Cancer Treatment Centers of America

[Ranb]

I sometimes see ads on the TV for this organization. Looking at their website, http://www.cancercenter.com/ it says that they offer homeopathy treatments. They called it the usual "subtle yet powerful" stuff. Anyone ever had a friend or relative treated at one of their centers? It seems the FTC does not think highly of them.

Ranb

Edited for grammer

[clarsct]

Thanks for posting this. I have often wondered about them, myself.

I been meaning to make a thread on it.

From the commercials, it appears they try to combine alternative and real medicine, kind of trying to appeal to everyone sort of thing. Makes me suspicious.

[Ranb]

It seems like they like to include lots of other stuff like the homeopathy to jack up the medical bills. I mean, how much does it really cost to prepare those billion to one water medications and give them to a patient? Do any insurance companies cover homeopathy?

Ranb

[Psi Baba]

I'm glad someone started a discussion about this. I wonder about it too each time I see the commercials on television. The commercials have an overtone of legitimacy, but are at the same time very vague and seem to purposely target cancer patients who believe they have exhausted all treatment options and are beyond help. On one hand, at least they are not disparaging of real medicine (they seem to promote surgery and chemotherapy as the best options and actually list those first), yet it's unsettling to see them offer the "alternative" treatments as factual and equally valid. One wonders if patients are given a choice of treatments or if this place uses a shotgun approach so they can pad the bill, as Ranb has suggested, with sham treatments that don't really cost them anything. I'd be intersted to know if anyone on the forum has had any experience (even second-hand) with this outfit. Ranb, do you have a link to the FTC's opinion of them?

[Beanbag]

I think you'll find their "selling point" is that they provide the patient with a feeling of active involvement in their treatment. My personal experience with mainstream medical cancer treatment facilities is that the patient is expected to just lie back and do what they're told. No choice, no opinions from the patient allowed. Do what you're told. If you don't, you'll die. Period. Finito.


I will allow that the doctors must get tired having to go through the same process of trying to convince the patient that the treatment they prescribe is the best. After the umpteenth time, I suspect they decide to cut to the chase and go into God Mode.

My treatment involved a lot of "what are you willing to give up to stay alive?" In my case, I ended up with a serverely distorted sense of taste, pasty mouth from damaged salivary glands, a cobnstant foul, rancid taste in my mouth from the damaged salivary glands, and recently a set of multiple schlerosis-like sysmptoms that began developing from the site of my radiation treatments and have spread progressively outwards.

So I can understand the appeal (however fictitious it may actually be) of Cancer Centetrs of America. I don't buy into it, though. If the promise gives the patient the will to fight on, then in some cases I'm sure the results are worth what the woo therapy costs.

Beanbag

[Ranb]

Ranb, do you have a link to the FTC's opinion of them?

I can't find the link I looked at yesterday, but quackwatch.org is always a good place to start. http://www.quackwatch.org/02ConsumerProtection/FTCActions/ctca.html

Ranb

[Ducky]

OKay, I have read through this website. Let me stick to what I know: Multiple Myeloma.

Here is their website about MM:

http://www.cancercenter.com/multiple-myeloma.cfm

I have some problems with this:

risk factors include exposure to atomic radiation, petroleum products, pesticides, solvents, heavy metals and and airborne particles.


They also include mold/bacterial infection and certain strains of HPV. In fact, risk factors for MM are pretty much speculation at this point. We don't know enough to be definative on this. Since they quote another foundation for this info, it would be nice if they included ALL relavent information.

Then there's this statement:

You should know this because the diagnosis and treatment of plasmacytoma and multiple myeloma are different from the diagnosis and treatment of bone cancer.


You should know you have a cancer because of how it's treated? Who wrote this? It sure wasn't a doctor.

Interestingly enough the only treatments of conventional medicine that are listed is stem cell transplantation. They then jump into the woo immediately after this. No mention of radiation or chemotheraputic treatments which are shown to be effective also. No mention of Revlimid or Velcade which are two very powerful new drugs shown to shrink myeloma tumors. No mention of surgery in the case of a solitary plasmacytoma.

Unfortunately, next to the Oncologist I have, this center (based on their website) is looking rather inept. If you are going to have a web page dedicated to MM, you should be as thorough and complete with the information and treatment options as possible.


Edited to be accurate and for spelling.