“My standpoint is that a tumour is the product of the organism and to be really cured, the power to produce the same must be eliminated, got rid of; cutting it off merely rids the organism of the product, leaving the producing power where it was before, often the operative interference acting like pruning a vine, i.e., the tumour-producing power is increased and the fatal issue is brought nearer.”
— Dr. James Compton Burnett

After I started my practice, I had quite a few cases of cancer coming my way due to my study of the Iscador Therapy for Cancer. Since the use of Iscador is rather expensive by Indian standards, especially since it involves long-term use, I always offer my patients the choice of treatment: either Homoeopathy along with Iscador, or just Homoeopathic medicines.

This was a woman, 66 years of age, who came to me in 2001. In 1994, she had been diagnosed with carcinoma of the ovary with endometrial cancer, which is a cancer of the lining of the uterus. She had undergone a hysterectomy and chemotherapy. In 1996, she developed peritoneal metastases for which she was again operated open and had 3 cycles of chemotherapy. She then remained free of symptoms and monitored the CA-125 tumour marker counts twice a year. She decided to take Homoeopathic treatment because of a steadily rising CA-125.

She came to me with a count of 10.00 U/ml which was well within the normal range (upto 35 U/ml) but had steadily risen from 4.3 U/ml in the previous year. Apart from the cancer and its treatment, she had suffered from typhoid when young and had undergone a coronary bypass surgery in 1996. Her father had died of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) and several of her 6 siblings had heart ailments.

She enjoyed a good appetite, ate quite fast and suffered from hyperacidity if she had to remain hungry. She drank about 2.5 litres of water everyday. She loved sweet things, fruits, ice cream and chocolates. Curd (yoghurt) gave her acidity. She passed motions daily but felt mentally and physically uneasy if she were constipated even for one day. She was always constipated when she was away from home. She had profuse sweat which would occasionally leave a white powdery deposit on the clothes. She slept more on her right side and had sound sleep. She was rather chilly and disliked the fan or A.C. She couldn’t remember her dreams.

Her menopause was at 51 and did not remember having any problems then apart from an increase in irritability. She had been pregnant 5 times, had one pregnancy terminated and one child had died at the age of one. She said she had no interest in sex right from the beginning. She was scared of lifts. She was very fond of perfumes but said that she developed a skin allergy to perfumes occasionally.

For protecting her identity, I will not divulge details of her family situation. She was a talkative woman, very strong-minded. She used to come to the clinic with her husband and it was obvious who wore the pants in the family. She wept very easily and often wept in my clinic while narrating her problems and was much relieved by consolation. She was emotionally very expressive and held a grievance against her husband for not being so and giving her no attention. She was also easily angered and she always wanted things going her way. She had hasty speech and was impatient. She enjoyed cleaning-up and was particular about her things. She enjoyed partying, socialising, dressing-up; she was particular about her appearance and wanted attention from everyone around her. I noticed she was haughty with the clinic staff. She was careful with money to the point of being stingy and wanted a reduction in charges even though she could well afford the fees. She loved travelling and enjoyed doing embroidery when at home. She was a shrewd woman and did not trust others easily. Her greatest grief was the death of one of her children.

My first prescription was that of Lachesis but it did her no good; 2 months later when it was time for the CA-125 count again, it had shot up to 19.70 U/ml.

Since the constipation while travelling was a prominent physical symptom (and it didn’t fit Lachesis), I reviewed her case once again and chose Platina. I repeated Platina about twice a month and inbetween gave her the Bach Flower remedy Holly three times a day. About once in 2 months, a dose of Carcinosin was given. She did well on this regime and 6 months later, the CA-125 levels were down at 7.50 U/ml. She was relieved and so was I.

I kept her on this regime, gradually having increased the potency of Carcinosin, with some placebo treatment off and on. The counts were being monitored and the CA-125 levels were steady at around 4 U/ml. She is now no longer being regularly treated for the cancer, but once in a while, if she wants medicines for an acute problem, she contacts the clinic.

Many of my cancer patients have been treated with only Homoeopathy since Iscador was too expensive for long-term treatment. Many cancer patients arrive for treatment rather late in the course of the disease and by that time, only palliation is possible. Some decide to take Homoeopathic treatment and Iscador only after completing the Allopathic treatments of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. In most of these cases, this delay proves expensive as the disease usually progresses and the patient’s vitality is also much reduced following strong chemical treatment. It is advisable for cancer patients to begin Homoeopathy and Iscador treatment along with conventional treatments so that no time is lost. Homoeopathy and Iscador can also help in keeping side-effects of conventional treatment to a minimum.