Breast Cancer: Controversial option

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TAMPA, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A breast cancer diagnosis is often followed by surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation. But one woman said 'No thank you' to all of it. Instead she opted to take an alternative path. It's a move that has cancer doctors concerned.

 

Five months in a Florida vacation home is where Pam Hoeppner put together her life story. Christmas day 2003, Hoeppner found a lump. A biopsy revealed it was breast cancer -- a disease that took her mother's life. A disease she was determined to cure her own way. It ultimately became the title of her book.

"On the drive to the surgeon's office, all I could think of in the car was the breast stays put. No chemo, no radiation, no lumpectomy, no thank you!" Hoeppner told Ivanhoe.

 

Instead Hoeppner put her faith in god and an alternative treatment called Protocel. It's sold as a dietary supplement. "A lot of people have used Protocel for cancer and have recovered from it and that's exactly why I chose to use it," said Hoeppner.

"It would be a federal felony for them to say this is a cancer cure," Nazanin Khakpour, M.D., breast oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., told Ivanhoe.

Dr. Khakpour is concerned about patients choosing a treatment based on what they read online. "If this was the answer to cancer cure, then what are we doing with all of these expensive, other medications," Dr. Khakpour said.

Erika Bradshaw, M.D., is a medical doctor who practices integrative medicine. She sees many patients confused about what treatment path to take. "Society wants a change. Society wants herbs, vitamins and they want to treat themselves," Dr. Bradshaw told Ivanhoe.

Hoeppner says dealing with doctors who didn't agree with her was very stressful. "They have the mindset there is only one way to approach this and if you do anything else, you are crazy. But this is my life," said Hoeppner.

And Hoeppner's alternative choice worked. She says she is cancer free.

But Dr. Khakpour says she has never personally seen someone cure cancer with an alternative approach. "If these individuals are reporting that they have successfully treated their cancer or illness through these ways, then we would like to see them and learn from them," Dr. Khakpour said.

Any scientific proof of success in clinical trials would go a long way to bridge the difference of opinion between the alternative and conventional medical communities.

If you would like more information, please contact:
Pam Hoeppner
Author, The Breast Stays Put
http://thebreaststaysput.com

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