Can bacteria cause cancer? : alternative medicine confronts big science /

Hess postulates that bacteria may play an important role in the generation of some cancers, that research supporting this hypothesis has been actively suppressed, and that this hypothesis could point the way to new cancer therapies of lower cost and fewer side effects than current accepted treatments. The author makes some valid and important points, especially with respect to the difficulty in paying for rigorous scientific testing of unpatentable treatments. However, these points are buried alongside inflammatory rhetoric accusing an international medical-industrial-government conspiracy of actively suppressing alternative medical treatments and hypotheses. Case histories presented in support of this conspiracy theory are sketchy and sometimes biased, yet reveal a consistent pattern among their protagonists: they published few or no results, and their results (both clinical and scientific) are generally not reproducible by others. Most scientists and many readers will be put off by this book's haphazard organization, factual errors (historical and scientific), overemphasis on social theory, and the author's persistent railing against the scientific method, the scientific community, and government regulations aiming to protect the public from unlicensed medical practitioners and unproven treatments. All levels. M. Oyaski; University of Pennsylvania

With the many issues surrounding the causes and treatment of cancer, determining which cancer research theories are worthy of additional time and funding has become necessary. Hess (anthropology, Rensselaer Polytechnic) suggests a process for evaluating alternative research ideas, such as the theory that bacteria may play a role in tumor genesis and growth. The author explores the history of the bacterial etiology theory, reviews its scientific accuracy, and analyzes the impact of politics and society on the theory. Since much of the current funding goes to mainstream research, Hess has provided this case study to illustrate a method for determining credibility of alternative cancer theories. Once credibility has been established, funding can be distributed more equitably, he notes. Hess concludes with an interesting proposal on policy and budgetary reforms for cancer research. Recommended for academic and specialized health-science collections.‘Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.