Farrah Fawcett's Anal Cancer Treatment in Germany
Farrah Fawcett's Anal Cancer Treatment in Germany
May 15, 2009 -- Actress Farrah Fawcett's fight against anal cancer has included treatments in Germany that aren't approved in the U.S., sparking debate about cancer patients' options when they want more than what's approved by the FDA.
Fawcett, 62, was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006.
Fawcett is "doing very well right now," Fawcett's doctor, Lawrence Piro, MD, told NBC's Today show. "She's obviously having a lot of side effects that come with cancer and come with cancerchemotherapy. And she's weak and she's spending a lot of time in bed and resting. But overall, she's in good spirits and she certainly still has her characteristic sense of humor, which is helping her get through all of this," said Piro, who is the president and CEO of The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute in Los Angeles.
Apart from her U.S. treatment, Fawcett has traveled to Germany six times seeking cancer treatment, actor Ryan O'Neal -- Fawcett's partner and the father of her son, Redmond -- recently told People.
Ursula Jacob of Germany's Alpenpark Clinic has treated Fawcett. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Jacob says that, in Germany, Fawcett was given "natural supplements and also immune treatments" that were tailored to her specific case.
Those treatments improved Fawcett's quality of life and "the tumor shrank in size and also the mass of the tumor shrank," Jacob said. "For a long time, two-and-a-half years, she was in really good shape."
Jacob recently flew to California to see Fawcett, but says she can't give Fawcett the care she got in Germany while Fawcett is in the U.S., because those treatments aren't FDA approved. The treatments, which Jacob didn't describe in detail, are "normal" in Europe, Jacob says.
Fawcett's friend, Alana Stewart, told the Access Hollywood reporter that Jacob was there "more to be a friend and a support to Farrah than to give treatments. She's under treatment by her American doctors."
Laurence R. Sands, MD, is associate professor of surgery and chief of colorectal surgery at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He treats many anal cancer patients but isn't one of Fawcett's doctors.
Fawcett, 62, was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006.
Fawcett is "doing very well right now," Fawcett's doctor, Lawrence Piro, MD, told NBC's Today show. "She's obviously having a lot of side effects that come with cancer and come with cancerchemotherapy. And she's weak and she's spending a lot of time in bed and resting. But overall, she's in good spirits and she certainly still has her characteristic sense of humor, which is helping her get through all of this," said Piro, who is the president and CEO of The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute in Los Angeles.
Apart from her U.S. treatment, Fawcett has traveled to Germany six times seeking cancer treatment, actor Ryan O'Neal -- Fawcett's partner and the father of her son, Redmond -- recently told People.
Treatments in Germany
Ursula Jacob of Germany's Alpenpark Clinic has treated Fawcett. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Jacob says that, in Germany, Fawcett was given "natural supplements and also immune treatments" that were tailored to her specific case.
Those treatments improved Fawcett's quality of life and "the tumor shrank in size and also the mass of the tumor shrank," Jacob said. "For a long time, two-and-a-half years, she was in really good shape."
Jacob recently flew to California to see Fawcett, but says she can't give Fawcett the care she got in Germany while Fawcett is in the U.S., because those treatments aren't FDA approved. The treatments, which Jacob didn't describe in detail, are "normal" in Europe, Jacob says.
Fawcett's friend, Alana Stewart, told the Access Hollywood reporter that Jacob was there "more to be a friend and a support to Farrah than to give treatments. She's under treatment by her American doctors."
Surgeon's View
Laurence R. Sands, MD, is associate professor of surgery and chief of colorectal surgery at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He treats many anal cancer patients but isn't one of Fawcett's doctors.