Cancer experts warn of coffee enemas and juice diets amid rise in misinformation

Oncologists say patients rejecting proven treatments are dying needlessly because of increase in online ‘cures’

Coffee enemas are sometimes used by naturopathic practitioners to treat cancer and other diseases. File picture

Cancer patients are snubbing proven treatments in favour of quackery such as coffee enemas and raw juice diets amid an “alarming” increase in misinformation on the web, doctors have said.

Some are dying needlessly or seeing tumours spread as a result, oncologists said. They raised their concerns at the world’s largest cancer conference in Chicago, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco).