| During the 1960s, Alan Cantwell,
Jr., M.D., considered himself "just a regular dermatologist" trying to
understand what caused scleroderma, a condition in which the skin hardens and thickens for
no known reason-or so dermatologists thought. In the course of his laboratory work, Dr.
Cantwell independently discovered mysterious but highly prevalent bacteria found in tissue
samples from patients with scleroderma. It seemed evident to him that this bacteria caused
the skin problem.
Around 1965, Dr. Cantwell met Virginia Livingston, M.D., and when they shared notes, it
seemed they were both tracking the same microbe.
In fact, this microbe, which Dr. Livingston labelled P. cryptocides, was found
in increased numbers in patients with cancer, scleroderma, lupus, and sarcoidosis.
"Virginia was labelled a crazy scientist because she saw cancer bacteria that cancer
experts would not see," notes Dr. Cantwell in his book The Cancer Microbe (1990). |
First, the microbiologists were outraged that an outsider presumed to
create a new label for a microbe. Second, they didn't believe a cancer microbe existed in
the first place, Dr. Cantwell says. "After 20 years of hunting microbes in skin
diseases, I knew the old established 'rules' of microbiology were not workable".
The oncologists closed ranks and ridiculed Dr. Livingston's work. For good reason, from
their point of view, Dr. Cantwell adds. If cancer is caused by bacteria, and
chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation have no effect against it, the whole edifice of
conventional cancer treatment would have to be dismantled. "All the standard
treatments for cancer would have to be reevaluated in terms of this microbe. We're talking
about big changes here".
Despite the laboratory work, the photos of P. cryptocides from live blood, the
scientific papers and books, Dr. Livingston's cancer microbe remains "the most
closeted scientific achievement of our century," Dr. Cantwell contends. |
Her findings today mean nothing to conventional
oncologists. Her discoveries don't exist. How can they credit bacteria seen in
living blood when they consider blood to be sterile?"
Dr. Cantwell admits that it might have been premature for Dr. Livingston to concoct a
new name for the cancer microbe. He contends that microbiologists might identify some of
the cancer microbe cultures as Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is found commonly on
skin. Dr. Cantwell is also concerned that, insofar as P. cryptocides goes through
many form changes, "if you vaccinate against one form of it, suppose another form
starts to take over?"
The most important issue, he says, is that Dr. Livingston has made people aware that
this germ exists. "That has been my life's work, too, just telling people to look at
it. You can see it and grow it, so why don't we study this further?" |
