The Breuss diet
This regime was dreamed up by Rudolf Breuss, an Austrian naturopath born in 1899. He devised a strict 42-day diet of natural juices and herbal teas that is meant to nourish the body while starving the cancer. Before his death in 1991, at the age of 92, he claimed to have cured thousands of people of a wide range of cancers that had defied conventional treatment.
As part of his Breuss therapy, Barry Sheene, 51, who has refused conventional medical treatment for his throat and stomach cancer, is drinking a mixture of organic carrots, beetroot, celery, Chinese radish and potato. As with so many cancer cures that claim a miraculous success rate, there is no scientific evidence that this diet will help the former world champion motorcyclist, who now lives in Australia.
Oncologists would be unlikely to support Sheene's decision to follow the Breuss regime instead of conventional treatment. Sarah Turner, a senior nurse at Cancer Research UK, says: "We do not recommend alternative therapies because, on the whole, there isn't the scientific or medical evidence to prove the claims they make. However, some of these treatments can provide benefits alongside conventional treatments and NHS cancer centres are increasingly offering things such as aromatherapy and massage." Turner warns that prolonged adherence to a restricted diet such as Breuss's could lead to malnutrition.
Cost: The Breuss Cancer Cure by Rudolf Breuss is available from Amazon.co.uk at £163;6.45.
Gerson therapy
This involves the consumption of forbiddingly large quantities of fruit and vegetables. Followers are expected to drink 13 fresh organic juices each day (this amounts to around 20lb of freshly crushed fruit and vegetables) and the juices should be freshly prepared and drunk once an hour - a serious and time-consuming undertaking involving a total lifestyle change for most people. Five coffee enemas a day are required to eliminate toxins from the liver.
German Dr Max Gerson developed the diet in the 1920s to treat tuberculosis. His theory is that the substances consumed on the diet will break down diseased tissue in the body. Again, despite the reams of "testimonies" on the internet, there is no scientific evidence that Gerson therapy is effective.
Cost: A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases by Dr Max Gerson (£18 inc p&p) and A Time to Heal by Beata Bishop (£11 inc p&p) are available from the Gerson Institute (01525 875739). UK Gerson therapy support group at webserve.co.uk/gerson
Moxibustion
This procedure is offered as part of acupuncture treatment. It involves the application of heat at certain "acupoints" by burning small, tightly bound bundles of herbs known as "moxa". The dried leaves are gathered from mugwort or wormwood plants. Again, there have been no independent scientific studies of the effects of moxibustion on humans. However, a recent study in Taiwan found that mice with tumours that had been treated with moxibustion lived longer than mice with tumours that had not.
The alternative therapy watchdog Quackwatch (quackwatch.com) warns that, while acupuncture can be useful in controlling some types of pain and the nausea caused by chemotherapy, it can have serious side effects if not carried out properly, and that the herbs used in moxibustion are not regulated for safety, potency and effectiveness.
Cost: Prices range from £30 to £80 for one session of treatment, which lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. More details are available from the Institute of Complementary Medicine at icmedicine.co.uk
Neural therapy
This involves the injection of anaesthetics into various parts of the body. The practice is based on the belief that energy flows freely through the body of a healthy person and that illness and disease interrupt this flow, creating energy imbalances called interference patterns that lead to chronic illness. The American Cancer Society says there is no scientific evidence that neural therapy is an effective treatment for cancer or any other disease. But the practice is popular in Germany and neural therapy fans claim that 40% of all illness and chronic pain may be caused by interference patterns in the body.
Cost: The Hufeland Clinic in southern Germany (hufeland-klinik.de) offers a range of treatments including neural therapy. Treatments, board and lodging costs €310 (£163;195) per day.
Laughter
A five-year study at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) has shown that regular doses of laughter can benefit children with cancer as well as those who have Aids. The study, the largest of its kind, enlisted the help of entertainment professionals and producers of comedy films along with pain therapists to measure the effects of laughter on both healthy and sick children. In the healthy children laughter produced a reduction in stress hormones. With the sick children laughter also produced a significant improvement in pain management and in the body's natural defences, as well as a direct response by the automatic nervous system, which can be damaged by illness. Now researchers are looking at exactly how much laughter is required to complement different forms of treatment and therapy.
Cost: Free if you can generate your own chuckles. If not, the price of amusing videos, comedy shows or whatever it takes to make you laugh.
Shark-liver oil
This is promoted as an alternative treatment for cancer because it contains alkylglycerols, which are also found in significant amounts in the liver, spleen, bone marrow and milk from humans and cows. Advocates say that alkylglycerols kill tumour cells indirectly by stimulating immune-system cells, macrophages, which attack and consume invading organisms. According to the American Cancer Society, scientific trials have found no conclusive benefits for alkylglycerols, but squalamine, another substance found in shark-liver oil, has been found to be beneficial, shrinking tumours in a variety of animals. It is currently undergoing clinical trials in the US.
Cost: Lancashire-based Nulife UK (nulifeuk.co.uk) offers 240 shark-liver oil capsules for £57.95.
The Bristol approach
The Bristol Cancer Help Centre offers a holistic programme - complementary therapies, self-help techniques, emotional support and dietary advice - that is meant to be used in tandem with orthodox medicine. It is based on the science of psycho-neuro-immunology, which examines the relationship between thought, emotion, and the body's health and immune system, and which has found links between body and mind through transmitters called neuropeptides. These are made in the brain and then travel, via the blood, to every cell in the body. It is argued that stress inhibits the immune system's ability to fight disease and that relaxation therapy can boost the body's natural killer cells.
The Bristol centre advocates a strict vegan diet that eliminates salt, sugar and refined and processed foods. It also offers art, music and dance therapy along with relaxation, meditation and visualisation.
Cost: Two-day course, £540; five-day course, £900. Details: 0117-980 9505.
Cancer salves
Also known as escharotics because they produce a thick, dry scab called an eschar on the skin, cancer salves are pastes or poultices applied to external tumours or to the skin above internal tumour sites. They contain a variety of herbs, oils and chemicals including olive oil, beeswax, pine tar, comfrey and myrrh. Practitioners claim that salves can kill cancer cells by drawing them out of the body and that they avoid the need for surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The American Cancer Society says there is no evidence that they can cure cancer and that there have been numerous reports of burns and scarring. Quackwatch warns that, although a corrosive salve could burn off a superficial tumour, the success rate for conventional medical treatment for this kind of cancer is usually 100%, with none of the damage to nearby tissues caused by cancer salves.
Cost: Variable. Some salves are home-made and passed down through generations. Cancer Salves: A Botanical Approach to Treatment by Ingrid Naiman is available from Amazon.com at $27.50 (£17.65).
