THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

Q. I have a relative who is thinking of going to Mexico for the Hoxsey treatment. What do you think?

A. Harry Hoxsey was a colorful character who promoted external and internal cancer treatments from the 1920s on. The external treatment contained arsenic trioxide as well as some herbal substances. Despite what the American Medical Association said, there is little doubt it was sometimes effective on these external tumors. The internal treatment was a mixture of various herbs.

Despite furious controversy, neither treatment has been scientifically tested. A recent survey by Mary Ann Richardson of the University of Texas showed that of 149 patients treated at the Bio-Med Clinic in Tijuana during a three-month period, 52 died and 64 were not available for follow-up. Of the remaining 33 who still had active phone numbers, 17 were alive more than five years later, while the remainder had died. This yields a five-year survival rate of 11.4 percent following this treatment (17/149). This is moderately impressive. However, we do not know how many of these patients had limited cancer when they began the treatment, or what other treatments they employed.

Since the death last year of Mildred Nelson, Harry Hoxsey's long-time nurse, the clinic seems to have lost its spirit (or so it seemed to me when I visited last February). I would not recommend it for your relative, or anyone else, although I would reconsider if further research showed the method to have validity.

There is a chapter on the Hoxsey method in my book, Herbs Against Cancer, which you can order by clicking here.

In addition, Moss Reports clients can ask questions directly to Dr. Moss's associate, Anne Beattie by emailing her at TMRAnne@aol.com.

If you have questions about purchasing a Moss Report for a particular kind of cancer, you can call our office at 718-636-4433 or you can order your Moss Report BY CLICKING HERE via our secure order form, and ask your question in the box provided

Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is director of the The Moss Reports for cancer patients. Dr. Moss is the author of eleven books and three documentaries on cancer-related topics. He is or has been an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Urological Association, Columbia University, the University of Texas, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the German Society of Oncology. He wrote the first article on alternative medicine for the Encyclopedia Britannica yearbook. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in the East, and Who's Who in Entertainment (as a film documentarian). This Web site does not advocate any particular treatment for cancer. We urge you to always seek competent medical advice for all health problems, especially cancer. Before consulting our site please read our full Disclaimer statement.

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