When Denise Ashford was 14 weeks pregnant, a fetal ultrasound scan revealed signs of a tumor in her unborn child. Her child had cancer. The young mother, only 19 years old at the time, was counseled on having an abortion. The cancer her baby had was neuroblastoma, a cancer that forms in nerve tissue of the adrenal gland, neck, chest, or spinal cord. Ashford, and the father Peter Thomas, refused to consider aborting the baby -- they said they would hang on for a miracle. Each week, tests were done to watch how the unborn baby's tumor was growing. Within weeks, the tumor had begun to shrink.
"The doctors told us that sometimes in very small children this type of tumor can shrink over time. But then over the next four weeks, we were given some even more unbelievable news -- the tumor had disappeared altogether," stated Ashford.
Kiah Thomas came into this world at 6 pounds 1 ounce, and celebrates her fifth birthday as a happy healthy child. At the time of her birth, doctors said it was very rare for cancer to be detected in a baby before birth and then for it to disappear. But it happens. Called spontaneous remission, regression or miracles, stories of cancer patients defying the greatest of odds or having cancer suddenly disappear have always been told, as anecdotal evidence of mysteries we do not fully understand or have yet to seriously study.
For more information about spontaneous remission, the Institute of Noetic Sciences has compiled the largest database of medically reported cases of spontaneous remission in the world by reviewing over 3,500 references, from more than 800 journals in 20 languages, as a step towards expanding our knowledge and understanding of a real phenomenon that occurs, and yet, no one can explain.
1. "The doctors told us that sometimes in very small children this type of tumor can shrink over time. But then over the next four weeks, we were given some even more unbelievable news -- the tumor had disappeared altogether," stated Ashford.
It is not unbelievable. No need for belief here. No need to get the famous IONS book involved - "a real phenomenon that occurs, and yet, no one can explain."
And certainly no need to abort.
"Most enjoy improved survival due to: lower stage of disease, cystic variety and higher stage IV-S, which has been associated with spontaneous immuno-regression."
http://www.thefetus.net/page.php?id=1720
One study:
Objective: Advances in prenatal diagnostics during the last 10 years have enabled the examiner to detect even rare fetal disorders such as fetal tumours. Congenital neuroblastoma is the most frequent solid neoplasm in infancy, with a retroperitoneal cystic or solid mass being a sonographic sign of the conditions. Methods: We present 4 cases of neuroblastoma showing suspicious prenatal ultrasound findings. The investigation comprises detection during pregnancy, typical sonographic signs, as well as the postnatal outcome. In addition, a review of the literature is undertaken with a focus on prenatal sonographic signs of congenital neuroblastomas. Results: In all 4 cases, a cystic tumour was detected during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy by means of B-mode sonography. One boy died of disseminated metastases at the age of 26 months. The other 3 survived after surgery and have remained healthy. Conclusions: The detection of a cystic suprarenal mass is suspicious of a congenital neuroblastoma. The delivery should take place at a perinatal centre.
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowFulltext&ProduktNr=224239&Ausgabe=225764&ArtikelNr=20888
(I've noticed how the anti-choice crowd has jumped on this story from the tabloid British press.
http://www.covenantnews.com/abortion/archives/022242.html)
And, of course, to then equate this with some unexplained phenomenon, as IONS does, without doing the hard work of examining possible causes, (and again, IONS cases of even 10 years ago can't be explained because we didn't have the technology to explain them), is lazy.
Statistical "Spontaneous remission" response rates need to exceed the placebo response rates. And, then of course there's the whole topic of the placebo and whether it exists or not.
So, no need to add this to the "miracle" files.
Posted at 11:05AM on Jul 9th 2006 by Michelle