Cancer Health Center

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The Gerson Research Organization published a retrospective survival analysis of their melanoma patients treated with the Gerson approach, which was compared with published survival data according to stage. The analysis showed a survival advantage for melanoma patients with stage IIIA disease and stage IV disease with no visceral metastases, who were treated with the Gerson approach.[7] However, there has been no report of a prospective clinical trial confirming the findings of this retrospective analysis.

The study looked at records of 153 patients with stage I-IV melanoma treated with the Gerson diet. Of the 14 stage I-II patients, all were disease-free at 17 years posttreatment; however, this number was too small for a statistical comparison with other cohorts. For stage III patients, the 5-year survival rate was 71% compared with rates of 27% to 42% reported in the literature. The stage IV patients had the largest survival advantage. The 5-year survival rate for these 18 patients was 39%, compared with 6% in the published literature. The analysis did not include 53 patients who were lost to follow-up, which could have influenced the survival comparisons.[7]

A small best-case series [8] suggests that the evidence presented supports the development and conduct of a more definite clinical study on the Gerson regimen.

No conclusions about the effectiveness of the Gerson therapy, either as an adjuvant to other cancer therapies or as a cure, can be drawn from any of the studies reported above.

References:

1. Gerson M: A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases and The Cure of Advanced Cancer by Diet Therapy. San Diego, Calif: The Gerson Institute, 2002.
2. Gerson M: Effects of a combined dietary regime on patients with malignant tumors. Exp Med Surg 7 (4): 299-317, illust, 1949.
3. Gerson M: Dietary considerations in malignant neoplastic disease: preliminary report. Rev Gastroenterol 12: 419-25, 1945. Also available online. Last accessed September 22, 2010.
4. Gerson M: The cure of advanced cancer by diet therapy: a summary of 30 years of clinical experimentation. Physiol Chem Phys 10 (5): 449-64, 1978.
5. Austin S, Dale EB, DeKadt S: Long term follow-up of cancer patients using Contreras, Hoxsey and Gerson therapies. J Naturopathic Med 5 (1): 74-6, 1994.
6. Lechner P, Kroneberger L Jr: Experiences with the use of diet therapy in surgical oncology. Aktuel Ernahrungsmed 2 (15): 72-8, 1990.
7. Hildenbrand GL, Hildenbrand LC, Bradford K, et al.: Five-year survival rates of melanoma patients treated by diet therapy after the manner of Gerson: a retrospective review. Altern Ther Health Med 1 (4): 29-37, 1995.
8. Molassiotis A, Peat P: Surviving against all odds: analysis of 6 case studies of patients with cancer who followed the Gerson therapy. Integr Cancer Ther 6 (1): 80-8, 2007.