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Pancreas Cancer Web

Whether you've just received a cancer diagnosis or were treated years ago, you are likely to benefit from a visit to www.cancerdecisions.com. This Web site is run by Ralph Moss, PhD, author of six books on cancer treatments, including Questioning Chemotherapy and Cancer Therapy: The Independent Consumer's Guide to Non-Toxic Treatments and Prevention. There is a wealth of good, free information on this Web Site in the form of Dr. Moss's speeches and his columns for the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients.

For ten years, Dr. Moss has been selling customized reports designed to help people who want to know the full range of options before they decide on a course of cancer treatment. The latest treatments are described, as well as the non-toxic alternatives. In between are the doctors who are pushing the frontiers of standard treatments. What makes a Moss Report so unusual is the extensive research that goes into it. There is a section on doctors and clinics, including those outside the U.S., providing what Dr. Moss calls "innovative care." He visits them regularly and offers his take on the validity of the treatments and quality of the care.

For those who strictly adhere to the standard cancer treatments but want non-toxic therapies to alleviate side effects or stave off a recurrence, there are plenty of ideas. For example, there is an herbal treatment that may help the dry mouth caused by radiation therapy to the head and neck. Dr. Moss provides citations to the supporting research throughout his report.

The sample report reviewed for this article was done for someone with salivary cancer. It provides a good critique of the evidence for the standard treatments for each stage of this cancer. For example, Dr. Moss says that radiation therapy for stage II salivary gland cancer may reduce the local recurrence rate, but it is unclear whether it increases survival. There was little in this 517-page report, however, that is specific to salivary cancer, especially where it concerns non-toxic therapies. When Dr. Moss is able to single out a non-toxic therapy with some scientific validity, he is usually referring to its use for the more common, solid tumor cancers like those of the breast, colon, prostate, and pancreas.

Most of the information in this report addresses the help people typically need, no matter what form of cancer has been diagnosed. "How to" is the theme. How to evaluate the claims for a chemotherapy regimen (distinguish between "responses," "remissions," and whether it will help you live longer); how to make your way through the system; how to decide whether to participate in a clinical trial; how to choose a cancer specialist; how to cut down the odds of a recurrence with supplements and healthy food choices.

A Moss Report costs $297.00 plus shipping. Web site visitors can sign up for a free newsletter by e-mail. People without Internet access, can call the toll-free hotline 1(800) 980-1234.

Maryann Napoli is the associate director of the Center for Medical Consumers in New York City.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Center for Medical Consumers, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group