This ground-breaking book is likely to change the lives of people around you, maybe your own, and will probably contribute to saving many lives. It is a clearly written, highly informative and reader-friendly investigation of leading-edge holistic cancer treatments and the research on which they are based. It includes interviews with seven of the leading researchers in the field and sheds light on current biomedical cancer treatment methods – to enable people to make informed decisions about the kind and combination of treatments that will serve them best.

I have loved reading this book. It stretches from research and theory to careful descriptions of individual therapies and the practical information you need to carry them through - how to find a medical doctor with the experience to guide you, how to do procedures at home, sources of supplies, their cost, identifying which options are more affordable, how to budget and how to address the fear of exceeding one’s financial means – with the intended effect of empowering and building confidence at one of the most challenging times in anyone’s life.

Holistic cancer treatment has made huge strides over the past 20 or so years. Research into the nature and ecology of cancer, technical developments in diagnosis, production of nutritional and medicinal supplements, and technologies such as oxygen-ozone therapy have created an advanced science capable of targeting the character of the specific form of cancer and – of greatest importance – re-balancing the biochemistry and re-building the overall health of the person: advances which complement the work of successful and courageous pioneers like Dr Gerson. But this information needs to be broadcast.

In Healing Cancer the authors establish the credentials of holistic methods of cancer treatment, quoting researchers and their publications at established universities, clinicians with long experience and recorded results, and evaluations by orthodox scientists. John Boik, a research scientist at MD Anderson Research Center at the University of Texas, one of the world’s leading cancer research institutions, says that ‘crude, forceful approaches…(ie cytotoxic chemotherapy) have failed and our lessons of the last few decades have been humbling’.

People inclined toward holistic medicine who are faced with a diagnosis of cancer often feel more bewildered and frightened because of having to make a choice between orthodox and holistic treatment. Anxiety is exacerbated by the prevailing simplistic image of holistic cancer treatment as a one-fits-all, raw or semi-raw diet with some carrot juice, counselling, relaxation, healing and some other add-on therapies, and by the plethora of therapies on offer but without reliable information and guidance to select an appropriate healing programme. People just don’t know where to start. Healing Cancer sets out to fill this great need – and succeeds excellently.

Throughout, Simon and Enrida Kelly emphasise the need to tailor treatment to the specific nature of one’s cancer and to one’s constitution, and to be ‘under the supervision of a medical doctor with an interest in emerging unconventional therapies’. First, therefore, is the need to obtain an individualized cancer report, through one’s own holistic doctor or from American cancer expert Dr Ralph Moss.

Then the Kellys list a range of the most important therapies in three groups. First, the foundation therapies constituting ‘naturopathic best practice’ to support the body in smooth functioning – including diet, liver and intestinal cleansing, nutritional support, mind-body approaches, and ozone therapy. The second and third groups are specific anti-cancer therapies. In Group Two are those therapies that can be carried out at home with professional guidance – including Natural Anti-Cancer Compounds, Metabolic Typing and pancreatic enzyme supplements. Group Three contains therapies like Dr Lechin’s Neuroimmunomodulation, Dr Burzinski’s Antineoplaston Therapy, and Dr Lawrence Burton’s Immuno-Augmentive Therapy – requiring in-clinic treatment.

I have personally known people engage with such processes of healing cancer. I have seen the successes that come from the dedication of some stretch of their life to transformation and healing through relationship with a medical doctor who specializes in holistic cancer treatment (there are some remarkable and dedicated people in our midst), with therapists supporting their path, and with their own rigorous application to life changes and therapeutic procedures – Caduceus Journal has recently honoured Tony Jackson for his achievement in healing cancer in this way. I have also seen too many people who lacked information, or were misinformed (‘quackbusters’ and a sceptical media have a lot to answer for).

I do, however, have one serious caution about this book. After reading it, I was concerned that it does not mention the great pioneers, like Dr Max Gerson, Dr Josef Issels and Dr Ernesto Contreras, whose work laid the foundations for the new stage of cancer therapy - and whose methods are continuing to reverse and heal many cancer conditions, some at such advanced stages that they have been given up by biomedical doctors. Nor does it give contact information for these centres.

Unfortunately, in at least one case the book also gives misleading instructions about a therapeutic practice. The coffee enema is well known as a core part of the detoxification treatment devised by Dr Gerson. With good research evidence supporting Dr Gerson's claims, the exact procedure has to be carefully followed. However, while devoting three pages to an apparently authoritative appendix on 'How to Carry Out A Coffee Enema', the Kellys give incomplete and misleading instructions. They omit to give any, let alone the exact, proportions and strength of coffee to water; write 'eight spoons of coffee' without specifying what size spoon; write that the coffee fluid should be passed through a sieve, when it should be passed through a sieve or tea strainer lined with a layer of cloth; and advocate using a cafetiere and letting the water and grounds sit for an hour, when Gerson emphasised that simmering for 12 to 15 minutes is important to release the volatile oils.

This warning apart, I recommend Healing Cancer very highly indeed. Buy it for your own information, to give copies to friends, and to pass around so as to build a new consensus and culture of 'eloquent treatments', effective and humane holistic methods of transforming cancer.