Cancer Industry

"Cancer Industry" is a commonly used term among alternative medicine practitioners and writers when criticising organizations, corporations, and practitioners advocating evidence-based medicine to guide cancer treatment. Organizations cited as belonging to the 'Cancer Industry' include the Food and Drug Administration, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society, and the National Cancer Institute, as well as any and all cancer-related charities (particularly the Pink Ribbon campaign [cite book | last = King | first = Samantha | title = | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | date = 2008 | month = May | isbn = 0-8166-4899-9] ). Proponents of the term allege that the Cancer Industry only researches patentable chemicals and synthetic drugs and represents the interests of pharmaceutical companies, while actively preventing research into "natural", plant-based and non-patentable treatments, [cite book | last = Moss | first = Ralph W. | title = The Cancer Industry, New Updated Edition | year = 1996 | publisher = Equinox Press | id = ISBN 1881025098] , alternative medicine [ [http://www.naturalnews.com/001590.html Cancer Industry Spreads Fear and Disinformation To Scare People Away From Learning About Alternative Treatments for Cancer on the Internet] ] , and mainstream immunotherapy approaches [cite news |first=Mark |last=Thornton | title=Black Wednesday at the FDA | work=The Wall Street Journal |page=A16 |date=2007-05-14 | url=http://www.curesarcoma.org/homepage/may07/Black_Wednesday_WSJ_5.14.07.pdf | accessdate=2007-07-08] .

Dr. Samuel Epstein alleges that the American Cancer Society is economically motivated, and that this reflects a conflict of interest, specifically with regard to the mammography, pesticide and drug industries. [ [http://www.preventcancer.com/losing/acs/wealthiest_links.htm The American Cancer Society: The World's Wealthiest "Nonprofit" Institution ] ] The National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration have close links, the former being a large research agency with a stake in the FDA's regulatory decisions - in one criticised example, in 2005, Andrew von Eschenbach stepped from a position in the FDA to become Commissioner of the NCI. [cite journal | title = In need of rehab | journal = Nature | issue = 437 | pages = 789-790 | date = 2005-10-06 | issn = 0028-0836] .

The term "cancer industry" has also been used to refer to the "products, research, markets and companies" of which it consists [" [http://www.allbusiness.com/medicine-health/diseases-disorders-cancer-prostate/5167141-1.html World Cancer Market Yearbook 2005] "] .

References

External links

* [http://bcaction.org/index.php?page=politics-faq#Q1 Breast Cancer Action - What is the Cancer Industry?]