The 60-year-old revealed her diagnosis, which she had kept secret for seven years, in her upcoming memoir.
She describes how a lumpectomy found HER2 positive estrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma, a type of breast cancer, and her doctor recommended a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and reconstruction of her breast.
Macpherson sought advice from 32 doctors and experts and eventually decided — despite concerns from her family and after praying and meditating on a beach in Miami — not to have chemotherapy, according to The Australian Women’s Weekly. The supermodel and businesswoman said she felt “the chemo and surgery route was extreme”.
Macpherson decided on “an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach” under the guidance of a doctor who specialises in integrative medicine, which combines lifestyle changes with medical treatment and complementary therapies.
In her book, Macpherson wrote: “Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder. People thought I was crazy but I knew I had to make a choice that truly resonated with me. To me, that meant addressing emotional as well as physical factors associated with breast cancer. It was time for deep, inner reflection.”
Macpherson at the time was dating Andrew Wakefield, who was struck off the UK medical register for his fraudulent study which falsely claimed the MMR vaccine caused autism.
Macpherson decided on “an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach” under the guidance of a doctor who specialises in integrative medicine, which combines lifestyle changes with medical treatment and complementary therapies.
In her book, Macpherson wrote: “Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder. People thought I was crazy but I knew I had to make a choice that truly resonated with me. To me, that meant addressing emotional as well as physical factors associated with breast cancer. It was time for deep, inner reflection.”
Speaking to The Australian Women’s Weekly, she added: “It was a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen.”
For her treatment, Macpherson rented a house in Arizona for eight months where she lived alone, “devoting every single minute to healing myself”. She also had the support of a naturopathic doctor, holistic dentist, osteopath, chiropractor and two therapists.
She said that she is now in clinical remission but prefers to call it “utter wellness”. She explained: “Truly, from every perspective, every blood test, every scan, every imaging test … but also emotionally, spiritually and mentally — not only physically.”
Macpherson received mixed reactions from her family, with her youngest son, 21-year-old Cy, being supportive of her decision because he thought chemotherapy was “a kiss of death”, but her eldest, 26-year-old Flynn, and the boys’ father, Arki Busson, were more concerned.
“Flynn, being more conventional, wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all,” she wrote. “He is my son, though, and would support me through anything and love me through my choices, even if he didn’t agree with them.”
Her former partner, Busson, also “didn’t agree” with what she was doing, but wrote to her to say “how proud he was of the courage I was showing”. She wrote: “Of course he was scared because I’d decided not to take a conventional pharmaceutical route. He considered that extreme. I, on the other hand, felt the chemo and surgery route was extreme.”
The main treatment for Breast Cancer is surgery with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted medicines, according to the NHS.
Cancer Research UK warns on their website that there is no evidence that alternative therapies can cure or control cancer and some might be harmful and cause side effects.
There is no evidence that any alternative therapies can treat or cure cancer
It goes without saying that if you are diagnosed with cancer, it is wise to stick to medical advice (writes Times Health Editor Eleanor Hayward). This usually means some combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery to destroy and remove cancer cells, based on what the scientific evidence says is best for the type of cancer.
It is extraordinarily rare for cancer to vanish on its own without medical treatment, and only around a dozen “spontaneous remission” cases are recorded in medical literature each year.
Elle Macpherson did have surgery to remove her Breast Cancer lump, but then turned down further chemotherapy and hormone therapy in favour of “holistically” treating the disease, getting help from a doctor of naturopathy, a holistic dentist, an osteopath, a chiropractor and two therapists.
There is no evidence that any alternative therapies such as homeopathy or acupuncture can treat or cure cancer. Multiple studies have found that survival rates are actually lower in patients who receive alternative therapies.
Cancer Research UK advises patients that alternative therapies “might be harmful and cause side effects” and that some “are just money-making schemes”.
The charity adds: “Therapists and companies who promote alternative therapies can cause harm by convincing people an alternative therapy will cure them when it can’t. This can be especially harmful if a person is also encouraged to give up their conventional cancer treatment.
“Talk to your treatment team first if you think you want to stop conventional treatment to try an alternative therapy. Of course the final decision rests with you. But your doctor can explain about the evidence that is available for conventional treatments to treat or control your cancer. There is no evidence that alternative therapies can cure or control cancer.”
Some alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, have been shown to help ease cancer symptoms and side effects by reducing anxiety, but they do not treat the cancer itself. There is also strong evidence to support the importance of healthy lifestyles and diets in boosting the success of cancer treatment, as this helps with overall health and the immune system.
https://archive.ph/2024.09.03-143602/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/elle-macpherson-defied-medical-advice-and-refused-chemo-for-breast-cancer-nz3wlrdn3#selection-2291.0-2435.362