Seven years ago, I created this video after hearing about two patients who had remarkable turnarounds during “incurable” cancer rehab while taking TA-65, a telomerase activator. The two cases highlight the importance of individualizing your care and not simply signing up for the hopelessness of standard care and the false hope of experimental therapies.

Of course, TA-65 is not FDA recommended as a treatment for cancer but the unusual responses raise some interesting questions. We know that cancer may be forming continuously throughout life and that the cells are designed to kill themselves or be controlled by immunity.

Perhaps one day, we will have more precision diagnostic ability to analyze what pathways (oncogenes) are faulty in specific cells and be treated in a precise manner.

In the meantime, we should keep in mind that cancer is a complex, poorly defined, and perhaps much more common and rare than the way we currently conceive of it. Think of it as a fires in a hotel. Rarely does the conflagration burn the hotel down.

In most cases, the fire goes out, like a matchbook in an ashtray or a trash can fire (think of cell suicide by p53). In others, a fire is put out before it is even able to set off alarms (think of the immune system) . Rarely, does a fire grow out of control and require the fire department (think of surgery, radiation, and chemo).

Perhaps one day, scientists will speak harshly about the use of toxins to treat cancer because they will have the luxury of tools that aid immune surveillance and cancer apoptosis. Consider the cure of stage 4 melanoma in President Jimmy Carter by removal of the inhibition of his immune system. I refer you to this image that I adapted for my book, Telomere Timebombs: Defusing the Terror of Aging.