It is generally agreed that regardless of the cause of cancer, a properly functioning immune system will attack and attempt to destroy it.

   Malignant cells which migrate in the lymph and blood, in order to colonize elsewhere must first survive the defense mechanism of the body's immune system and lodge in a place "safe" for them. Usually they are arrested before they accomplish this. Millions of such cells are released from the primary tumor but the overwhelming majority do not survive.

   The degree of protection afforded by the action of the immune system against abnormal cells must depend of course on the degree to which the lymphocytes and macrophages can discern the difference between normal cells and abnormal cells. They lymphocytes must be programmed to know which cells to attack and destroy and which to ignore. With different degrees ranging from slightly abnormal to very abnormal, there must be a dividing line.

   A factor complicating this otherwise straightforward state of affairs is the similarity of cancer cells to embryo cells. Embryo cells within a pregnant woman are not the same as her own body cells, and indeed are "foreign" to her immune system. The mother's immune system, however, ignores the embryo growth because the embryo cells produce a substance known as blocking factor. Thus even a transplanted fetus not of the woman's own making can survive and grow in her womb. Cancer cells, having reverted to embryo-like form, are capable also of producing a blocking factor which protects them to a greater or lesser extent from attack by the immune system.

   Thus the efficiency of the body's defense against cancer cells lies not only in the health and vigor of the white cells but also in the proper programming of the lymphocytes and the rest of the immune system by the thymus hormones. In addition, cancer cells can be destroyed by inflammation* which is a secondary immune response, but it is known that cancer patients with their lowered metabolism are incapable of producing a proper inflammatory reaction. In 1932 Professor G. von Bergmann of Germany stated: "Cancer metabolism takes place once the body is no longer capable of producing an active inflammation metabolism" (A Cancer Therapy, Dr Max Gerson).

*Hyperthermia is a procedure sometimes used as an accessory to other treatment aimed at destroying cancer cells. The entire body is wrapped and heated to increase the body temperature to fever level because it is known that cancer cells cannot endure such high temperatures. Reduction in the size of tumors can be achieved this way but of course cures cannot be.
   Inflammation cannot be simulated simply by raising the body temperature, as chemistry changes are involved as well. In real inflammation the fluid which is produced at the site acts chemically against the cancer cell in addition to the effect of the heat.

   The thymus gland relies on a rich blood supply, well oxygenated, as do all body tissues, and its function is influenced by secretions of hormones from the other endocrine glands. It has been described already how even the effect of natural light is important to proper function of the endocrine glands. If the thymus is debilitated, which it invariably is in people degenerated, stressed, or sick, the immune system becomes ineffectual.

   The majority of people are never in a condition of robust health, and the fact that the "common" cold is indeed so very common, testifies to the marginal condition of the average person's thymus. The general degeneration of the vital organs accompanied by the towered immune function which usually accompanies old age accounts for the increase in cancer incidence in the older age groups.

   The thyroid gland is also an important component of the immune system, and it is significant that cancer is most common among hypothyroid people and least common among hyperthyroid people. Thyroid suppressing drugs have been shown to increase the growth of all kinds of cancer.

   In kidney transplant operations, the immune system of the recipient must be suppressed by drugs in order to prevent tissue rejection of the new kidney. The incidence of cancer among kidney recipients then increases enormously.

   It has been found that the body organs, adenoids, tonsils, and appendix, rather than being useless appurtenances, are in fact, important components of the immune system. Although the body can get by without them, a certain degree of protection is lost. Two researchers, Dr J. R. McVay and Dr Howard Bierman, working independently, reported that cancer occurs more often in those who have had their appendix removed. One may conjecture, at the same time, that internal pollution has led to the infection of the appendix in the first place, leading then to the development of the cancer milieu. Some carcinogenic substances are conducive to cancer, not because of their influence on tissue cells, but because of their debilitative effect on the immune system. The paralyzing effect of cholesterol on white blood cells has already been mentioned.

   When cancer becomes so advanced in a patient to cause severe pain, if pain-killing drugs are employed with resultant further depression of the immune system, the cancer will advance rapidly with little hope for the patient.

   In September 1979, the Australian Federal Government, following the lead of USA, Britain and Canada, banned a number of drugs containing methapyrilene, a drug shown to be carcinogenic to animals. The drugs were tranquilizers and medicines for colds and allergies. It is interesting to note that some months earlier, in May, a letter appeared in Medical Journal, written by Dr David Horrobin, director of the Endocrine, Pathophysiological Laboratory of the Clinical Research Institute, Montreal, in which he described research with rats in which the growth of tumors was accelerated by tranquilizers. He said urgent investigations were needed in view of the very high levels of tranquilizers used in our society.

   Dr Edward Humphries, a veterinarian of the Bureau of Animal Health, also in May 1979, warned that the use of chlorine in water supplies may be lowering people's resistance to a variety of diseases. In a five-year study he had noted a link between the incidence of "Q"-fever among abattoir workers and the chlorinated water supplies in certain Australian country towns. Q-fever did not appear at all among abattoir workers in towns with unchlorinated water. Dr Humphries said that his study supported research by US cancer researcher, Dr Isiah Fidler, of the Cancer Research Center, Frederick, Maryland, who had found a marked depression of white blood cells in animals which drank hyper-chlorinated water.