Sailing the unknown sea of breast cancer

From January to September this year, a total of 25 client-patients (68% below age 50) were mentored by the PBCN. The youngest was 22 and the oldest was 85. They all underwent an intensive period of detoxification and nutritional healing fortified by an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the environmental causes of breast cancer.

Ages 20-29      2                      Ages 50-59      3

         30-39      6                               60-69      3

         40-49      9                               70 & up  2

                      17                                               8

       

Prior to their individual protocol, 15 had been medically diagnosed positive with malignancy while 10 only had abnormal thermal breast imaging.  The PBCN maintains that having inflammations as shown from an abnormal heat pattern is enough reason for early intervention to be able to correct and reverse the condition without invasive and toxic measures. With conventional textbook medical practice, a positive malignancy must be determined thru a biopsy before treatment is done – surgery, chemo and radiation. 

It must be understood that it takes 5-10 years before the first symptoms of breast cancer are manifested. This is a primary reason why mammography has a very high margin of error of 20% to 40% false negative and false positive. In fact, any mammogram result needs to be confirmed with a biopsy. Worst of all, even women with physical manifestations such as engorged breasts, large lumps or nipple discharge are still subjected to mammography when it is clinically clear that breast cancer can already be assumed. History taking even without any diagnostic procedure can further validate physical examination.

  

These particular cases were prevented from undergoing unnecessary surgical procedures:

A 29 y/o was spared from aggressive medical procedures in Singapore.

Biopsy of right lump of a77 y/o was avoided because her left side was more abnormal.

A 66 y/o was prevented from a mastectomy in a tertiary government hospital.

Of the 15 who had been medically diagnosed and or treated prior to contacting the PBCN, none had any understanding at all of breast cancer and all regretted having submitted to invasive and toxic treatments which made matter worse for them and their families. All lymph nodes removed from 3 cases were negative for malignancies while only 9 out of 61 lymph nodes (15%) removed from 5 cases were positive. Their lymphatic systems have now become impaired by the loss of so many clear lymph nodes.  By having been mentored by the PBCN, four were spared from surgery and chemo while seven did not anymore undergo chemo. The three who submitted to surgery and chemo sought the PBCN as a last resort because they already had recurrence and/or metastasis.

Mammogram and or biopsy only---4

Up to Surgery only--------------------8

Surgery and Chemo-------------------3    

The following cases where spared from the debilitating effects of chemo and huge expenses.

After fully completing the PBCN's protocol, 66 year old Luz was so happy that her repeat thermal imaging after just two months showed a vast improvement of her very severe inflammations after her mastectomy. Furthermore, she has not been taking any of her previously prescribed maintenance medications for her scoliosis and hypertension feels great. She and her entire family are now more than ever fully decided not to undergo chemotherapy and continue all they have learned from the PBCN.

A 44 y/o  OFW nurse methodically cut-up in Dubai for a non-life threatening case of DCIS.

An 85 y/o case who has continued not to submit to chemo since her mastectomy in 2008.

No two cases of breast cancer are the same and this is why one should not be made to routinely undergo and submit to medical textbook procedures and treatments. Harm will always be known after the fact whereas utmost precaution reduces probability of harm and complications. To err on the side of caution is always of paramount benefit to a woman's welfare and well being.

Seventeen years of dealing with breast cancer have brought about the following healing perspective.

1. Empowerment of the individual – character, attitude, purpose and spirituality are qualities which strengthen her will and determination to scale the heights of healing and wellness. She must strive to maintain peace and happiness within herself all throughout her journey.  And only by knowing and understanding the environmental causes and risk factors of breast cancer can she learn how to live with the disease.

2. Support of the individual – Family and friends are crucial in lifting up her spirit and cheer her up as she runs the marathon of her life. Though she will seek the opinion of others, she alone must decide the road to take and whatever her decision, for as long as she is fully informed, must be respected and supported. Having her follow whoever provides financial help is NOT support but pressure or even coercion.  This can be also said of health insurance which automatically decides her treatment in the guise of care and support for its clients.

3. Safe Environment – An empowered individual with all the full support around her will be nothing if she works or resides in an environment that caused her cancer or that will expose her to more  carcinogens.  In confronting breast cancer, so many hard decisions have to be made.  She may have to resign from her job, change occupation or even transfer residence.  She needs to act decisively on the external condition in her daily life to reduce, if not eliminate identified environmental factors that can cause or aggravate her condition.

4. Resources – Expenses cannot be avoided but it is totally untrue and incorrect to think that having so much money and resources can buy a cure.  Nowhere in the entire world can a cure for breast cancer be found or bought, no matter how much money one has. There are only a wide array of treatments and protocols (both conventional and alternative) that have positive and negative results.  Breast cancer would not be a controversy if there truly is a cure.

In mainstream conventional practice,  the order above is reversed where resources is #1 and the individual is last. The more money one has, the more treatments are offered while the patient is given only minimal participation because of absence of full information. She would always be asked if she would prefer this or that, but how would she ever know?

In coping with breast cancer, it is the individual who is the ultimate and final player. And this is why the PBCN was started 17 years ago and continues to exist – to mentor breast cancer warriors.   

    

HUMAN NATURE - Pink marketing at its worst!

When a woman hears the word MAMMO, what enters her mind?

Try typing the letters MAMMO in your search engine and see what comes out - Mammo, a film by Shyam Benegal released in 1994.....A "long bomb" home run as first described by Atlanta Braves career player and third baseman Chipper Jones (#10) ..........Mammo: Mammography/ Breast Imaging......or referring to the mammary gland.  Of these four, what would be the most common understanding to one's mind upon hearing the word MAMMO?

Well, there is now a self-proclaimed "pro-Philippines, pro-poor and pro-environment" passionate enterprise called HUMAN NATURE that provides personal care products in the Philippines, the United States of America and other countries worldwide. Unfortunately, it turns out that this company is anti-women and really only interested in making millions from the lucrative and huge market of women because of its corporate support and promotion of mammography.

In a message received by the PBCN on 20 June 2014 from the company's President Anna Meloto-Wilk: "MammoMe was an initiative of Kasuso Foundation and they were the ones who approached us regarding the idea. Since we are a company that believes in a healthier lifestyle and in promoting products that are safe, we think it's a great collaboration."

"The name of product itself - MammoMe - also came from the party of Kasuso Foundation and their agency. The root word "mammo" refers to the breasts, to the mammary glands, and is in no way intended to relate to mammograms."

"If you look at all our promotional materials, you will see that we heavily concentrate on instilling the habit of doing breast self exam which every consumer can do without any help from a doctor. We firmly believe this is a great way of empowering women in taking better care of their health and in knowing their body better."

"Lastly, a big part of MammoMe is helping indigent women who need financial help in getting the health care they need. A significant portion of the proceeds go to funding medical treatment for them."

Is the company into prevention of breast cancer or treatment of the disease? Are the company's products meant to prevent breast cancer or meant to augment breast cancer detection?  It proudly states that their products are 100% NO harmful Chemicals and yet they are telling women to regularly self-exam their breasts in the shower. Well, the more you consume their natural body wash product, the better for them cause most women will never feel a lump in the shower until it is already palpable. So what good is the company's campaign to fight breast cancer? There is NO such thing as early detection because it takes 5-10 years before the first symptoms of breast cancer are manifested. Furthermore, once a breast lump is felt in the shower, what next? Aha! You are to undergo a mammogram! So can  Anna Meloto-Wilk honestly insist that their product in no way is intended to relate to mammograms?

Mammo-you, Mammo-Me?  To my knowledge, this is the very first time that a company in the whole world has engaged itself in the full support and promotion of mammography! (The PBCN challenges the company to market Mammo-Me in the USA.)

One in 13 Filipino women will get breast cancer in her lifetime BUT is this meant to instill fear or should it be taken as a wake-up call for women to act on preventive measures instead of detection? To take action on eliminating the environmental causes of breast cancer such as paraben in personal care products! 

Sadly, Anna Meloto-Wilk has allowed herself to be grossly misled by vested interests of the breast cancer industry to believe that lowering one's risk of breast cancer is solely on diet& fitness, breastfeeding and monthly self-exams.  Think about this: a woman has a negative reading from her annual mammo year in and year out till one day, there is a suspicion and finally, she is said to have a malignancy. So where is prevention? Self-exams, especially mammo is just to tell you of an existing problem - not preventing it from happening.

HUMAN NATURE has to immediately change their entire campaign into breast cancer prevention - NOT breast cancer detection. They are very much in a position to do so because of their paraben-free products!  By heeding this serious and urgent concern, Anna Meloto-Wilk can now truly say that her company is Pro-Women! Meanwhile, HUMAN NATURE is just another pink washer!

PBCN Position on Senate Bills on Breast Cancer

Philippine Senate Committee on Health

Public Hearing on SBN 1873

10am, Tuesday, 20 May 2014

I am registering my strongest objection to Senate Bill No. 1873 authored by Sen. Trillanes, as well as SBN 2114 authored by Sen. Santiago and SBN 354 authored by Sen. Legarda.

Our country has had the highest increase in breast cancer incidence rate worldwide for the past 30 years, where today, is the highest in Asia and 11^th highest worldwide. One in every 13 women will get breast cancer which is a serious and urgent public health epidemic that has never been fully addressed by government. To even aggravate matters, SBN 1873 and SBN 354 will further worsen the situation by opening the floodgates, leading thousands of innocent victims to the medical-pharmaceutical slaughterhouse of slash, poison and burn.  

According to the US Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, an estimated 30% of all breast cancer cases (both invasive and DCIS) are considered to be over diagnosed and over treated. Over diagnosis is diagnosis of cancers that would not have presented within the life of the patient. Overtreatment can occur in two ways—either in over diagnosis, where any treatment is unnecessary, or with the administration of more aggressive therapies than is necessary. It has recently been estimated that one to three deaths from overtreatment occur for every one breast cancer death avoided.

Despite the PBCN’s concerns submitted during Public Hearings to both Houses of Congress since 2010, government has not taken any concrete action to curtail the most common form of cancer that has caused tremendous misery, sufferings and untimely deaths to thousands of women –young or old, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, with or without child, Christian or Muslim, urban or rural. Instead, the Department of Health and PhilHealth have even embarked on programs that have even worsened the breast cancer crisis.

In May 2011, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Cancer Society launched a medicine access program through a patient navigation scheme targeting indigent women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Health Secretary Ona said that cancer is a costly disease, with the cost of medicines and treatment way out of reach for many of our people. The scheme would provide medicine entitlements to poor and vulnerable sectors for priority disease such as cancer. Has the Senate ever looked into the progress or failure of this program?

In July 2012, Philhealth launched the Z Benefit Package, providing for P100,000 for the entire treatment for early breast cancer. But in reality, PhilHealth members prefer going to private hospitals rather than any government hospital. Majority of  patients in government hospitals seek free medical treatment but are not PhilHealth members. Has the Senate ever reviewed the progress or failure of this program?

  

Participating in above-mentioned breast cancer treatment programs were the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC), the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the Rizal Medical Center. PhilHealth also includes contracted government hospitals in each region. Has the Senate ever made an investigation on the success or failure rates of all these hospitals in their respective treatment of breast cancer?

Without knowing and validating diagnostic and treatment success or failure rates, this August Body is now intending to fund another “white elephant” in supposedly addressing a known environmental disease? Despite the fact that Philhealth has a gigantic reserve fund of Php117 Billion to fund the Z Benefit Package, why does SBN 1873 want to allocate additional funds?  Is this another Napoles scam in the making in the guise of addressing a public health crisis by exploiting breast cancer? Or is this another diversion of funds for the coming presidential elections, similar to when PhilHealth spent a large amount for TV Ads for the former PGMA in the 2004 elections?

Going back to PhilHealth’s Z Benefit Package for breast cancer:

1.      How are patients diagnosed with breast cancer? By mammograms? Is the Senate Committee on Health aware that mammography is now under extreme doubt as to whether it is truly reliable and whether mammography has significantly saved lives? Very recent studies, most notable of which was the 25 Year Canadian Study which concluded that annual mammography in women aged 40-59 does not reduce mortality from breast cancer and 22% of screen detected invasive breast cancers were over-diagnosed. In a 10 year German study, it showed that mammography did more harm and had negligible benefits.  The Swiss Medical Board acknowledged that there was no evidence to suggest that overall mortality was affected while emphasizing the harm of mammography  — in particular, false positive test results and the risk of over diagnosis.

2.      What is PhilHealth’s definition of Early Stage Breast Cancer because in its selection criteria were stated Stage 0 up to– Stage 3A?  It seems PhilHealth does not even know what early stage breast cancer is.

3.      What are the safeguards against over diagnosis and over treatment?  Many cases are of the DCIS type (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) which is non-invasive and when left untreated, will in many cases not develop into a  life-threatening disease.

4.      Why are only specific chemo drugs included in the list? Is it because they are the most effective, the cheapest or the only ones available? Worst of all is if these particular drugs are in need of human experiment or about to be phased out!  For example, Avastin was approved by the USFDA for metastatic breast cancer in 2004 only to be revoked in 2011because there was no evidence that it extended life or improved quality of life while causing severe adverse reactions. 

5.      What would be the standard treatment since medical institutions vary in their  respective approaches to breast cancer? For the same breast cancer patient, opinions vary between surgeons and oncologists and between surgeons themselves and oncologists themselves.  

  

So why then will all the above mentioned Senate Bills be enacted and funded when it is very clear that more harm than good will happen? It is imperative that our Senators conduct a deeper inquiry on WHY our country has a breast cancer epidemic and what must be legislated to truly address this public health crisis – not by seeking a cure but focusing on the environmental causes of breast cancer.       

Presently severely tarnished by the pork barrel, the Senate can possibly redeem  itself by enacting laws to protect all women from the scourge of breast cancer, a few of which are the following which will not cost a centavo:

    

1.      STOP mandatory annual chest x-rays for all government employees and make it optional for companies and schools during pre-employment and pre-enrollment. This alone will drastically reduce breast cancer because all women regardless of health status are being unnecessary exposed regularly to at least 1,000 millirads of radiation.

2.      STOP the use of hormonal contraceptives in its population control program because breast cancer is a hormonal disease. Women will not be placed at risk of breast cancer when the use of other methods such as condoms and rhythm method are encouraged instead.  

3.      STOP operations of air-water-soil contaminating industries regardless of environmental clearances - specially identified mining operations that continue to spill cyanide and mercury in the waterways of our country.

4.       STOP the use of triclosan and parabens in all productions of various cosmetics and bath soaps/shampoos among other common consumer products. A Safety Chemical Act needs to be legislated to keep our people healthy and not be at risk of developing cancer from these identified carcinogenic substances.

      Danny Meneses

      President

      Philippine Breast Cancer Network

SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION  now to junk all pending Senate Bills on Breast Cancer. We can no longer be silent!

October, breast cancer carnival month

When October ends, will the pink carnival also end? Nope, because breast cancer will continue to dominate the fear of every woman in the Philippines where 1 in 13 will get the disease. The show goes on.....

As aptly said by Rosa Francia Meneses during the 1999 World Conference on Breast Cancer in Ottawa, “The greatest risk of getting breast cancer tomorrow is being born today in a developing country. The greatest risk of not surviving breast cancer today is being a woman in the Philippines."

In the Philippines, the Department of Health has more than once embarked on major breast cancer programs since 20 years ago. None has made any major inroad as seen by the country’s registering the highest growth in incidence rate worldwide while having the 12^th highest mortality rate. Only recently, the government’s Philippine Health Insurance Corporation opened the doors to more over-diagnosis and over-treatments of breast cancer by providing treatment funds for its qualified members.

And at the legislative levels of government, no bill has been written for the prevention of this environmental disease. All bills proposed were on early detection thru mammography – clearly riding this public health issue from a medical point of view and NOT on a people’s point of view, which is “we do not want to get breast cancer!” 

Media has even made itself part of the carnival by featuring the latest treatments, even alternative ones. All the 3 major television networks more than once took contact with the PBCN for their respective features for breast cancer month. However, the PBCN saw no reason to be part of the "carnival" - the glamorization, commercialization and misinformation. Either they wanted personalities with breast cancer to attract viewers, prop up the medical-pharmaceutical industry or present early detection as a preventive measure. It was best and prudent for the PBCN no to be used as a decor or worse, to be misrepresented to the public. All were grossly lacking in research and journalism depth. I challenged them to make a powerful feature on the risks and dangers of annual chest x-rays and mammograms but I knew none would take me upon it. So don't think that all the talk on breast cancer seen on television is reliable - they will simply go through the motions with not much substance.

So who will benefit with the October breast cancer awareness month? The medical—pharmaceutical-supplement network industry! Even a supposedly conscientious company has allowed itself to be used which would likewise benefit themselves. The entire awareness blah-blah-blah will simply scare women to seek medical solutions without addressing how they got it in the first place. And why would it be important for every patient to understand her environmental exposures which led to her breast cancer? Because her daughters, sisters, relatives, neighbors and co-workers will one day also get breast cancer – not from the genes but because of environmental risk exposures!

The PBCN has been observing several patients from specific areas but not limited to Angeles City (Pampanga), Guihulngan (Negros Oriental) and Bacoor (Cavite). What is similar to all is their ground water supply which is most definitely contaminated with carcinogens from different sources.

Then as far as occupational hazards would be the high incidence rate among government female workers – specifically public school teachers. The required annual chest x-rays have only done harm by exposing their breasts to repeated radiation particularly during their periods of vulnerability.

There is no such thing as early detection. It takes 5 to 10 years before the first symptoms of breast cancer are manifested. So-called long term survivors either had no cancer in the very first place (over diagnosis) or had non-aggressive types such as DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) which was never life-threatening even without treatment.

Mammography is a medical risk factor for eventually getting breast cancer. Women are being told year in and year out that they are clear from the disease, only waiting for the time to be told, “I’m sorry Ma’m but you now have breast cancer,”

The October carnival happens every year but the tragedy of breast cancer must stop.
NO to mammography!

Triple Negative Breast Cancer

With update below

Upon the request of Desiree Jimenez-Razo (36), we traveled to Donsol, Sorsogon to address her breast cancer as well as conduct a symposium for teachers in this far-flung tourist destination.

She had undergone breast surgery two months ago and had been diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma at the Bicol Reguional Training and Teaching Hospital in Legazpi City. Though the pathology report was negative for residual tumor, all surgical margins of resection and all ten axillary lymph nodes, the immunohistochemical report showed triple negative breast cancer: Estrogen receptor negative (ER-); Progesterone receptor negative (PR-) and HER2/neu negative (HER2-). 

It is said that from 10 to 20% of medically diagnosed breast cancer cases are triple negative, occurring more often in younger women and are considered often to be aggressive with a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer. At this time, however, there is no standard medical recommendation that women with triple-negative breast cancer should have more treatment than the usual.

Ongoing studies have been looking at whether giving chemotherapy before surgery is better than after surgery. However, doctors are still developing their understanding of triple-negative breast cancer and vary in their treatment recommendations because triple negative breast cancer does not respond to hormone drugs and becomes resistant to chemotherapy. To this very day, medical science does not yet know the cause of triple negative breast cancer or the factors that initiate the process.

In my opinion, triple breast cancer is medically considered aggressive precisely because there is no drug doctors can use to address it. As if all the surgery, chemotherapy and radiation aren't aggressive in themselves! 

A school teacher since after college, Desiree (a mother of two sons, 12 & 8) had none of the known medical risk factors. She has been residing since birth at a relatively clean environment as evidenced by the "butandings" (whale sharks) in Donsol, the main tourist attraction of their less than 50,000 inhabitant community. What could have most likely caused her breast cancer - a triple negative at that?

During the symposium we conducted for teachers the day before leaving Donsol, there was another teacher who had also just recently undergone breast surgery and undergoing chemotherapy despite not having any hormone assay. Another one had multiple lumps on both breasts upon our physical examination. Two others had thyroid problems while another was already sensing breast lumps. The only common risk exposure to these teachers was the annually required chest x-rays which were done by a mobile unit from Legazpi City.   

To my knowledge, the Philippine is the only country in the world that requires annual chest x-rays on all its public school teachers regardless of their health condition, no matter that majority have no history of lung illnesses. Worst of all, even young girls entering college are unnecessarily exposed to the dangers of radiation during their vulnerable period - at a time when their breasts are undergoing formation. History taking is foremost in medical screening but both government and medical authorities in the Philippines continue to expose women to the high risks of radiation especially in the rural areas where out-dated and terribly unsafe mobile machines are being used!

Prior to coming to Donsol, we had a 50 year old patient whose latest mammogram showed a BIRADS 4 (suspicions of malignancy). This particular woman had been submitting herself to annual mammography since age 38 in the hope of early detection only to get a suspicious malignancy from the continuous exposures to radiation from mammography. No, it was not early detection but eventual affliction from mammography!  In the case of Desiree, she had underwent chest x-ray more than once within a year in two occasions for use of a relative's work application. 

Instead of looking at possible receptors to find a drug (because tamoxifen and herceptin are not for triple negative breast cancer), looking into environmental factors such as radiation exposures would be more like it! Government and health authorities must stop the practice of requiring annual chest x-rays on all female employees as well as female students entering high school and college. As for mammography, women must not submit to this high risk exposure to radiation!

The PBCN re-affirms its position that whatever type of breast cancer (triple negative or not), a non-toxic and non-invasive approach will be safe and beneficial for the patient! 

Updated 28 September 2014

Exactly two years ago, we travelled all the way to Donsol, Sorsogon for a public school teacher who underwent a mastectomy with 0/10 lymph nodes negative and diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. While we were there, we visited another co-teacher breast cancer patient but she and her policeman husband preferred to follow their doctor. She passed away six months later - most surely because of the toxic chemo she submitted to.

The PBCN is proud and happy because Desiree is a living testimony of how an empowered woman can live with breast cancer without chemotherapy. Last April, she gave normal birth to a heath baby boy and her seaman husband has jumped ship to be with her and their three sons in their simple but peaceful and beautiful town of Donsol. Keeping well and staying happy together!