To generally improve your long-term survival prospects you should ideally follow the 5 "Rs" of Cancer Recovery:

(Full details in Dr P. Quillin, Beating Cancer with Nutrition. See Bibliography)

An anti-cancer diet is one that is as close to nature as possible, without additives and undue processing. Eat 5 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables daily, unless you have advanced cancer; in which case, veer towards 5 portions of vegetables and low fruit. (The fruit sugar can feed the cancer). Do not fry food. Grill or steam. Avoid red meat, and meat in general if possible, unless game, or organic. Eat fish, oily in particular, such as mackerel, herring, wild salmon and tuna and sardines. Avoid smoked foods. Eat dairy foods in moderation. Do not exceed 40 grams of protein a day. More than this will severely tax the liver's detoxification systems, and promote conditions favourable to cancer. However, if you are suffering from a hormonal cancer, such as Breast or Prostate Cancer, you would be very strongly advised to give up all dairy produce altogether, including beef, with the possible exception of organic eggs. A very compelling case for a direct causal link between milk and its products, and breast and prostate cancer, has been made, after a scientific review of all the evidence to date, by Professor Jane Plant, herself a remarkable survivor of 5 recurrences of advanced breast cancer (see Bibliography. Professor Plant's book also tells you how to make the dietary changes necessary.) Keep the total percentage of fat in the diet below 25%, if possible, (do not exceed 30%). Understand that there are good fats and bad fats. The only oils you should use in cooking are cold-pressed olive oil, canola oil and a little butter, and for salads, olive oil, sesame, flax, pumpkin, walnut and hazelnut oils. Discard all other oils, and margarines. Avoid hydrogenated fats in biscuits, cakes, crisps etc. These fats actually block the keys which enable your body to utilise essential fatty acids, or good fats. (95% of the population are deficient in essential fatty acids). You can improve your good fat intake by supplementing with 3000mg or more - up to 5000mg daily of fish oil, or 2/3 tablespoons of flax. These contain Omega-3 fatty acids which have been demonstrated to retard the progress of cancer quite significantly and help prevent cachexia, the wasting associated with cancer. A good fish oil supplement, which also includes omega-6 fatty acids, is Eye-q, manufactured by Equazen. It comes in capsules or liquid. Website: www.equazen.com

Add soy products to your diet, on a daily basis. These include soy sauce, miso soup/paste, tofu, tempeh, soya milk and yoghurt; the latter two, and tofu, are excellent dairy substitutes. However, it is strongly advisable to avoid soy in over-processed forms, such as TVP, "mince", burgers, sausages etc. The processing involved actually adds high levels of carcinogens – nitrosamines – and toxic metals to such soy products. Apart from lowering cholesterol and being an excellent source of protein, soy contains isoflavones. Isoflavones are anti-angiogenic, that is they can interfere with the process by which tumours establish a life-line and grow. Drink Miso broth, or make miso soup daily (see recipes), particularly if you are undergoing radiotherapy. According to Japanese research, miso contains a chelating agent which can remove heavy metals and radioactive matter from the body. Miso is said to have protected doctors working at Ground Zero in Nagasaki from radiation sickness. For further protection from the side effects of radiation, post-therapy, make frequent use of seaweed in soups, salads, casseroles, dips etc. Good seaweeds to try are Icelandic Kelp, Nori, Arame, Hiziki, Dulse, Wakame. Juicing, if you can do it, (see Max Gerson, A Cancer Therapy, and Leslie Kenton, Juice High), is a wonderful way of really concentrating good nutrition in an easy format. But if you are losing weight rapidly, purée instead. The best kind of juicer, if you can afford it, is one such as Vitamix, which does not strain out essential fibre from fruit and vegetables (see Resources section).

Wherever possible, eat organic produce. Do not add sugar or salt to food. Avoid coffee. Drink plenty of water, mineral, or filtered, green tea without milk, (to avoid inactivating the therapeutic ingredients) - a November 1999 letter to Nature Medicine suggests that drinking about 4/5 cups of green tea daily may slow metastatic tumour growth by up to 50% - ; herb teas, such as Pau D'Arco, Essiac, Cats Claw, Dandelion etc, and diluted fresh fruit juices, or better still concentrated fresh vegetable juices. The best complete nutritional supplement to take is Dr Quillin's Immunopower, (see Resources section), and high dose vitamin C powder, throughout the day in water or juice, 10 grams or more, to tolerance. (Tolerance = diarrhoea. Step dose down a bit if this occurs, or use a buffered form of C, such as "Ester-C" or Magnesium Ascorbate.) Immunopower contains everything known to science to affect cancer, in the correct dose, largely in powder form, and is cheaper than pills. It has been specially formulated for cancer patients, and considerably simplifies the business of taking dozens of different supplements.Order it today!

The above dietary guidelines are derived from a scientific consensus on how diet impacts on cancer prevention, treatment and recurrence. They have major health implications. If, however, you really want to hone the dietary approach, then having a suitably trained physician determine your individual biochemical profile or "metabolic type", is the optimal choice. Metabolic typing looks at the performance of your autonomic nervous system, and, depending on its balance or bias, (towards sympathetic or para-sympathetic dominance), tailors the diet to compensate accordingly. Thus, although rare, there may be certain individuals who are actually more likely to thrive on a diet high in red meat in cancer, like the Eskimos. Dr Nicholas Gonzalez in New York (see Doctors Directory), is a prime exponent of this approach. Ayurvedic Medicine also does its own brand of metabolic typing (see Resources section).

Studies have shown that a weight loss greater than 6% of normal weight at the time of cancer diagnosis significantly affects survival for the worse. For many common cancers it has been established that this adverse effect of weight loss outweighs the possible good impact of conventional treatment such as chemotherapy. So it would make sense not to panic and rush into treatment. Instead, sort out your nutritional status and weight problems first and then proceed. You will not only weather the treatment better: your odds for survival will go up. Here is a battle plan: -

1. Take Immunopower and High Dose Vitamin C.

2. Use Dr Quillin's "Dragon-Slayer" shake recipe daily, (see recipes), with medium chain triglycerides added, to counter wasting. Coconut butter is a good source of MCTs. (P. Quillin, Beating Cancer with Nutrition, Nutrition Times Press, Tulsa, O.K., p93).

3. Take 5000mg daily of fish oil: Higher Nature Omega-3 Fish Oil 1000, or 4/5 tablespoons of Omega Nutrition Flax Seed Oil in shakes. Keep in fridge, to prevent rancidity. (Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to significantly counter wasting, in part because their anti-inflammatory actions block Tumour Necrosis Factor, and Interleukin 6, hormones of the immune system over-expressed in cancer, which promote metabolic breakdown.)

4. Eat as often as you can. A small, regular intake is preferable to nothing. If you have zero appetite, distract yourself while you eat: listen to music, read, watch a video. You may have to consider eating as an exercise in willpower for a time. Purée rather than juice. If at all possible, try and eat slightly more than you are normally used to. This is to compensate for the fact that in advanced cancer your resting metabolic rate (i.e. rate at which you burn calories and consume energy), is actually elevated significantly above average. Hence the rapid wasting. If eating alone is not enough to maintain y our weight stable, then you may need pharmacological help (see below: 8 and 9).

5. Use Slippery Elm - glucose free - as a drink to settle your stomach and Silymarin to improve liver function.

6. Avoid Glucose Rich Total Parenteral Nutrition (intravenous feeding). This feeds the cancer more than it feeds you. Moreover, overfeeding of glucose/dextrose combination in TPN formulae can lead to liver and respiratory problems. A Harvard doctor, George Blackburn, who has studied nutrition in cancer for several decades, offers the following conclusions, after an extensive review of clinical trials with TPN in cancer. TPN in cancer is used to improve fitness, metabolic status and body composition, (and therefore quality of life). Most symptoms of malnutrition in cancer can be prevented by properly administered TPN, using a tailored prescription of macronutrients and micronutrients. If the need for TPN arises, show your oncologist the table in Dr Blackburn's article.

"The high dextrose content of conventional TPN formulae should be minimized, and instead a portion of the calories should be supplied by approximately 30% lipids, including a minimum of no less than 4-6% Omega-6 fatty acids and some Omega-3 fatty acids, now known to counter wasting in cancer."

This is appropriate as, whereas tumours depend largely on glucose for energy, the cancer patient’s metabolism is adapted to fat as a primary fuel.

"In the absence of fluid restriction, the average semi-stressed cancer patient requires approximately 30 - 35 ml of fluid per kilogram per day. Electrolyte (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate), mineral and vitamin requirements for patients with cancer are essentially the same as patients with non-malignant disease."

"The provision of TPN during chemotherapy should be reserved for those patients with hypoalbuminemia, (low blood albumin score, a good index of malnutrition), or weight loss greater than 10% who are responsive to prescribed dose and schedule of chemotherapy."

On the other hand, "among patients receiving bone marrow transplants, those who cannot eat for a prolonged period, particularly if they are severely malnourished, may benefit from TPN."

It has also been demonstrated that TPN "administered with insulin (1 mU per kilogram of body weight per minute) results in improved skeletal muscle protein synthesis and whole-body protein net balance compared to TPN alone."

However, you should note that as a general rule TPN used indiscriminately in cancer does not confer significant survival benefits, probably because, being invasive, it offers a route for blood-borne infections. It can nevertheless be a useful adjuvant therapy to salvage patients out of bad, malnourished states, in the absence of alternative feeding routes.

Ideally, if it is simply physically impossible for you to eat, or if your doctors and/or attendants judge this to be the case, then it is a matter of the utmost urgency to start Enteral Nutrition, naso-gastric tube feeding, which is far safer than Total Parenteral Nutrition. If necessary, your surgeons may also institute Parenteral Nutrition through percutaneous gastrostomy – a feeding tube placed directly into the stomach through the stomach wall, when the oral route is blocked, - or feeding jejunostomy – a surgical permanent opening directly into the small intestine. Enteral Nutrition can also be done at home. In skilled hands, a naso-gastric tube can be inserted in minutes, and will enable a regular effortless supply of good nutritional support. The ideal formula should again be low in glucose, specifically Dr Blackburn’s. However, if this is unobtainable, Novartis’ Impact in Enteral Nutrition format, is a good second best, that has been extensively tested on cancer patients with improved outcome. The critical thing to remember is that if you can stave off cachexia or wasting, your cancer will find it much harder to get the upper hand. So it is important to take early preventative action in this respect, and be on guard.

7. Snack on high protein things, such as nuts, spirulina bars, oat cakes, brown rice crackers.

8. Advanced cancer causes a profound systemic derangement in all aspects of the body's metabolism. This means that even intensive nutritional therapy may not be enough to halt wasting and promote healing at this stage. Prospects are best when such therapies are combined with approaches that put a major spoke in the metabolic derangement wheel the cancer spins. If possible, lower tumour burden by surgery, or other means that do not destroy the immune system. (See IV Vitamin C Therapy/Phototherapy etc). Then add one of the two following strategies:

If your cachexia, or wasting, is aggressively active, consider a course of Hydrazine Sulphate. This drug, which has been the subject of a number of studies since the 1970s, including trials by the US National Cancer Institute, has been demonstrated to improve appetite, and weight gain, and both halt wasting, and sometimes tumour growth, by interfering with the availability of "new glucose" in the liver, which tumours ferment as their source of energy. The dose used in most studies is 3 x 60 milligram tablets daily for a month. Thereafter after a break of 2 to 6 weeks further courses can be taken. Side effects are minimal and hydrazine sulphate does not appear to cause bone marrow depression, unlike most chemotherapeutic agents. However, please note, hydrazine sulphate should not be administered to patients taking alcohol, barbiturates, anti-depressants and antipsychotics. The combination can cause dangerous falls in blood pressure. If you need any of the above drugs and hydrazine sulphate, discuss appropriate substitutes with your doctor.

9. If you cannot take Hydrazine Sulphate because you genuinely need the above listed drugs, an orthomolecular alternative to consider is Insulin. Cancer patients, particularly in the late, wasting stages, are usually insulin resistant. Thus giving extra insulin makes sense because it has been shown to reduce production of new sugar in the liver, just like Hydrazine Sulphate, and reduce protein breakdown, which results in muscle wasting. Monitoring blood glucose levels may be a good way of determining cachexic activity. They are usually abnormally high if cachexia is present.

10. Another agent which may be of use is Megestrol Acetate, a progestational steroid (a synthetic hormone that mimics the action of progesterone in pregnancy, to store fat). A number of trials with this hormone have demonstrated appetite improvement and weight gain not only in advanced breast cancer but in AIDS patients as well. It is thought Megestrol Acetate may work by influencing metabolism of fat stores in the body, so that more fat is stored or conserved, instead of being broken down and oxidised to fuel the excess energy production in cancer. Male patients whose cachexia or wasting results in part from low hormone status, may also benefit from testosterone supplements. (Obviously, prostate cancer would be a contra-indication to this).

11. If you are depressed and receiving pharmacological treatment for this, you should be aware that the following drugs reduce appetite and weight and may thus be working against you: Amphetamines, and their analogues including phentermine, phenylpropanolamine; norepinephrine uptake inhibitors; fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine; several seratonin uptake inhibitors, including fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft); sibutramine (Meridia). On the other hand, there are drugs for depression, known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors, e.g. amytryptiline (Elavil) and lithium, which can make some individuals increase in appetite and weight. These may be an option, if you are truly dependent. But, in general, we do not recommend any of these drugs.

12. As malnutrition sets in with advanced cancer, levels of albumin in the blood fall steeply. (Normal levels are in the range of 3.1 – 4.3 g/dl, but ideally you should be above 3.7 g/dl at least). Albumin is produced by the liver and is the chief protein found in blood, acting as a key antioxidant, detoxifier and transporter of important nutrients. Intravenous infusions of albumin can be dangerous, due to the dramatic alterations in blood volume they cause, so they are not a good option for boosting albumin. Japanese research however suggests that the algae, chlorella, which is rich in albumin, and a power-house of other nutrients, may be a good supplement to use at such times. (A study has shown a 30% rise in albumin in 68% of malnourished elderly people who took 6 grams a day of chlorella for 6 months). Monitoring the rise and fall of blood albumin has prognostic implications for survival and recovery and vice versa.

(See Bibliography: Getting Well Again by Dr O.Carl Simonton, ESSENTIAL READING II).

Cancer is stressful. There is evidence that stress can contribute to its genesis. Given the connections between mind and body, stress can almost certainly exacerbate the disease. Learn a relaxation technique and practise it daily, up to three times a day, for 20 minutes at a time. Meditate. Or do something you really enjoy, daily. Join a yoga class, or stay at home and try one of the excellent yoga videos available, such as Jane Fonda's Yoga Exercise Workout. This will teach you good breathing and relaxation techniques. Good breathing will calm you and give you energy.

Since mind can undoubtedly alter matter, learn to visualise yourself better, according to the Simontons' suggestions (see above). Try regular massage. Do more things for fun. Find someone you can discuss your health problems with on an ongoing basis. Join a cancer group for mutual support and encouragement. If financial matters can be arranged accordingly, do only as much work as gives you interest and pleasure, concentrating your primary energies on your all-important health goals, for the time being. Remember: if you do not survive, there will be no-one to do your job anyway. Try to avoid the temptation to drown your anxieties in a frenzy of unproductive activity which may accelerate the very thing you fear as a consequence! Are the issues which you think demand your time, energy and attention really important in absolute terms? If not, drop them, at least for now. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Live in the present. Consider the lilies....

At least 3 times a week, or more, for a minimum of half an hour at a time, ideally in the fresh air. The simplest thing to do is to walk. If you have the energy, walk briskly for half an hour at a time. If you can do more, try alternating brisk walking with running, then walk, then run. Apparently this is what the Roman Army did to conquer the world! However, be careful never to overdo it. Never push or exhaust yourself. Work within your limits, however modest these may be.

The main thing is to choose a form of exercise you like and can do easily, and at home if necessary. Try putting on music and dancing; rebounding, (mini-trampolines); swimming; tennis; golf. Start slowly, and build up. Stay with it. Exercise gives you energy over time. If aerobic, it raises "endorphin" levels - the pleasure hormones - and therefore counters depression. It oxygenates your body properly, and, since cancer cells are anaerobic, they hate oxygen. For this reason, breathing exercises are also beneficial, and can be done even when exercise is impossible. If you are not in great pain and/or discomfort, you can do the following even whilst bed-bound:

Sit in a comfortable armchair, lounge on a sofa, or lie on the floor/bed. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and let it go. Feel all your tension and tiredness flow out with the breath, feel it drain down and out through your limbs, feel yourself growing warm and very heavy all over. Sink into the ground or chair. Now work round your body and feel each part grow warm and very heavy, feet to knees, thighs, lower back, chest, arms, head. Drop/relax your jaw. Feel your forehead smoothen. Now go round again tightening groups of muscles, as hard as possible. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds then release and relax. Repeat this several times till you feel really free of tension. Finish with a good cat stretch. Go back to what you were doing. Repeat the exercise as needed. This is good also last thing at night.

Knowing you are seriously ill can generate huge amounts of anxiety, which can in turn result in persistent insomnia. Insomnia is a major stressor and will deplete you of much needed rest and energy. Good sleep is essential for healing. Yet, sleeping tablets are undesirable in the short or long term. They can leave you feeling hung-over and add to the burden your liver already has to deal with in cancer.

The orthomolecular answer to insomnia is Melatonin, your body's own sleep-regulating hormone. Melatonin can become deficient as you age, or under stress. So taking a synthetic version of this makes sense from time to time. (We stress synthetic because animal-derived melatonin can be full of impurities and other undesirable components). Melatonin is available on prescription or can be bought direct from the U.S. (see Suppliers section). The standard dose is 3 mg. But scientists who have done much work with melatonin suggest that individuals with very high anxiety levels or entrenched insomnia may need higher doses. It is best to start on the standard dose and experiment if necessary. You need to work with your body clock, so take melatonin between 1 to 2 hours before sleep, from 8 in the evening onwards. If you need a higher dose, take it in 2 sessions: say 3 mg at 8 o'clock and 3 mg at 10 o'clock. (We do not recommend you go beyond 5/6 mg a night unless advised to do so by an expert medical practitioner.)

Melatonin has worked miracles where all else has failed. It seems to make sleep more restful and refreshing, making it easier to get up. It can be safely taken for long periods of time, is a natural anti-oxidant and, some authorities believe, has some anti-cancer actions.

To fully reap the relaxant and calming benefits, try to expose yourself to bright light and fresh air in the morning, in combination with regular exercise, such as walking. If your problem is really bad, you should also practice daily relaxation exercises.

This can range from removing all your mercury alloy fillings to removing other excess heavy metals from your system by chelation therapy, which can be oral, - vitamin C in high doses and miso soup/homeopathic drops - or in severe cases by intravenous injection of a "mop-up" chemical called EDTA, which you excrete in urine along with the heavy metal burden; coffee enemas, whether or not you follow the Gerson therapy. (These actually stimulate the liver's detoxification systems. See pages 190-1 of Max Gerson's A Cancer Therapy for the "recipe". Coffee enemas are especially important at times when there may be rapid tumour breakdown due to therapy, to avoid a sometimes lethal syndrome known as tumour lysis.)

Hot baths, in particular, using Dead Sea Salts; low temperature saunas - max. 98-102 degrees F, and skin-brushing or lymphatic drainage. (See Leslie Kenton's Ultrahealth for the latter). Skin brushing should be done for 5 to 10 minutes daily before a bath or shower using a natural bristle brush. Make firm strokes all over your limbs and body, always working from the extremities towards the heart. Skin brushing not only removes toxins from the upper layer of skin, it mobilizes sluggish lymph and brings fresh blood to the skin. WARNING: Saunas are not advisable for anyone with high blood pressure or heart disease, as well as those on heart-affecting chemo drugs such as Adriamyacin. If in doubt, check with your doctor. We also recommend you do not take your saunas alone.

If you are overweight, try and get as near your ideal weight as possible. The reason for this is that toxins of all kinds tend to be stored in body fat, so the less excess fat you have, the better detoxified you will be. Following the cancer diet is a good way to lose weight gradually because this diet regulates blood glucose very efficiently, and blood glucose regulation is the key to weight loss and stability.

Avoid obvious sources of pollution: tap water (filter it!), passive smoking etc. Give up: smoking, alcohol, drugs, "recreational" and otherwise (e.g. anti-depressants), unless really essential, coke, coffee and SUGAR. Cancer is a "glucose-obligate" disease. It feeds on sugar, and breaks down muscle to turn it into sugar and fuel its energy needs. Sugar also depresses the immune system. Try the Liver Detox Plan, Xandria Williams, (Vermillion, London, 1998). Herbs which are especially good for liver detoxification and stimulation are milk thistle or sylimarin, dandelion, ginger, turmeric and goldenseal. (The only counter-indication to the latter is gallbladder/bile duct problems including cancer of the gall-bladder).

Environmental pollution can be worst in your own home! In a pollution survey done of 6 major American cities it was found that air pollution was 200% worse inside buildings than in the open air. The source of much of this, apart from air and water, are the many carcinogenic chemicals in the everyday products we use, from talc, saccharine in toothpaste, cosmetics, "air fresheners", to cleaning fluids and powders, as well as synthetic carpets. If you want to depollute your home substantially, consult The Safe Shopper's Bible, (Macmillan, 1995), by Dr Samuel Epstein MD, Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Chicago. Dr Epstein maintains that the explosion in cancer incidence statistics in the last 50 years - 45%+ -, for which tobacco only accounts for one third, is probably due largely to the extensive environmental pollution caused by industry. This pollution extends to the things we eat, and more insidiously, particularly if you are a woman, the things we put on our skin. Skin is a highly absorbent organ and, contrary to what the cosmetic industry will tell you, traces of anything put on your skin can usually be found in the bloodstream. Many antiperspirants, perfumes, soaps and creams routinely contain known carcinogens. (Coal tar soaps and shampoos notoriously so). Lanolin, a standard moisturiser, is often contaminated with Lindane. Liquid paraffin, a base for many moisturisers, is an undesirable petrochemical derivative. Ditto Vaseline.

Malignant Melanoma, skin cancer, is on the increase (like most other cancers), particularly amongst women. Increased exposure to sun, without adequate protection, particularly amongst fair-skinned people, - freckle skinned redheads being most at risk, - is undoubtedly the major cause. However, bearing in mind that men are probably less likely to use sun block than women, the marked difference in incidence of skin cancer between the sexes might also suggest that it is women's habit of routinely slathering creams and cosmetics on their skins, many of which contain known carcinogens, that accelerates the carcinogenic impact of UV radiation on the skin. For this reason alone it is worth changing to a range of totally natural, plant based additive/pollution free skincare. There are various ranges, for example the Dr Hauschka Skincare range, and Aveda organic plant based products, which include cosmetics, deodorants, bath products, nail and haircare, where the only preservative used is alcohol. For addresses see Resources page.

Check your general health. Tackle allergies, candida etc. As secretions of stomach hydrochloric acid decrease as you grow older, it would be wise to check your levels of this, to ensure good absorption of the nutrients needed to fight cancer. Otherwise you may not get the full benefit of your nutritional therapies. A gastrogram, or Heidelberg test, should reveal whether you need to take an HCl supplement. Contact the Medical Biolab, or Health Interlink Ltd, or ask your doctor, for further information.

You should also consider taking a daily supplement of good bacteria such as Lactobacilli bifidus to recolonise that often missing in the intestines due to courses of antibiotics, chemo, poor nutrition etc. A healthy population of "good" bacteria is essential for balanced digestive function.

Electro Magnetic Fields from electrical currents are increasingly being associated with cancer incidence. Sources of EMFs which you may wish to lessen your exposure to, in generally detoxing your home, are: hair dryers, electric blankets, vacuum cleaners, computers, TV, kitchen appliances, mobile phones and electrical outlets behind the head of a bed. If you live near power lines, consider re-locating.

Wean yourself off any unnecessary drugs: sleeping pills (see Insomnia); tranquillisers; anti-depressants etc. You should find this easier as you implement the new, health-giving lifestyle changes discussed in this Guide. Dr Charles Simone, an orthomolecular oncologist, who treated President Reagan, also suggests you take drugs only when prescribed by a doctor, in case of real necessity, and that you should then check to see if the drug interferes with vitamin function and supplement accordingly. If drugs are an addiction, get professional help. (See book on Addiction in our Bibliography)

If you are unhappy, or unfulfilled, try and change your life. Do not be afraid if you think the changes needed are radical, such as divorce. Try and do what you have always wanted to do. If you need professional help, try Jungian psychotherapy, or join a cancer group. The Tavistock Clinic, (120 Belsize Lane, London NW3 5BA, Tel: 0207 435 7111 may give you a local reference.) Do not neglect the spiritual aspect of life: we are not here to live for ourselves alone. If you have no faith, and have never given such matters thought, you will find religious teachers everywhere whom you can approach freely for guidance. Do what you can to resolve conflicts: make peace with yourself and others.

If you follow the above, you will not go far wrong. The newly-diagnosed cancer patient is usually swamped with conflicting information and does not know what to think, or where to begin. The 5 Rs of Cancer Recovery and Survival have a good deal of science behind them; they incorporate the natural laws of good health. If you want to try additional therapies and approaches you will be safest if you keep to things which are natural and non-toxic, or of low toxicity.