Refusing standard cancer treatment like Elle Macpherson is a big risk

Half of us will develop cancer in our lifetime. But how many of us can visit dozens of doctors and then confidently reject the advice of conventional medicine?

In a recent interview with Australian Women’s Week Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson revealed that she did just that in an interview with The 40 Years of Cancer magazine. She told the magazine that she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago, but turned down chemotherapy in favor of an “intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach to treatment.”

According to the magazine, Macpherson considered the decision for several weeks after consulting “32 doctors and experts,” and finally decided in February 2017 to pursue non-drug treatment under the guidance of her primary care physician, a specialist in “integrative medicine.”

Fortunately, Macpherson is now in clinical remission – or, as she prefers to put it, “complete health.” Without knowing crucial details about the extent of her cancer, concurrent risk factors and the counseling she has received, it is pointless to try to assess the risk of her decision to forego chemotherapy. For example, she had a lumpectomy – the first surgery to remove a suspicious lump – which some doctors say may have been sufficient treatment.

Nevertheless, the story has proven to be a lightning rod on the Internet, provoking both the growing number of people who distrust “conventional medicine” and those who want to protect it from increasing attacks.

What’s behind this mistrust? Some researchers cite the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for a global rise in “science skepticism,” with its heated debates about the severity of symptoms, the merits of lockdowns, and the safety of vaccines. The online world of “wellness” is also increasingly being used as a cover for anti-science views and even conspiracy theories.

Black and ethnic minority people’s distrust of doctors – to the extent that they are reluctant to undergo cancer screening and even treatment – ​​reflects decades of failure of public health and medical institutions to respond to them and provide equitable care in many countries.

And in the UK in particular, confidence in the ability of the National Health Service (NHS) to treat cancer has declined in recent years, with reports of months-long delays in starting key cancer treatments.

All of this means that your options today when you are diagnosed with cancer seem less clear-cut than they once were. Add to that the often brutal experience of chemotherapy, and it’s no surprise that Macpherson’s story about “non-pharmaceutical” alternatives has attracted so much attention.

It should be remembered, however, that Macpherson is not exactly representative of the vast majority of cancer patients. With an estimated net worth of $95 million, she can afford to seek multiple second opinions and then refuse chemotherapy: her wealth acts as a safety net. Her “edible wellness” company WelleCo and her historical romantic ties to disgraced anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield, whom she dated from 2018 to 2019, further complicate Macpherson’s story.

For most people, refusing medical treatment is a real risk. A 2017 study found that cancer patients who chose alternative medicine as their primary treatment had a higher risk of death within five years than those who chose conventional treatment.

A larger study of nearly two million cancer patients in the United States published the following year found that the use of complementary medicine was associated with the rejection of conventional cancer treatments and led to a doubled risk of death within five years.

Certainly, oncologists are increasingly choosing to use less chemotherapy or to avoid it altogether, due to new treatments, research and the awareness that targeted, tailored interventions are most effective.

But for now, at least, the advice from organisations such as Cancer Research UK is clear: there is no scientific or medical evidence that alternative therapies can cure cancer. Given the widespread distrust of medicine, Macpherson’s narrative – which proclaims a positive result without providing crucial context – risks misleading people down a dangerous path.

Everyone is at risk of developing cancer, but thanks to the enormous resources at her disposal, “The Body” – as Macpherson was known at the height of her modeling career – always had a better chance of survival than most people, regardless of her decision.

Elle Hunt is a freelance writer and journalist.