New Approved Cancer Drugs Failing

Miserably
According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2012 there were 14 million new
cases of cancer diagnosed and 8.2 million cancer deaths worldwide. 1 They
anticipate the number of newly diagnosed cases will rise to over 20 million each
year within the next two decades.

These statistical trends are used to measure success of efforts to prevent or treat
cancers. Mainstream medicine relies on pharmaceutical companies to develop
toxins that may kill cancer cells and extend the life of those suffering from the
disease.

Unfortunately, cancer cells develop in unique and highly variable processes,

creating cell overgrowths that do not respond to just one or two types of
medication.

Pressured by patient advocates who want earlier access to novel medications,

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began approving cancer drugs
without requisite proof they either extend the life of the patient or kill cancer
cells.2

Meanwhile, emerging evidence indicates diets high in healthy fats, low in net
carbs and moderate in protein are ideal to reduce insulin levels, balance leptin
and ghrelin hormones, reduce obesity and even help prevent and treat cancers,
as it normalizes the underlying metabolic dysfunction.

In other words, this type of nutritional plan improves your overall health,
increases your energy level and improves weight loss efforts with a greater
proportion of the fat removed from the abdominal cavity, also called visceral fat.3 4
,

Changing your diet is often financially neutral, while cancer drugs may cost
upwards of $171,000 each year for treatment. 5

Many Drugs Don't Live Up to the Promise

In a rush to bring medications to market, many of them are not helping patients
and some are being removed. Earlier access to cancer drugs may have given
patients renewed hope, but have also increased Big Pharma's financial gains
without a parallel improvement in patient results.
Overall successes in the past decade have barely changed. According to a study
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 72 cancer
therapies approved by the FDA between 2002 and 2014 improved life
expectancy a mere 2.1 more months over older drugs. 6

Two-thirds of the drugs approved between 2014 and 2016 have shown no
evidence they extend survival. Another study reported in JAMA evaluated 18
cancer drugs, finding none helped patients live longer and only one improved life
quality by relieving pain and fatigue.7

Dr. Richard Schilsky, senior vice president and chief medical officer at the
American Society of Clinical Oncology, commented on the current drug therapies
available to patients, saying:8

"Our patients need drugs that provide the greatest possible benefit, particularly
when you put that in the context of cost. You begin to question what is the real
value of a therapy, when the benefit is small, the toxicity may be similar to a
previous drug and the cost is much higher."

Fast Approvals Pose Significant Problems for Patients

One challenge is that drugs are commonly tested on patients who are younger
than those using the approved medications. This has meant some drugs found to
extend the life of patients with liver cancer had no effect on Medicare patients
once the drug was approved.

Only 33 percent of patients in cancer trials are over the age of 65, 9 but the
median age at diagnosis is over 62.10 A study in 2015 evaluated 36 cancer drugs
approved without statistics demonstrating survival benefits.

Four years after the start of the study, only five medications demonstrated any
evidence they helped survival rates for patients.11 Lowering approval standards
doesn't benefit patients or doctors, but does fund pharmaceutical companies bent
on developing new products for a growing market.

As if these standards were not low enough, President Trump has declared his
intention to cut FDA regulations even further to speed the drug approval
processes.12 Fast approvals in the past have also resulted in medications
withdrawn from the market as they didn't help patients, and in some instances
caused harm.13

The slow pace of progress in cancer treatments using drugs has triggered the
American Society of Clinical Oncology to lower standards for medications, setting
the goal to extend life or control the growth of tumors by a mere 2.5 months. 14
However, in a study published in JAMA, researchers found that only one of every
five cancer drugs in use approved between 2014 and 2016 actually met this
already