My comments below apply to the paragraphs in the original text as indicated. I have included technical terminology where necessary so the reader can go and look things up for him/herself:

1. Over-simplification. A cancer cell is one that by definition has lost its ability to control how often it divides to make more cells. If its cell division is out of control then it will produce a growth that will soon be detectable. What is true is that cells accumulate damage to their proteins and DNA over time. So everyone has cells that are damaged in some way, but that have not yet become cancer cells.

2. Given that fewer people die of cancer than do not, how would you count the cancer cells if they have not produced a detectable cancer?

3. True. Natural Killer cells and cytotoxic T cells in the immune system have been demonstrated to kill cancer cells.

4. Too sweeping a statement. Cancer is a result of damage to DNA and proteins in the cell. This damage may be caused by the presence of certain chemicals in the diet (for example PAHs (polycyclıc aromatıc hydrocarbons) on the surface of chargrilled meat), but it is possible to have a good diet and still get cancer through genetic disposition (for example familial polyposis coli) and environmental exposure to carcinogens.

5. A good balanced diet is of course essential to maintain all body systems. Ä°f you already eat a balanced diet then don’t change, and you will not require any supplements.

6. True. A lot of research is being done with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) attached to chemotherapeutic agents to try and target the chemotherapy only to the cancer cells.

7. True. Which is why oncologists go to great lengths to try and localize the area to which radiation is given.

8. First part is true, but the truth or falsity of the second part depends on what type of cancer you are dealing with and in what stage of development the cancer is. Hodgkins lymphoma has very good rates of cure, as do some types of breast cancer if found early enough.

9. True. Also a lot of energy is required by the body to repair the damage it has undergone. This is why cancer therapy also includes use of antibiotics and high energy diet.

10. Cancer cells have already mutated. Radiation is itself a carcinogen so healthy cells may mutate. Cancer cells do not become resistant to the chemo- or radiotherapy, rather there is a limit to the dose of chemotherapy or radiation that can be given before the patient dies of the treatment.

11. Cancer cells, being derived from healthy cells, need precisely the same foods that healthy cells need. This is one reason that it is so difficult to target treatment to the cancer without harming the healthy tissue.

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON
a. All cells use sugar as a source of energy. It does not specifically feed cancer cells. One of the problems with cancerous tissue is that it takes a disproportionate amount of energy from the body (causing cachexia) so you could argue that if you have cancer then you need to take in more energy not less. Manuka honey and molasses contain sugars. Sugars are sugars no matter what the source.
b. This claim is absurd. Cancer feeds on materials brought to it in the blood, not mucus. There is absolutely no evidence to show that milk causes mucus production. It forms a clıngıng layer because of its texture.
c. Again this claim is absurd. Cancers thrive in the homeostatically controlled conditions of pH (scale of acidity and alkalinity) maintained by the body. The blood in fact is slightly alkaline. The pH of your diet (if such a concept actually exists) is irrelevant as your body controls its own pH. What meat contains depends on how the animal was raised. Antibiotics given to the livestock would pass into human systems, but only in minute quantities. Growth hormones, being proteins, are digested in the stomach and small intestine so cannot get into the human blood supply. Properly raised and inspected meat should not contain parasites.
d. This claim demonstrates such a complete lack of understanding of biochemistry and human physiology that even for this paragraph alone I would be sceptical this communication came from Johns Hopkins.
Again, the body controls its own internal environment at a slightly alkaline pH (7.35 - 7.45). Ä°n fact, fresh vegetable and fruit juices tend to be rather acidic, so drinking these go against the advice about ‘acidic diet’ given in c.
Enzymes are not ‘live’. They are active or inactive. They are also proteins (that is strings of amino acids joined together and folded into a particular shape). As such they are large molecules (polymers) whıch it is impossible for us to absorb. Therefore our digestive enzymes will break them into their component amino acids, thus destroying any of their activity. Those amino acids can then be absorbed by the small intestine into the blood and then can be used by the cells. However, the fact that these amino acids were derived from an enzyme is now irrelevant. Heat does not destroy enzymes, it deactivates them. But your digestive system truly does destroy the enzymes in the juice. Put simply, your digestive system breaks down all proteins whether they are fruit enzymes, meat proteins or egg white proteins. These are all made of amino acids which your cells can use.

e. Avoid caffeine if you wish. It is merely a nervous stimulant. Green tea contains antioxidant chemicals (as do most leaves) which are good to have in your diet to reduce the effect of chemicals in the diet and environment and radiation in damaging your DNA and cellular proteins. However, if you already have cancer then green tea will not help you fight it particularly. Distilled water should be neutral (pH 7), although if allowed to stand it may dissolve carbon dioxıde from the air and so become slightly acidic (pH 6.5 - 7) but still no way near as acidic as fruit juice (pH 3 - 5). This is all irrelevant anyway, as internal pH is controlled homeostatically by your body.

12. A healthy digestive system is perfectly capable of completely digesting the meat in your diet. So it is unlikely to putrefy. Any toxic chemicals in your intestines are more likely to get there in your bile. The liver attempts to detoxify certain chemicals (poisons, medicines, drugs) and excretes them in the bile. To make sure toxic materials do not collect in the digestive system it is better to make sure you have enough dietary fibre (vegetables, fruit, and whole grains). This keeps food and faeces passing constantly through the inestines and out.

13. This claim is beyond absurd, this is actually ridiculous. Animal cells do not have cell walls, and human cancer cells are no different. Digestive enzymes are located in your stomach and small intestine, and they stay there. If you have skin cancer, there is no way that your digestive enzymes are going to leave there (even if they are not being kept occupied by that pesky tough meat protein!). Natural Killer cells have their own enzymes to kill cancer cells, they do not wait for them to come from the digestive system.

14. The chemicals listed do not ‘build up’ the immune systems. Vitamins A, C and E have antioxidant properties, so help to reduce damge to DNA and cellular proteins. If you already have cancer then you are too late to use them (although they may alleviate some of the side-effects of chemo and radiotherapy). A casual look around the web indicates that Vitamin E in some situations causes apoptosis and in others inhibits it, there is not enough evidence to suggest that Vitamin E should be used as a cancer therapy.

15. Cancer is a disease of the body that has effects on the mind and spirit (which I shall take to mean character). Studies have been done to examine the effect of positive mental attitude on cancer survival and it is no better or worse than negative mental attitude. The stated effect of ‘anger, unforgiveness and bitterness’ on blood pH has not, to my knowledge, been demonstrated.

16. Rubbish. Cancer cells, like healthy cells, require oxygen to be able to respire and produce energy. Without oxygen, cancer cells cannot produce the energy which they need to to produce more cells and increase the size of the tumour. This is why some paths of research actually look at how to cut off the oxygen (blood) supply to tumours.

The original article above is a perfect illustration of why the internet should never take over the role of books in society. Publishers have to make sure their books are accurate and proofread, because otherwıse they will never sell enough books. However, it costs nothing to publish misinformation, half-truth and deceit on the internet. The danger is that because of the ease of publication on the web, this rubbish is in danger of ‘going viral’.