Clinic’s cancer therapy criticised

A CLINIC claiming its therapy can stop cancer from growing or spreading by using the patient’s own white blood cells has been severely criticised by the Irish Cancer Society.

“There is no clinical need for this therapy,” said the society’s information services manager Sonya Bowen.

The cells are taken from a patient and then frozen so they can be re-infused at a later date if the patient becomes ill. The private Irish Centre for Integrated Medicine (ICIM), which is offering the service, claims the treatment can be used to boost a patient’s chances of surviving cancer.

The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) has pointed out that ICIM is not actually authorised by it to conduct immune therapy.

However, the State’s drug policing body said that the centre had arranged to lease a room to a separate British-based company authorised by the IMB to provide the service. Staff from the company in Britain will fly over and provide the service and the collected blood is then sent to the British company to be processed and stored for future use.

ICIM managing director Felipe Reitz said the centre, based in Johnstown, Co Kildare, planned to introduce the new therapy early next year. “Research shows that the system licensed to ICIM can stop, control, or suppress processes that permit cancer growth and can prevent cancer cells from spreading to other parts of the body,” he claimed.

Mr Reitz said it would cost €420 to have the white cells extracted from about half a pint of blood from a healthy person and a further €25 a month to store the cells. He said the cells would be kept in three different locations, for security reasons. Mr Reitz, who previously worked as an acupuncturist in London, said the white blood cells had a shelf-life of about 20 years and could be used to cultivate many more.

But Ms Bowen said the treatment was not backed up by clinical trials. She was also concerned that the centre was attempting to take advantage of people anxious to protect their health. “People should not feel alarmed and under pressure to sign up for the treatment being offered by the centre,” she said.

Anyone worried about any aspect of cancer prevention can call the Irish Cancer Society’s freephone number — 1800 200 700 — or email [e-mail].