Hoxsey Therapy
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Hoxsey Therapy is a naturopathic regimen believed by its proponents to cure or mitigate cancerous growths. Also known as the Hoxsey Method, it is primarily practiced by the Bio-Medical Center in Tijuana, Mexico. The American Cancer Society has stated that "...There is no evidence that the Hoxsey herbal treatment has any value in the treatment of cancer in humans."[1]
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[edit] History
The Hoxsey Method is an herbal cancer remedy that is not considered seriously by the American Medical Association. Harry Hoxsey, a non-medical vaudevillian, and a radio personality, Norman Baker, marketed a mixture of herbs in the 1920's with the claim of curing cancer. Hoxsey himself traced the invention of the treatment to his great-grandfather, who observed a horse with a tumor on its leg cure itself by grazing upon wild plants growing in the meadow. John Hoxsey gathered the herbs and mixed them with old home remedies used for cancer.[2][3]
Harry opened a clinic in Taylorville, Illinois for the sale and use of his treatment, one of 17 that he would eventually open. Dogged in many states by legal trouble for practicing medicine without a license, Hoxsey frequently shut down and reopened the clinics in new locations. At one point, he claimed thousands were treated with his therapy.
In 1936, Hoxsey opened a clinic in Dallas that became one of the largest privately owned cancer centers in the world. In 1949, Hoxsey sued the Journal of the American Medical Association and its editors for libel and slander after the journal called him a fraud. Hoxsey won the case, but the judge awarded him only $1.
The Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of the Hoxsey herbal treatment in the United States in 1960. Hoxsey was also forced to close all of the clinics in the United States. In 1963, one of Hoxsey’s nurses set up a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. Just before her death in 1999, the clinic was taken over by her sister and still operates today.
In 1967, Hoxsey developed prostate cancer and his own treatment failed to cure it. Because he failed to respond to his therapy, Hoxsey underwent conventional surgery.[4] He died seven years later in 1974.
[edit] Treatment
Hoxsey herbal treatment includes a paste of antimony, zinc and bloodroot, arsenic, sulfur, and talc as external treatments, and a liquid mixture of licorice, red clover, burdock root, Stillingia root, barberry, Cascara, prickly ash bark, buckthorn bark, and potassium iodide for internal consumption.[5]
In addition to the herbs, the Hoxsey treatment now also includes antiseptic douches and washes, laxative tablets, and nutritional supplements. A mixture of procaine hydrochloride and vitamins, along with liver and cactus, is prescribed.
During treatment, patients are asked to avoid consumption of tomatoes, vinegar, pork, alcohol, salt, sugar, and white flour products.[2]
[edit] Side-effects
- The topical paste is highly caustic, and can burn or scar the skin.
- The oral treatment can cause:
- Pokeweed has caused deaths in children.
- Red clover may increase the risk of bleeding for people who take anticoagulants. It also mimics the behavior of the hormone estrogen, and thus is unsuitable for women with estrogen-positive breast tumors.
[edit] Controversy
Very little peer-reviewed research has been completed to study any claims of therapeutic benefits from the Hoxsey Therapy.[4] Records from the Bio-Medical Center claim that the success rate of treatment is around 80%. A study by the Office of Technology Assessment found that some of the component herbs have anti-tumor properties.[6] A non-peer-reviewed study found that biochanin A, found in red clover (an ingredient in the Hoxsey method), inhibits carcinogen activation in cell cultures in vitro.[7]
The Hoxsey Method is not supported by the American Cancer Society or National Cancer Institute, as neither have found objective evidence that the treatment provides any tangible benefit to cancer victims. A controlled experiment using lab mice did not find any difference in tumor growth between untreated mice and those given the Hoxsey tonic.[8] The FDA investigated 400 people claiming to have been cured by the Hoxsey method and found no indication that any had been cured by the mixture.[3]
[edit] Notable cases
The treatment gained wide press coverage in 2006 due to a court dispute between the family of Starchild Abraham Cherrix and Social Services of the State of Virginia. Cherrix has requested to undergo Hoxsey Therapy to treat a recurrence of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Because at the age of 16 he is still a minor, Social Services has considered the parents to be negligent and seeks to have Cherrix undergo conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. On August 16, 2006, Circuit Judge Glen A. Tyler announced that both sides had reached an agreement stating that the parents did not act in a way that was medically neglectful. In addition, it stipulated that Starchild would be treated by an oncologist of his choice that is both board-certified in radiation therapy as well as interested in alternative methods to treat Hodgkin's Lymphoma.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Hoxsey Herbal Treatment, from the American Cancer Society. Accessed 23 Feb 2007.
- ^ a b Fink JM. Third opinion: an international directory to alternative therapy centers for the treatment and prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases. 3rd ed. Garden City Park, New York: Avery Publishing Group Inc., 1997:41-42.
- ^ a b Janssen WF. Cancer quackery: the past in the present. Semin Oncol 1979;6(4):526-535.
- ^ a b Hafner AW, editor. Reader's guide to alternative health methods. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: American Medical Association, 1993:128-130.
- ^ Spencer JW, Jacobs JJ. Complementary/alternative medicine: an evidence based approach. Toronto: Mosby, 1999:142.
- ^ Diamond WJ, et al. An alternative medicine definitive guide to cancer. Tiburon: Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., 1997:829.
- ^ Tyler VE, Foster S. Tyler's honest herbal. New York: Haworth Herbal Press, 1999:316,72.
- ^ CA (Anonymous). Hoxsey Method/Bio-Medical Center. CA: a Cancer Journal for Clinicians 1990 Jan-Feb;40(1):51-55.
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/16/cancer.teen.ap/index.html
[edit] External links
[edit] Promotional
- The Hoxsey Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico
- Hoxsey.com - Links to Information Online About the Hoxsey Herbal Therapy
