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Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Quackery

Acupuncture for xerostomia: Spin, spin, spin a negative study!

Investigators at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported the results of a trial of acupuncture for xerostomia (dry mouth) secondary to radiation therapy for head and neck cancers. It was a negative trial, but investigators still tried to spin it as positive, but with a twist. There was a large difference between results found at M.D. Anderson and the second site in China. What could be going on?

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Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Quackery

Clínica 0-19 and IDOI: Not making DIPG history in Monterrey, part 5, IDOI-1

Drs. Alberto Siller and Alberto Garcia are at it again at Clínica 0-19, peddling a dubious case series touting their DIPG treatment. Let’s just say that it does not demonstrate that their treatment is better than existing treatments; i.e., not very good.

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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine Quackery

Toni Bark has cancer

Toni Bark is an antivax physician. Recently, she announced that she has cancer. She is also expressing amazement that she could get it, given her supposedly incredibly healthy lifestyle.

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Cancer Medicine Popular culture

A tourist finds breast cancer after a thermal scan at Camera Obscura. That doesn’t mean thermography works.

Bal Gill saw a hot spot on her breast on a thermal image she had taken at Camera Obscura in Edinburgh. This led her to see her doctor, who diagnosed breast cancer. Although a happy coincidence, this incident does not mean that thermography is an effective modality to detect occult breast cancer.

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Cancer Medicine Naturopathy

Pediatric naturopathic oncology: A horrifying concept

“Naturopathic oncology” is a specialty made up by naturopaths in order to justify using their quackery to treat cancer patients. A new survey takes it a step further and looks at using naturopathy to treat children with cancer, including the use of homeopathy, reiki, and restrictive diets.