A minority of sufferers reject mainstream approaches but go on to use them when the disease progresses. However one study found that death rates were higher among those who used alternative medicines alongside orthodox treatments. Cancer sufferers often try anything that might improve their chances of survival.

When film star Steve Mc Queen was diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer, he refused chemotherapy and turned to dentist William Kelley. Mc Queen was treated with fifty daily vitamins and minerals, massages, prayer sessions, psychotherapy, coffee enemas, and an injection from a cell preparation made from sheep and cattle fetuses. He died in 1980 from a heart attack following surgery to remove more tumors.

Given the general assumption in complimentary and alternative medicine that anything "natural" is good, many alternative treatments come from the natural world.

Shark cartilage is a popular anti-cancer "remedy". Since the recommended dose can be as many as twelve capsules three times a day, it's an expensive option when a hundred capsules sell for as much as $35. The shark cartilage business is worth more than $5 billion a year. The man behind it was Dr William Lane, who reasoned sharks don't get cancer because sharks have a high percentage of cartilage. As cartilage doesn't contain blood vessels, Lane decided it could prevent the formation of a blood supply to solid cancer tumours. But in fact sharks do get cancer.

Other alternative remedies include aloe vera, bee venom therapy, feng shui, kombucha tea, red clover, Siberian ginseng and vitamin K. But there is no scientific evidence that any can cure or influence the disease. In fact, there are fears that some supplements may interfere with the action of orthodox treatments, making them less efficient or dangerously toxic.

Alternative medicines strands patients and their families in a state of denial and prevents them from adjusting to the realities of the situation. It is the one last, quiet crime against those suffering from the disease.