The prince and the professor

Editor—The crux of Baum's argument seems to be that the Prince of Wales should not be advising people to embrace “unproved” therapies.¹ Baum seems to take particular exception to the Prince of Wales's recent show of support for the so called Gerson therapy, a cancer treatment based on vegetable juices and coffee enemas.

The Gerson therapy is unproved in that it has not been subjected to systematic study. Whether it is of broad benefit to cancer patients is simply not known. Was it so wrong for the Prince of Wales to call for more study in this area? But, even before the evidence is in, Baum seems to dismiss nutritional therapy out of hand and describes the experience of patients with cancer who are apparently cured by it as an “urban myth.” So far as the potential benefits of a treatment are concerned, absence of evidence does not necessarily mean evidence of absence.

Baum's views on naturally oriented cancer treatments seem to be based not on scientific objectivity (as he seems to assert) but prejudice. It is perhaps ironic that he indirectly cautions the Prince of Wales about letting his personal beliefs prejudice his advice.

A strong subtext in Baum's letter is the notion that conventional cancer treatments are based on sound scientific ground. But is this really so? Chemotherapy is often recommended for several types of cancer for which there is no clear evidence of benefit. Currently, cancer affects about one in three of the population and kills one in four. These bald statistics mean that the great majority of people diagnosed with cancer will die from it. This is hardly a ringing endorsement of conventional cancer treatment.

The dawn of the information age and a rising desire for self empowerment mean that, like it or not, people are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the principles, practice, and politics of medicine. More and more, it seems, they are growing cautious of conventional medicine and “expert” opinion. I suspect Baum's views will do little to restore people's faith in these things. Varman congratulates the professor on having the courage to point out that the emperor has no clothes.² Perhaps he might like to clarify which emperor he is referring to?