The Danger of New Netflix Series ‘Apple Cider Vinegar,’ Alternative Therapies Are ‘Not Recommended’ In Place of Traditional Cancer Treatment

Following the TV mini series’ release, Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, Head of Breast Medical Oncology at Valley Health System, is warning how alternative therapies “are not recommended in lieu of traditional cancer therapies.

The board-certified medical oncologist, who previously spoke to SurvivorNet about CDK4/6 inhibitors showing promise in breast cancer patients, took to social media this week to encourage her followers to speak with their doctors when considering anything other than conventional types of cancer treatment.

She chose to speak out on the matter as the “Apple Cider Vinegar” show features a fictional Hirsch Institute which focuses on a pseudoscientific cancer treatment called Gerson Therapy, which incorporates juices, organic diets, supplements, and enemas.

What You Need to Know About Alternative Medicine

“Have you seen #applecidervinegar on @netflix?! Here are some of my thoughts on supplements, juices and coffee enemas when it comes to #cancer therapy. Let me know what you think!” Dr. Teplinsky wrote alongside a video she shared of herself offering advice to anyone who has viewed the Netflix series and are curious about alternative therapies and whether the therapy talked about in the show is “accurate.”

The footage begins with Dr. Teplinsky explaining, “Lets talk a little bit more about ‘Apple Cider Vinegar,’ so this is the Netflix show that is talking about the wellness industry, and influencers, and misinformation when it comes to cancer and one of the big premises of the show is that there is a woman with sarcoma who chooses to forego conventional treatment in favor of alternative therapy.

“In the show, they talk about this as the Hirsch method—and while the Hirsch method doesn’t actually exist, it’s very similar to Gerson therapy, which is an alternative form of cancer treatment that promotes a heavy amount of juicing, supplements, and coffee enemas, as a way to treat cancer.”

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A post shared by Eleonora Teplinsky, MD | Cancer Doctor (@drteplinsky)

Before advising her followers, Dr. Teplinsky shared a brief clip from the Netflix show, showing one of the characters revealing she wanted to do a “juice only” cleanse to fight cancer and that she had “postponed” her surgery because she believed the alternative therapy would potentially cure her and allow her not to undergo chemo, radiation, or surgery.

Another person on the show is then seen having a serious conversation with the woman considering the Hirsch therapy, saying “if you go down this path, this will kill you.”

When the video clip concluded, Dr. Teplinsky continued explaining, “So naturally, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what do we know about Grossen therapy and the bottom line is that we have no large scale, clinical trials proving its efficacy.

“Years ago, there were anecdotal case reports … and you have to be very careful with anecdotal case reports, one because we don’t really get the full picture. Someone might say, ‘I did Grossen Therapy and my cancer never came back.’ Well, maybe that person already had surgery and either didn’t need anything or they were at very low risk of recurrence and their cancer may not have come back regardless.”

She noted that with these type of anecdotal case reports “you really don’t have that information either showing the safety or the efficacy of this therapy,” explaining further that the “FDA very clearly does not recommend it’s use.”

Dr. Teplinsky continued, “Not only is it not effective as a cancer therapy, it can cause harm. The coffee enemas alone can be harmful, supplements, we don’t know how they interact … but also people are choosing to undergo alternative therapy, instead of conventional therapy, which is going to have your modalities of surgery, therapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy—remember each therapy is going to have a different treatment.

“By foregoing conventional therapy, there’s a change for that cancer to grow and spread, and to lead to worse outcomes.”

She concluded with her warning, “I really want to stress that these alternative therapies with the juicing, and the enemas and the supplements are not recommended in lieu of traditional therapies.”

As to whether there is a place for complimentary or alternative therapies, she added, “We do know that acupuncture, yoga, mindfulness, can have a tremendous role in helping us with cancer side effects, recovering from treatment, going through treatment, and there is certainly a role [this type of treatment can play in a cancer battle].

Dr. Teplinski urges anyone thinking about alternative therapies to speak with their doctors first, while also warning that the “challenge” with supplements are they they are not often regulated.

Grossen therapy, or the fictional “Hirsch” method, is “safe or effective,” she insists.

Understanding Non-Traditional Treatment for Cancer

Traditional treatment methods for cancer may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation regimens. Understandably, these treatments are not easy to deal with as they often bring grueling side effects from hair loss to diarrhea. Some patients opt for non-traditional treatments to avoid these side effects, while others bypass traditional therapy for other reasons. Examples of non-traditional treatments may include relying on herbal supplements, homeopathic drugs, or a changed diet and lifestyle.

A study published in the medical journal JAMA Oncology focused on complementary medicine, refusal of conventional cancer therapy, and patient survival. The researchers surmised that patients are more likely to die when they rely on non-traditional cancer treatments.

WATCH: Complementary Treatment

“We know that many, many patients out there are using complementary and alternative medicine, but they’re not talking with their providers about it,” says Dr. James Yu, a radiation oncologist at Yale Cancer Center who led the study.

Yu and his colleagues examined information collected from 1.9 billion people in the National Cancer Database. They found that people who chose complementary medicine for cancer treatment were more likely to be female, younger, affluent, well-educated, and privately insured.

People who chose complementary medicine were also more likely to refuse some conventional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormone therapy, Yu says. Unfortunately, these people had a two-fold greater risk of death compared with patients who did not use complementary medicine.

Yu stresses that using complementary therapies to improve patient’s quality of life should be okay as long as they do not interfere with conventional medicines and help them feel better.

Understanding What’s Valid Health Information Online

It’s important to note that patients who rely on unproven methods outside of the conventional medical realm often end up with fatal consequences; a study released by researchers at Yale University in 2017 revealed that patients with cancer who only use alternative treatments are twice as likely to die from the disease.

How can you know whether the information you read online, especially medical information, is reliable? There are a few ways:

The National Institutes of Health recommends that, as a rule, the sites you get medical information from should be sponsored by federal government agencies. Knowing who or what sponsors and hosts the website you’re reading from is important, too.

• .gov are government agencies
• .edu identifies an educational institution
• .org usually identifies nonprofit organizations
• .com identifies commercial website

Dr. Jason Westin, leader of the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma research team at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview: “Make sure if you’re finding information on the internet about something that sounds too good to be true, talk to your doctor about it.”

RELATED: Alternative Therapies: Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

“Alternative therapies” refer to treatments that people may choose in place of conventional, scientifically backed medicine. These alternative methods can range from mind-body approaches and diet and nutrition choices to supplements, healing crystals, Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine. They’re touted all over the internet, and they often sound too good to be true. And that’e because they probably are, Dr. Westin says.

It’s for a beneficial reason that these therapies aren’t used at comprehensive cancer centers: they haven’t proven themselves effective in clinical trials – rigorous studies that test treatments in the population of people they’re intended to treat. Clinical trials test new treatments for safety and efficacy; every drug or treatment approved for widespread use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has to have gone through multiple phases of clinical trials.

It’s also important to note that the validity of scientific data is determined by whether results can be repeated by other researchers, the sample size of the study and the academic credentials of the researchers and journal where the information is published.

Sometimes, the therapies or supplements you read about on the internet can be OK, and maybe even beneficial, if they’re used with conventional medicine, not in its place. These options make up “complementary medicine,” which, when used in tandem with conventional medicine, is called “integrative medicine.”

The Difference Between Integrative Medicine and Alternative Medicine

Many doctors believe in integrative medicine, so long as they remain in the loop and give their patients the go-ahead before combining anything new with their treatment. But the majority of doctors tend to be in agreement about the fact that these options should never replace conventional treatment.

Even if you aren’t planning on foregoing the treatment that your doctor prescribes as you try out something you read online, it’s absolutely vital that you talk to your doctor first. They are the only ones who will be able to tell you whether that “cancer-curing” supplement is going to interact negatively with your actual treatment. It may, for instance, cause the treatment to be less effective. Or it may wind up being harmful, or cause debilitating side effects.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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