Health
Woman with cancer reveals the diet that she says saved her life
Liana Werner-Gray began a cancer battle 15 years ago — and she believes that if she had not made substantial changes to her diet and lifestyle, she might not be alive today.
Fox News Digital spoke to the author and wellness advocate about her health journey on Wednesday on Capitol Hill as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was speaking during his hearing for Health and Human Services secretary. (See the video at the top of this article.)
While living in her native Australia, Werner-Gray, when she was just 21 years old in 2009, was told she had a tumor and the early stages of cancer in her lymphatic system. She was also suffering from chronic fatigue, parasites and other digestive issues.
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The lymphatic system “is the body’s sewage system,” Werner-Gray said.
“The only reason you get cancer in your lymphatic system is because you have too many toxins in your body.”
Liana Werner-Gray, pictured in 2019, said she believes the food she was eating was making her sick. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images )
Werner-Gray had a hunch that the food she was eating had caused her illnesses.
“I knew it was because of my diet,” she said. “Because my diet was horrendous.”
Rather than pursue traditional cancer treatments such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, Werner-Gray instead made radical changes to her diet.
“The only reason you get cancer in your lymphatic system is because you have too many toxins in your body.”
Working with a naturopath and a functional doctor, she embarked on what she called a “massive detox plan” and focused in particular on improving her gut health.
Werner-Gray quickly saw positive results, she told Fox News Digital.
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“After three months, the tumor had completely dissolved,” she said.
Her other health issues also improved considerably, she added.
Following her recovery, the author said she felt moved to create “The Earth Diet,” which began as a blog about what she ate to help fix her health problems and promote healing.
The Earth Diet, she said, is “all about going back to nature and eating foods from nature, eating real nutrition, eating foods that God provides us with naturally.”
Liana Werner-Gray published her book, “The Earth Diet,” in 2014. Her eating plan is “all about going back to nature and eating foods from nature, eating real nutrition, eating foods that God provides us with naturally,” she said. (Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Her book, also called “The Earth Diet,” was first published in 2014, five years after she began her health transformation.
Werner-Gray has since published several other books on curing both physical and mental conditions with food.
Over 1,600 people die from cancer each day in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society.
The Make America Healthy Again movement, or MAHA, is something that’s been “needed” in the United States, according to Werner-Gray.
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Over 1,600 people die from cancer each day in the U.S., per the American Cancer Society.
“That’s just not acceptable,” Werner-Gray said.
Fox News Digital talked to the Australian author and wellness advocate on Capitol Hill this week. (Fox News)
She believes that “cancer is preventable” and that unless things change – including nutrition – the statistics will continue to worsen.
“There are many, many cures for cancer other than conventional treatments,” she said.
‘Combined approach’
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, pointed out that “all cancers have spontaneous remissions.” (He was not involved in Werner-Gray’s care.)
“Having said that, diet and exercise have been shown to play a huge role in cancer treatment and recovery,” he told Fox News Digital.
“While there are many anecdotes of full remission following natural treatments alone, it’s crucial to remember that every person responds differently,” a doctor (not pictured) told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Standard treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are very important and have been evolving with the help of biotechnology,” Siegel said.
The doctor also predicted that artificial intelligence will play a huge role in matching patients with personalized medicine.
“So it isn’t one way or another — it’s a combined approach, and prayer also plays an important role,” he said.
‘Personal and complex’
Fox News medical contributor Nicole Saphier, M.D., associate professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, noted that navigating cancer treatment is “deeply personal and complex.”
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“Every individual’s cancer journey is unique — which means what works for one person might not be effective for another,” she told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“I advocate for a balanced approach where natural treatments can complement traditional methods,” Saphier said.
“It isn’t one way or another — it’s a combined approach, and prayer also plays an important role.”
Treatment approaches should consider the specific type of cancer, a patient’s overall health and the person’s beliefs about medicine, according to the doctor.
“While there are many anecdotes of full remission following natural treatments alone, it’s crucial to remember that every person responds differently,” Saphier noted.
“I have seen many people suffer and die who have forgone traditional treatment for natural methods alone,” she said. “I have also seen many people suffer and die because of complications of their traditional treatments.”
It is essential that the benefits and risks of treatments are fully disclosed so that patients can make educated decisions for their health, Saphier added.
Sydney Borchers of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
BACTERIA IN YOUR MOUTH MAY TRAVEL TO THE GUT AND TRIGGER STOMACH CANCER, RESEARCH FINDS
After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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