Even if those patients whose insurance companies pay most of the freight for these ridiculously expensive drugs (and who still must pay tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket co-payments) survive the cancer, they will probably succumb to another chronic degenerative illness.

You see, these drugs never treat the underlying causes of cancer, only the symptoms.

This is merely another amazing illustration of the standard price-gouging operating procedures used by drug companies: Provide exorbitant drugs that, in no way, shape or form, treat the cause of the problem, and earn billions of dollars for doing so.

If patients want access to "life-sustaining" therapies, they'll be forced to pay the price, which in many cases means emptying their bank accounts, even if the drug is useless.

Isn't that the perfect approach from a drug company's perspective? In fact, there's no reason for most drugs to treat the true cause of medical conditions at all. Doing so would merely eliminate future potential income from selling more band-aid drug treatments.

As you probably know, cancer passed heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States last year. Still, the American Cancer Society estimates more than 60 percent of 2005 cancer deaths may have been prevented if patients had made some basic lifestyle changes.

But why go slightly more than halfway, based on the conventional medical wisdom and the drug-company-controlled American Cancer Society, when you can virtually eliminate your risk of cancer by following my extensive list of recommendations:

1.      Control your insulin levels: Make certain that you limit your intake of processed foods and sugars as much as possible.

2.      Get appropriate amounts of animal-based omega-3 fats, and make sure you use cod liver oil if you don't have regular access to sun exposure.

3.      Get appropriate exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.

4.      Normalize your vitamin D levels with safe amounts of sun exposure. This works primarily by optimizing your vitamin D level. If you have regular access to sun exposure then you should use fish oil, not cod liver oil, as your primary source of omega-3 fats. Ideally, it would be best to monitor your vitamin D levels.

5.      Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.

6.      Have a tool to permanently erase the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. Energy psychology seems to be one of the best approaches and my particular favorite tool, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.

7.      Only 25 percent of people eat enough vegetables, so by all means eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with. Ideally, they should be fresh and organic. However, please understand that, frequently, fresh conventionally grown vegetables are healthier than organic ones that are older and wilted in the grocery store.

They are certainly better than no vegetables at all, so don't use that as an excuse. If you are a carb nutritional type you may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than a protein nutritional type.

8.      Make sure you are not in the two-thirds of the population who are overweight and maintain an ideal body weight.

9.      Get enough high-quality sleep.

10.  Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.

11.  Boil, poach or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them.

Save your health and your money. You work too hard to waste either one on "miracle" drugs and cures.