CANCER/EVOLUTION Episode 1: The Dustbin of History

Director's Statement

One month after my 40th birthday I was diagnosed with terminal, stage 4 lung cancer that had spread to my left eye, my liver, a dozen lymph nodes throughout my chest, neck and abdomen, and four tumors in my brain. My prognosis of six to eight months with conventional treatment seemed optimistic. My doctors were focused on making me comfortable. I was dying. One year later I was cancer free. In that intervening year I devoted myself to studying the metabolic theory of cancer and researching the cutting-edge, evidence-based therapies that are just now being published. I contacted the heads of promising studies and was a nagging voice in their email inbox. I attended scientific conferences and met with the doctors and scientists who are shifting the cancer paradigm. I'm proud to now consider them my friends and am deeply grateful for their participation in this film. When I finally achieved no evidence of disease, coloring my overwhelming joy was burning anger that so few people are aware of these published, lifesaving treatments -- including most oncologists. It's not their fault. Current metabolic therapies involve lifestyle treatments that can't be patented and inexpensive, off-label drugs whose patents have already expired. There are no cute pharmaceutical reps to evangelize them to doctors or conglomerates paying for slick TV ads with terrifying disclaimers. Instead, there is study after study quietly published in journals some doctors probably haven't read since medical school. Unfortunately, even the doctors who are aware of this research are unable to recommend therapies that aren't FDA approved "standard of care" without risks to their practice. And, new therapies cannot become standard of care without hundreds of millions of dollars worth of trials. Trials that are not even considered unless there's a chance of recouping the millions spent. I recognize that I am incredibly privileged to have the background, education and interest that allowed me to wade through oceans of research to find this largely unknown, evidence-based approach to cancer that saved my life. Survival should not be reserved for the privileged.