‘Could this be the day the World changes (for people with cancer)’

The title of this blog post was by health author, Jerome Burne, taken from his blog on the Yes to Life website (i). The title makes a big big claim - but I think it really could be one of those moments in history. On 12th February, at a specially put together Yes to Life online forum with three panels of cancer experts (Scientists, Clinicians and Patient Experts) and an invited audience of some 200  cancer specialists, a new way of thinking about cancer was proposed.

Mark Lintern presented his findings that have resulted from eight years of intensive research into the origin and mechanisms of cancer. He had been hugely frustrated by the lack of understanding he encountered when dealing with his own and a friends cancer. It drove him to explore more - in what has been described as a ‘Herculean’ effort, he has come up with findings that could lead to an enduring change in the direction of cancer care, to potentially prevent cancers and to lead to groundbreaking new treatments.

In another blog by Jerome, 'Revealing the Dark Matter of Cancer’, he sets out to share the approach and how it came about. It is very worth a read: https://healthinsightuk.org/2023/04/12/revealing-the-dark-matter-of-cancer/

Cancer is widely regarded as a genetic disease. Mark, like many of us who have looked at the causes of cancer, couldn’t understand how changes to DNA were supposedly random and just the result of bad luck. Indeed these are the very words my oncologist used when I was diagnosed. It just didn’t sit right. One of the problems is that there are around 1,000 genes that can become cancerous when mutated, and it typically takes at least two different mutations within these cells for cancer to grow. That means there are a million potential mutation pairs, and it becomes hopeless to narrow down the possibilities when seeking new treatments.

There are other theories of cancer but the one that many integrative health professionals seem to favour (at least until now), is the metabolic theory. This approach looks at the abnormal energy use of cancer cells.  See a good description of the metabolic theory at: https://foundationformetaboliccancertherapies.com/metabolic-cancer-therapies and Prof Thomas Siegfried talking about this approach: https://youtu.be/APwnkpD_BfI

New paradigm

Mark looked at all this and info that seems to have been overlooked from other medical fields and he suggests that cancer can be caused by multiple factors that can trigger the infectious process of an opportunistic pathogen. There is effectively a battle between the pathogen, the cell and the immune system. A victorious immune system can remove the tumour. 

One of the ways of assessing new theories about cancer is how many of the so-called hallmarks of cancer – the changes a cancer makes to a cell – the theory can explain. This new pathogen theory comes out top. It can account for 9 out of the ten, more than both the genetic or metabolic approaches. Of course, Mark is now keen to see his theories tested, but already the reception from this first meeting to these ideas has been very positive.

Find out more

Mark Lintern shares his story of 8 years’ research into the mechanisms and origin of cancer in 6 Health Radio shows with Robin Daly, Chair and Founder of Yes to Life: 

https://yestolife.org.uk/radio_shows/through-another-lens-part-1/

Cancer Through Another Lens - Professional pre-release version

https://www.yestolifeshop.org/product-page/cancer-through-another-lens-professional-pre-release-version

Update 29.09.23: I liked this article as an additional perspective on cancer: https://www.anhinternational.org/news/opinion-cancer-as-a-survival-and-healing-mechanism/

Note

(i) https://yestolife.org.uk/could-this-be-the-day-the-world-changed/