Hoxsey

Hoxsey is an herbal concoction composed of Poke Root, Burdock Root, barberry root, buckthorn bark, and stillinga root. It is administered in two forms. One is taken orally and the other is a salve (containing blood root) which, if the tumor is on or close to the surface of the skin, is applied topically.

• topical paste :
  • antimony
  • zinc
  • bloodroot
  • arsenic
  • sulfur
  • talc for external treatments,

• liquid tonic :
  • licorice
  • red clover
  • burdock root
  • Stillingia root
  • barberry
  • Cascara
  • Southern Prickly Ash bark
  • buckthorn bark
  • potassium iodide

In addition to the herbs, the Hoxsey treatment now also includes antiseptic douches and washes, laxative tablets, and nutritional supplements. A mixture of procaine hydrochloride and vitamins, along with liver and cactus, is prescribed. During treatment, patients are asked to avoid consumption of tomatoes, vinegar, pork, alcohol, salt, sugar, and white flour products.

Special Precautions of Hoxsey Therapy

• The topical paste is highly caustic, and can burn or scar the skin.
• The oral treatment can cause:
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • diarrhea
  • anxiety
  • trembling
  • abdominal cramps
  • heart block
  • Pokeweed has caused deaths in children.
  • Red clover may increase the risk of bleeding for people who take anticoagulants. It also mimics the behavior of the hormone estrogen, and thus is unsuitable for women with estrogen-responsive breast tumors.

The benefits of of Hoxsey Therapy are

No peer-reviewed medical or scientific research has been published which would allow any conclusions about the effectiveness of the Hoxsey Therapy.The Bio-Medical Center in Tijuana, Mexico claims a success rate of 50–85% in their promotional material, though these figures have not been independently evaluated and the parameters of "treatment success" are undefined.Mildred Nelson, director of the Bio-Medical Center, has claimed an 80% success rate, and attributed treatment failures to a "bad attitude" on the part of the patient. The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute do not advise the use of the Hoxsey Therapy, as neither has found any objective evidence that the treatment provides tangible benefit to people with cancer.Reviews by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center found no evidence that the Hoxsey Therapy is effective as a treatment for cancer.A controlled experiment in lab mice did not find any difference in tumor growth between untreated mice and those given the Hoxsey tonic.An FDA review of 400 people claiming to have been cured by the Hoxsey method found that many of the patients never in fact had cancer, or had received successful medical treatment elsewhere before being treated with the Hoxsey Therapy. Those who had cancer at the time of the Hoxsey Therapy were uniformly either deceased or alive with active cancer. There were no cases of actual cures among those promoted as such by the Hoxsey clinic. In 1957, a group from the University of British Columbia visited Hoxsey's Mexican clinic and obtained records for 71 Canadian patients treated by Hoxsey. The University panel found that: For over one-half of the cancer patients from British Columbia, the result [of treatment with the Hoxsey method] has been either death or progression of the disease. In nearly one-quarter there was no proof that the patient ever had cancer. Nearly one in ten of the patients had curative treatment before going to the Hoxsey Clinic. In only one case, an external cancer, was there any evidence at all that the Hoxsey treatment had an effect on the disease; in that case, better results could have been obtained by orthodox means. The panel reported that in the one case of demonstrable cure, a patient with a skin cancer of the ear, Hoxsey's treatment had resulted in disfigurement which could have been avoided with standard surgical excision. In 1998, the Office of Technology Assessment issued a report on herbal cancer treatments. This group found that while many elements of the Hoxsey Therapy had antitumor activity in vitro, the complete Hoxsey tonic had never been tested in animal models or in human clinical trials. Several books on herbalism have claimed that some of the herbs in the therapy have anti-tumor effects in vitro.According to botanist James A. Duke of the United States Department of Agriculture, eight of the nine Hoxsey-tonic herbs have some anti-tumor activity in animal models, five have antioxidant effects, and all nine have antimicrobial activity that may be linked to cancer-fighting effects. Duke's assessment was that the Hoxsey tonic ingredients showed very significant chemical and biological anticancer activity. A 1994 article in the Journal of Naturopathic Medicine followed 39 patients treated with the Hoxsey Therapy in Tijuana. Patient interviews were used to confirm the existence and stage of cancer; most patients were unaware of the stage of their tumor and medical records were not available. Most patients were lost to follow-up; of the patients successfully followed, 10 died and 6 were alive at their last follow-up.Review of this study pointed out its "obvious flaws", including "the majority of patients lost to follow-up, lack of access to detailed medical records, and reliance upon patients for disease stage information"; the authors themselves regarded the results as unclear. A 2001 analysis published in the alternative-medicine literature explored the feasibility of using the Bio Medical Center's records in Tijuana as the basis for outcomes research on the Hoxsey Therapy. Of 149 patients treated for cancer at the Bio Medical Center in 1992, the authors found that less than half of these patient records contained pathology reports verifying a cancer diagnosis. Additionally, 60%–90% had already received "conventional" treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy with a possible curative effect.The authors were able to verify survival status in only 57% of the treated patients, due to lack of documentation, follow-up, and identifying information in the Bio Medical Center charts. Of the cohort of 149 patients, 11% were still alive 5 years after treatment with the Hoxsey Therapy; 46% had died; and 43% could not be located and their status could not be determined. The authors concluded that it was not possible to reliably assess the Bio Medical Center's outcomes because of the lack of documentation, limited follow-up, and failure to confirm in many cases the existence or stage of cancer.