Dysfunction Junction Blog

I thought this information was worthy of a post on the Dysfunction Junction Blog.

It’s that pink time of year where billion of dollars are made promoting pink products. Since my diagnosis of breast cancer 12 years ago, nothing much has changed. There is supposedly a “race for the cure”. The real question is how can they talk about a cure when they don’t understand enough about what it is they’re curing.

There are no new preventative treatments and the things that we can take as a support to our immune system during treatment are still seldom offered as part of the protocol.  The big three standards of surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy are followed.  Tamoxifen may also be a part of the treatment series and typically prescribed post surgery for those with estrogen-positive cancer.   The concern is not so much about should these drugs/treatments be used but whether they should be the only option. Yearly, there are billions of dollars being donated.  Where are the results of the studies for the origin, prevention, and safer treatments of cancer? By the time we get to a “cure”, it is often too late, and/or the person has a recurrence that is this time deemed incurable.  (This question is not exclusive to breast cancer) Let’s follow a tiny bit of the science.

Astra-Zeneca is the manufacturer of Tamoxifen.  Tamoxifen is an estrogen modulator.  Many breast cancers are estrogen positive (high in estrogen) and an estrogen modulator is given to block the receptor cells for estrogen in the breast which, in a sense redirects it to the uterus. That is a blog post in itself.

Tamoxifen was originally created as a contraceptive pill.  Because of its interaction with estrogen, they eventually found it could not be used as intended.  Well, perhaps it’s not all a loss.  Studies continued and they found a new use for the drug.  Tamoxifen was repurposed as one of the key treatment options for not only reducing the likelihood of recurrence of breast cancer but also given to some women as a preventative.

Here’s where it gets interesting, sad, and infuriating.  Astra-Zeneca is also responsible for Syngenta who makes the herbicide, atrazine.  Guess what atrazine does? It’s used in pesticides for weed control.  Atrazine is an estrogenic.  Sound familiar?  It contributes to the cancer that Tamoxifen is supposed to treat.  It has been banned in Europe for this reason.   It is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminating US drinking water.

I realize the drug companies are huge and they manufacture so many varied products with some good and some bad.  I also know that removing this one pesticide will not eradicate cancer, but it could be a start. This is just one example of how a billion dollar corporation contributes to creating the dis-ease they are also receiving money to treat.  If this continues, we’ll be running this race for a very long time.