A cancerous tumor is a mass of cancer cells, not “toxins”; biopsies and mammograms don’t cause cancer

A Facebook reel posted toward the end of July 2024 claimed that tumors accumulate toxins in the body and that biopsies and mammograms cause cancer by releasing those toxins. It drew more than 440,000 views at the time of writing. The reel is part of a longer interview uploaded to YouTube more than a decade ago by the platform iHealthTube, which purports to deliver “hard to find information on natural health and alternative treatments”.

In another interview, the same man also falsely claimed that keeping the body alkaline stops cancer growth. Science Feedback and others previously debunked this popular misconception.

The man in the videos is Leonard Coldwell, formerly known as Bernd Klein, a native of Germany. Coldwell has claimed to be a medical doctor, but we were unable to find a credible record of his qualifications to support this claim. He marketed a product called the Instinct Based Medicine Soundtrack, which purportedly had curative properties by tapping into various frequencies. One can find his books on Amazon, with titles like “The Only Answer to Cancer”. His current website propagates misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines, COVID-19, and climate change, debunked here, here, and here, respectively.

This review will address Coldwell’s claims that tumors are a “bubble” that sequesters toxins in the body and that biopsies and mammograms cause cancer.

Solid tumors mainly consist of cancer cells, not a “bubble” of toxins

Coldwell claimed that our bodies contain “so many toxins” that are lethal. As such, “the body builds a bubble, a tumor, and collects all these poisons […] where they don’t do harm”, he said, adding that “cancer is basically your friend”. In short, that tumors are actually beneficial to people.

Based on the context of the conversation in the reel, Coldwell’s claim likely refers to solid tumors instead of liquid tumors. Liquid tumors are primarily blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.

Firstly, the fact that cancer kills contradicts Coldwell’s claim that “cancer is basically your friend”. The World Health Organization reported nearly 10 million deaths from cancer in 2022, making it a leading cause of death worldwide.

Secondly, his claim is inconsistent with the scientific evidence. Solid tumors mainly consist of a mass of uncontrollably proliferating cells. These tumors also contain blood vessels that carry nutrients and oxygen to the cancer cells, as well as other cells like cancer-associated fibroblasts, which support the growth of cancer cells^{[1, 2]}. Evidence of these features in tumor architecture, such as blood vessels and fibroblasts, is well-documented in the scientific literature^{[3, 4]} and don’t support Coldwell’s claim.

 

Other evidence that tumors aren’t a “bubble” of toxins are animal models of cancer, which researchers use to study cancer and potential anti-cancer compounds in the lab.

Animal models of cancer can be generated by using a carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) which causes mutations that lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation^[5]. They can also be generated by introducing cancer-causing mutations in cells through genetic engineering^{[6, 7]}. These underscore the fact that cancer stems from a genetic mechanism affecting cellular controls over growth and proliferation, not a build-up of toxins as Coldwell claimed.

Biopsies don’t cause cancer, but may carry a risk of spreading cancer depending on cancer type

Cancer is caused by mutations that result in uncontrolled cell proliferation. There are many risk factors for cancer due to their direct and indirect effects on our DNA, but biopsies don’t affect our DNA. Therefore, Coldwell’s claim that biopsies cause cancer is incorrect.

However, his claim contains a grain of truth in that biopsies carry a potential risk of spreading the cancer. That said, clinicians are aware of this and take precautions to reduce this risk.

The cancer charity Canadian Cancer Society explains:

“There is an extremely low chance that a biopsy will cause cancer to spread. Some tumours can’t be safely biopsied without spreading cancer cells. This is sometimes referred to as seeding of tumour cells. In these cases, doctors avoid core biopsy. The tumour is completely removed without taking a biopsy.”

The U.S. National Cancer Institute also acknowledges this risk:

“The chance that surgery will cause cancer to spread to other parts of the body is extremely low. Following standard procedures, surgeons use special methods and take many steps to prevent cancer cells from spreading during biopsies or surgery to remove tumors. For example, if they must remove tissue from more than one area of the body, they use different surgical tools for each area.”

The risk associated with biopsy also depends on the type of cancer.

The Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center stated that “improperly performed biopsy can cause some cancer types, such as a sarcoma, to spread”. Sarcomas are cancers that develop in the bones and soft tissues, like muscle and fat.

The Roswell Park website explained that this is because these types of tumors have “fragile outer capsules” that contain the cancer cells. If a biopsy damages the capsule, this can allow cancer cells inside the capsule to spread.

However, biopsies don’t present the same risk for early-stage breast cancer, also called ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS. At this stage, abnormal cells are present in the milk ducts of the breast, but haven’t yet invaded breast tissue. UCLA Health addressed the concern over biopsy risk, explaining that patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer by needle biopsy “are not diagnosed at higher stages” and don’t have poorer outcomes compared to patients diagnosed by surgery.

A 2015 study led by Mayo Clinic researchers also looked at the question of whether needle biopsies increased the risk of tumor spread. To do this, the researchers analyzed Medicare data from more than 2,000 patients with pancreatic cancer. They found no meaningful difference in survival between patients who had a needle biopsy and those who didn’t^[8]. This suggests that needle biopsies likely don’t increase the risk of tumor spread for this type of cancer.

In summary, Coldwell’s claim that biopsies cause cancer is incorrect. However, biopsies may increase the risk of tumor spread depending on the cancer type and how far the cancer has progressed. When applied properly, biopsies are a useful tool for detecting and diagnosing cancer, and there’s no evidence supporting the idea that all cancer patients should avoid biopsies.

The benefits of mammograms outweigh their risks

In the reel, Coldwell claimed that lymph nodes “usually” burst due to the pressure placed on them during mammography, but provided no evidence to back up his claim. He also claimed that mammograms increase breast cancer risk, an inaccurate claim that Science Feedback covered before.

Mammograms detect dense tissue in the breast that have an abnormal shape or unusual location. During a mammogram, the breast is compressed. This is done to immobilize the tissue, thereby reducing the chance of blurring in the image, which can occur if the patient moves during the procedure. Another reason is to make small abnormalities easier to detect, since breast tissue is dense. However, this means many women experience discomfort and even bruising during a mammogram.

While mammograms can cause breast injury, there is no evidence that breast injury caused by mammograms causes cancer or increases cancer risk. Both the American Cancer Society and Cancer Research UK dispel this myth, explaining that breast injuries don’t cause cancer. They add that sometimes, medical investigation of an injury may lead to cancer being detected as well. However, the cancer was already there; the injury didn’t cause the cancer.

What does pose a potential cancer risk are the X-rays used in mammograms. X-rays are carcinogenic and therefore can cause mutations that lead to cancerous transformation in cells. But the amount of radiation from mammograms is low. The American Cancer Society explains that the radiation dose used for a screening mammogram of both breasts is about the same as that from our natural surroundings (background radiation) for seven weeks.

Another risk posed by mammograms is overdiagnosis. Overdiagnosis is the detection of a cancer that wouldn’t lead to any symptoms or problems for the patient in their lifetime, and so wouldn’t require treatment. Overdiagnosis can lead a patient to undergo unnecessary treatment, like surgery and radiotherapy, which in turn exposes them to the risks from those treatments. It can also lead to undue psychological stress for the patient. There’s some evidence that the risk of overdiagnosis is greater in women over 70.

However, it’s also important to weigh the risks against the benefits of mammograms. There are several studies showing that women who participate in regular breast cancer screening have lower breast cancer mortality^[9-12].

Based on the evidence for risk and benefit, professional medical societies provide recommendations for breast cancer screening. These recommendations differ in terms of when screenings should begin and how often they should occur, but generally, they recommend that screening begin sometime during a woman’s forties.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women with an average risk of breast cancer begin screening no earlier than at the age of 40 and continue screenings until age 75. Screening can occur annually or biennially, based on a discussion with the patient’s healthcare provider about the benefits and risks, as well as the patient’s values and preferences.

On the other hand, the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer recommends that women who are not at a high risk of breast cancer begin screening at age 45 every two to three years. Starting between the ages 70 of 75, the frequency of screening is eased to every three years.

Overall, mammograms enable clinicians to detect and treat cancer early, which is critical to patient survival. This is the main reason why they are recommended by health care professionals for women aged 40 and above. While mammograms do come with risks, these are generally outweighed by their benefits. Coldwell’s claim that mammograms cause or increase cancer risk is unfounded.

Conclusion

As we’ve shown, Coldwell has a track record of making inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about cancer and other health-related topics, and the claims in the reel are no different. Tumors are made up primarily of cancer cells, which are cells that multiply uncontrollably due to mutations, not toxins. Both biopsies and mammograms carry risks that need to be weighed against the benefits depending on the patient, since patients are different from one another. However, biopsies and mammograms don’t cause cancer and are in fact useful tools for cancer screening.

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In 2014, oncologist David Gorski wrote an article on his blog Respectful Insolence debunking more of Coldwell’s other cancer claims.

REFERENCES

• 1 – Chen and Song. (2018) Turning foes to friends: targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
• 2 – Kalluri R. (2016) The biology and function of fibroblasts in cancer. Nature Reviews Cancer.
• 3 – Ribatti et al. (2007) The structure of the vascular network of tumors. Cancer Letters.
• 4 – Almagro et al. (2022) Tissue architecture in tumor initiation and progression. Trends in Cancer.
• 5 – Kemp CJ. (2015) Animal models of chemical carcinogenesis: driving breakthroughs in cancer research for 100 years. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols.
• 6 – Kersten et al. (2016) Genetically engineered mouse models in oncology research and cancer medicine. EMBO Molecular Medicine.
• 7 – Ireson et al. (2019) The role of mouse tumour models in the discovery and development of anticancer drugs. British Journal of Cancer.
• 8 – Otto et al. (2012) Mammography Screening and Risk of Breast Cancer Death: A Population-Based Case–Control Study. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
• 9 – Tabár et al. (2018) The incidence of fatal breast cancer measures the increased effectiveness of therapy in women participating in mammography screening. Cancer.
• 10 – Duffy et al. (2020) Mammography screening reduces rates of advanced and fatal breast cancers: Results in 549,091 women. Cancer.
• 11 – Duffy et al. (2020) Effect of mammographic screening from age 40 years on breast cancer mortality (UK Age trial): final results of a randomised, controlled trial. The Lancet Oncology.