Hoxsey Herbal Treatment

It's a strange name for an herbal treatment for cancer. Yet, among respected cancer institutions, the Hoxsey herbal treatment is seen as invalid. Made up of two components, an oral tonic and a salve, it was developed by a man named Hoxsey who had no medical training. Based on evaluations done by a number of groups, it has been banned in the US. So, be wary of using it.

History of the Treatment

• Harry Hoxsey, back in the 1920, developed the two herbal treatments and claimed that his great-grandfather first came up with them back in1840. Hoxsey brought together herbs including licorice, red clover, barberry and buckhorn bark to create a tonic that he said would cure cancer. The ointment is used for external tumors, and it's said to contain blood root, zinc chloride and antimony trisulfide. As some of its ingredients are quite toxic and caustic, it has been known to burn and scar people. Currently, it's not approved for use in the United States, but it is available in Mexico.

Clinical Summary

• The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center lists a number of studies and evaluations of the Hoxsey herbal treatment on its website, and none of them found any validity to the treatment. A study by the U.S. government looked at 400 patients who took the Hoxsey herbal treatment and found that the treatment had no effect on any of them. The report, "Hoxsey Method/Bio-Medical Center," stated that the people either died of cancer, were cured by another treatment before they even started his treatment, still had cancer or had never had cancer to begin with.

  Yet another study, "Hoxsey Herbal Treatment," done by the American Cancer Society and in its Guide to Complementary and Alternative Methods, looked at 77 cases that Hoxsey put forth for review. Their conclusion was that the treatment had not been of any positive affect in dealing with their cancers.

  Then, in a report from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, a comparison was made between cancer treatments at the Livingston Foundation Medical Center, which is in San Diego, and the Bio-Medical Center that's in Tijuana, Mexico. Begun in 1992, after five years of following the patients, it was found that the Livingston Center had a 14.5 percent survival rate; while Bio-Medical had a 11.4 percent survival rate. However, the study also noted that full documentation was not available for all of the patients at the Bio-Medical facility; so the cure rate can not be confirmed.

  Based on all available information, the Hoxsey herbal treatment is not an effective cancer treatment.