Elle Macpherson. Photo: Felix Hörhager / DPA / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP
Supermodel Elle Macpherson's remarks about her holistic approach to cancer are misleading, dangerous and could have tragic outcomes, New Zealand experts and survivors say.
In an interview to tie in with the launch of Elle: Life, Lessons and Learning to Trust Yourself, a part memoir-part-self-help book, Macpherson revealed she had intraductal carcinoma cancer seven years ago, underwent a lumpectomy, and was now in remission.
The wellness company co-founder wrote about refusing conventional medicine, including chemotherapy, radiation and a mastectomy. Instead, she told the Australian Woman's Weekly that she sought the advice of 32 doctors and experts and opted for "an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach".
The model and mother of two, who turned 60 earlier this year, admitted in the book that this path was not for everyone.
"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," she wrote.
But the Breast Cancer Foundation said that ductal carcinoma in-situ or DCIS, which Macpherson wrote that she experienced, was the earliest form of breast cancer and did not require chemotherapy.
All DCIS was classed as stage 0 breast cancer as it was confined within the walls of the ducts and could not invade the blood or lymphatic vessels, which was how cancer usually spread around the body.
The foundation said DCIS was sometimes called pre-invasive, non-invasive, or intraductal carcinoma. Although it was not life-threatening, having DCIS could increase the chance of developing invasive breast cancer.
It was worried about the implications of Macpherson's comments.
Broadcaster Sarah Gandy, who continues to take medication following her own experience with breast cancer five years ago, told RNZ that the comments could have tragic consequences.
Sarah Gandy. Photo: Supplied / Breast Cancer Foundation NZ
"Once you dig deep into some of the details, you start to go, well, it's not 'she had cancer, she went naturally and now she's good', it's not quite as simple as that.
"But what I worry about is that people read that, and if they're teetering on making some kind of treatment decision, it might sway them a certain way and it might actually mean that they're not here anymore.
"It has a life or death impact."
Gandy shared her thoughts on Macpherson during her More FM radio show this week.
"As a person who has also gone through breast cancer treatment, when I saw that this morning, it actually made me feel so angry, because it is so dangerous - her coming and saying what she said," she told listeners.
Chemotherapy and radiation treatments
The Breast Cancer Foundation said it was concerned Macpherson's comments would mislead people who had invasive forms of breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ research manager Adèle Gautier. Photo: Supplied / Breast Cancer Foundation NZ
"Whenever people think 'oh, [this] celebrity has breast cancer, this is terrible and she's turned down all this treatment and still alive, therefore, can anyone else do the same thing?' That, to me, is a worrying way of looking at it," research manager Adèle Gautier said.
"Not everyone has access to 32 doctors to talk to about their treatment either, you know, which seems quite extraordinary.
"So most regular people are going to be in a situation where they're talking to one or two doctors who know a lot about them and their cancer and are making an informed decision based on the standard of care.
"So you wouldn't want anyone to be feeling like they could skip treatment because Elle Macpherson did and it all worked out for her."
The foundation's website noted "while DCIS itself is not life threatening, if left untreated it may eventually become an invasive cancer and spread into surrounding tissue. Not all cases behave this way, but currently it's not possible to accurately predict which cases will not progress to invasive cancer and could be safely left untreated".
Conflicts of interest
Gandy told listeners on Wednesday that it seemed "off" for Macpherson to make such comments regarding wellness and cancer.
"To see someone like her, who has so much influence and money, and she has a wellness company so she profits off natural things, to be saying something like this, it just feels really off to me," she said.
Macpherson's company, WelleCo, sells nutritional supplements that it claims "perfectly nourish the human being on all levels".
Dr Brooke Nickel. Photo: Supplied
Dr Brooke Nickel, a researcher at the University of Sydney, has investigated the way media cover healthcare, including cancer. She said the public must be wary of prominent figures who discussed wellness.
"Conflict of interest can be in regard to, you know, profits, but also just their personal image or brand or whatever that is, which often is also linked with profit as well. But it's often disguised as these empowering messages.
"These wellness products that are more and more becoming kind of mainstream through celebrity endorsements and through social media influencers really don't have evidence of benefit and can lead to harm in people."
The right to choose
Cancer Society medical director Dr Kate Gregory said it was difficult to comment on the situation without knowing the full facts of Macpherson's diagnosis.
"Every woman's cancer is different. The Cancer Society strongly advises patients to make treatment decisions in conjunction with their oncology treatment team.
"Holistic treatments can be useful in supporting patients going through cancer, but there is no evidence they can replace conventional treatments."
Gandy said she believed in people's right to choose their own treatment and to advocate for themselves.
"I think, for me, the reason I wanted to come out and talk about my choices is because I did what I felt was right for me, but I did that by listening to experts.
"If you know that something's not right and you go to the doctor and the doctor is like 'everything's fine' and there's something in you that goes 'I don't know that it is', go back to that doctor and say 'I'm still not happy, what else can we do?' or go to see a different doctor."
