[SteveBsjb]

Vitamin B17: cancer cure or con?
22 December 2003
Reporter: Amanda Paterson

For many terminally ill cancer patients, an alternative treatment derived from apricot kernels is believed to be the last hope. But the controversial tablets are considered dangerous in some medical circles, with Queensland health officials banning their sale in that state. Today, ACA explores the pros and cons.

Twenty-one-year-old Mark Capadona has a brain tumour. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy have both failed. He’s now too weak to speak and doctors say he’s got 6-12 months to live.

Four months ago his mother Dorothy took him to the controversial Gold Coast clinic Fountain of Life, where he was intravenously fed an alternative cancer treatment called laetrile — a very intensive dose of vitamin B17 derived from apricot kernels.

According to Dr Michael Tait, who runs the Fountain of Life clinic, patients come to him when the system says there’s nothing more they can do. For Mark, the treatment showed an unbelievable change in his aggressive tumour.

"My son’s back’s better," says Mark’s mum Dorothy. "He’s put on weight and he is stronger. Without the B17, my son probably wouldn’t be here today."

Now, Mark is walking and is strong enough to eat. He takes laetrile tablets five times a day.

But chief medical officer with Queensland Health, John Scott, claims the tablets are dangerous.

"We’re dealing with a substance which basically contains a number of poisons and the most significant of those is cyanide," he says.

The laetrile is imported from Mexico and too much of it causes cyanide poisoning. As a result, Queensland Health has made it illegal to buy them there. Dr Tait, however, argues that if it’s controlled properly, taking the tablets should only have beneficial effects.

Laurel Johnson, 67, has a tumour on the side of her face, and cancer in her breasts, lungs, liver and spleen. She’s only been given months to live. But she believes laetrile will save her.

"I don’t feel I’ve been poisoned," she says. "It’s not going to kill me any faster than the cancer is."

Laurel claims the three-week intravenous treatment stabilised her cancer. But because she lives in Queensland, it’s illegal for her to import the follow-up tablets from Mexico. So, she’s forced to crush up massive amounts of apricot kernels to get the laetrile she needs.

Since the 1970s, laetrile has been clinically trialled as an anti-cancer treatment by the National Cancer Institute, the Mayo Clinic and the National Institute of Health in the US, and it failed all those tests.

Dr Paul Mannering, from Brisbane’s Mater Hospital, believes the health improvement in cancer victims is due to the power of positive thinking.

"The only explanation for patients saying that they’re receiving some benefit from laetrile must be through the placebo effect," he says.

According to Richard Clapham, who has inoperable brain and lung cancer, if it’s all in the mind, so what? He claims laetrile is keeping him alive but like Laurel, he’s forced to get his fix from crushed apricot kernels.

While there’s much scepticism surrounding laetrile, Laurel reckons what could be potentially false hope is better than no hope at all. That is as long as you can pay the price — the three-week treatment at the clinic alone costs about $8700.

For people like Mark’s mum Dorothy, she’d be willing to pay anything.

"He’s my son,” she says. “I told him in the beginning, we’ll sell everything to save him."