http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/Reviews/moss.html

The Cancer Industry:
Unraveling the Politics
Author: Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

(Moss's Ph.D. degree is in classics, not in any form of science)

Publisher: Paragon House, New York
Reviewed by: Saul Green, Ph.D.
Ralph Moss would like you to believe that research institutions, hospitals,
medical associations, government agencies, foundations and large
corporations-which he calls "the cancer industry"-suppress innovation in order
to maximize profits. Many of the book's allegations are repeated from a 1980
edition titled The Cancer Syndrome. Both versions have been carefully contrived
to promote distrust and fear of scientifically-based cancer treatment.

The first part of The Cancer Industry, entitled "Proven Methods (That Often
Don't Work)"- is intended to undermine confidence in scientific methods. The
second part, which occupies half the book, promotes the gamut of "unproven
therapies." The final two parts expound Mr. Moss's opinion that "the direction
of cancer management appears to be shaped by those forces financially
interested in the outcome of the problem." He even claims that big business is
so powerful and so determined to make money that it has blocked scientists and
government agencies from paying more attention to cancer prevention.

Readers unacquainted with the facts may find Moss's arguments disquieting, if
not persuasive. My reaction was quite different. Having personal knowledge of
many of the events he described, I found reading his versions very painful.
Although the book is loaded with carefully selected facts, it is also loaded
with distortions and misrepresentations. For example:

Insinuating that an executive-level position made him privy to the inner
workings at Sloan-Kettering Institute, Moss represents that he was assistant
director of public affairs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center during the
mid-1970s. However, documents I have from Sloan-Kettering officials indicate
that his only title was "science writer."
Moss suggests that a Sloan-Kettering researcher, Kanematsu Sugiura, found that
laetrile was effective against cancer in mice and that his work was never
repeated or refuted. The book fails to mention that at least six major cancer
research institutions did repeat Sugiura's experiments and had negative
results.
Moss endorses the work of the late Dr. Virginia Livingston-Wheeler, who claimed
that cancer is caused by a bacterium she named Progenitor cryptocides. He
neglected to mention that scientists don't believe her hypothesis because there
is no proof that the organism exists. Neither Dr. Wheeler nor anyone else has
been able to produce a cancer by injecting her alleged organisms into
experimental animals. Independent researchers have found numerous cases where
cancer tissues did not contain the organism. In addition, cultures of
"Progenitor cryptocides" from Dr. Wheeler's own lab, which were grown in other
labs, turned out to be common forms of Staphylococci that inhabit the skin.
Moss appears to feel no need to question any assertions or possible motives of
those whose work he extols. He is apparently content to regurgitate the tales
they tell about themselves, their experiences with patients, and their
scientific ability. The book is dangerous because it may induce desperate
cancer patients to abandon sound, scientifically based medical care for a
worthless "alternative."

_____________________

Dr. Green is a biochemist who did cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center for 23 years. This review was originally published in the
May/June 1991 issue of Nutrition Forum. Moss's Ph.D. degree is in classics.