majority of people with cancer. With a net estimate worth $95 million, can afford to seek more than one second opinion, then refuse chemotherapy: his wealth serves as a safety net. His “ingestible wellness” company WelleCo Brandand its historic romantic ties to the Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced anti-vaccine activistthat she dated from 2018 to 2019further complicating Macpherson’s story.

For most people, refusing health care carries real risk. A 2017 study found that cancer patients who chose alternative medicine as their primary treatment had a higher risk of death within five years than those who chose conventional treatment.

A broader study published the following year on nearly 2 million people with cancer in the United States, found that use of complementary medicine was associated with refusal of conventional cancer treatments and carried a doubled risk of death within five years.

Of course, oncologists are more and more opting for the use less chemotherapy, or avoiding it altogether – reflecting new treatments, research and the awareness that targeted and personalized responses are the most effective.

But for now at least, the advice from organizations like Cancer Research UK is unequivocal: there is no scientific or medical evidence that alternative therapies can cure cancer. Amid widespread distrust of medicine, Macpherson’s report, trumpeting a positive result without crucial context, risks influencing people to take a dangerous path.

Anyone can be at risk of developing cancer, but with the enormous resources at her disposal, The Body (as Macpherson was known at the height of her modeling career) has always had a better chance of surviving than most people, regardless of her choices.

Elle Hunt is a freelance writer and journalist.