You may have heard the expression knowledge is power.

Well, today we're going to give you more power to control your diet and lifestyle by giving you

the facts. Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

Did you know that most chemotherapy drugs are approved by the FDA without evidence of

benefit unsurvival or quality of life? Here's our first story. Over the next few decades,

the number of new cancer cases will continue to skyrocket. Are we winning the war on cancer?

Sadly, in general, no. This, despite the introduction of hundreds of new anti-cancer drugs,

the war on cancer has been likened to the war on terror. No matter how many drone strikes you do,

it's nearly impossible to kill all the bad guys. No matter how precise the bombing, one must always

consider the collateral damage. The toxicity from cancer therapy can be debilitating and not

just health-wise. There's also the financial toxicity. Patented anti-cancer drugs are priced at

up to nearly $1,000 a day. Even with health insurance, the average cost of patients for stage 4

breast cancer, for example, can run $190,000. It's bad enough to be fighting for your life without

bankrupting your family at the same time. I promise, still comment to this day.

Who can forget the apocryphal story of Walter White working two jobs with health insurance and

still could not afford the cancer care? No, not everyone is willing to start their own

meth lab, but many are willing to go for broke. A large proportion of cancer patients reported

their willingness to declare bankruptcy or sell their homes to pay for treatment. I mean, look,

I mean, aren't the high prices justified if new and innovative treatments offer significant

benefits to patients? But you may be shocked to find out that many FDA-approved cancer drugs may

lack clinical benefit. Well, then how did they become FDA approved? Most approvals of cancer

drugs are based on flimsy or untested surrogate endpoints and post-marketing studies rarely validate

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