Elle Macpherson has been branded ‘shockingly irresponsible’ after revealing she treated her breast cancer with a ‘heart-led holistic approach’, shunning the advice of 32 doctors.
The supermodel, 60, was diagnosed with HER2 positive oestrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma – a type of breast cancer, after undergoing a lumpectomy seven years ago.
Medics suggested a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, plus reconstruction of her breast.
But Elle decided go down the route of unconventional treatment and enlisted a group of specialists to create a plan that ‘addressed emotional as well as physical factors associated with breast cancer’.
The model rented a house in Phoenix, Arizona and spent eight months there, with regular visits from two therapists, a chiropractor, holistic dentist and a doctor who claims she cured her own cervical cancer using juice cleanses and a ‘detox’.
Elle Macpherson has been branded ‘shockingly irresponsible’ after revealing she treated her breast cancer with a ‘heart-led holistic approach’, after shunning the advice of 32 doctors
The supermodel, 60, was diagnosed with HER2 positive oestrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma – a type of breast cancer, after undergoing a lumpectomy seven years ago
The supermodel, 60, admitted she she took a ‘heart-led, holistic approach’ to her illness and brought in a team of advisors – (pictured Elle with Dr Sara Siso and ex Andrew Wakefield)
Other ‘alternative’ medics in Elle’s crew included discredited antivaxxer Dr Andrew Wakefield, who was struck off in 2010 for an ‘irresponsible’ and fraudulent paper linking the MMR jab to autism — and who the model dated in 2017, around the time of her diagnosis.
Elle is now in clinical remission, meaning she has no signs and symptoms of the disease.
The mother-of-two admitted her eldest son Flynn, 26, who was 19 at the time of diagnosis ‘wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all’.
Following her interview with Australia’s Women’s Weekly, fans agreed with Flynn as they blasted the supermodel for being ‘reckless’ while medics in the cancer field said she was promoting ‘dangerous’ therapies that could ‘cost women their lives’.
Taking to X, fans wrote: ‘This is shockingly irresponsible from Elle MacPherson. She was lucky that clearly the lumpectomy removed all the cancerous cells and it hadn’t spread, but implying she “cured” cancer holistically is reckless beyond belief.
‘Totally agree I’m being treated for BC at the moment and I see people in oncology battling to stay alive I think Elle should be more mindful.’
‘This is a worrying message, I’m not against holistic therapy and whatever gives you your best peace but if they hadn’t got all the cancer removed I’m not so sure about remission. Cancer is unique to each individual unfortunately.’
Fans blasted the supermodel for being ‘reckless’ while medics in the cancer field said she was promoting ‘dangerous’ therapies that could ‘cost women their lives’
‘So reckless….im all for holistic therapy but alongside medical treatment. My mother has been fighting various cancers for nearly 20yrs….Balance of both and never refused medical treatment. Dr’s & her will to live life are the reason she is alive and well today.’
‘Not really surprised considering she dated Andrew Wakefield even after he was discredited for saying vaccines cause autism (with zero evidence). ‘
In 2021, Elle also revealed she had split from partner and British anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield after a two years relationship.
Andrew was struck off by the General Medical Council in 2010, which ruled he was ‘dishonest, irresponsible and showed callous disregard for the distress and pain’ of children.
Since the late 1990s millions of children have missed out on the MMR jab because of now-debunked autism fears raised by the discredited medic.
Uptake of the MMR jab collapsed in the late 90s and early 2000s in the wake of Wakefield’s 1998 study published in The Lancet.
The study, based on the cases of 12 patients, proposed a link between the MMR jab and autism and bowel disease.
Another defended Elle as they said: ‘Everyone has to choice to do what is right for them. She isn’t recommending people take her approach. As someone who chose the conventional route for breast cancer I would never criticize what anyone else decided. Research, research, research…..and then free will.’
Elle said she spoke to the late Olivia Newton John before her passing. The actress died aged 73 in August 2022, after a thirty year breast cancer battle (pictured in 2018)
Elle said she spoke to the late Olivia Newton John before her passing.
The actress advocated for a holistic approach to treating the disease.
But unlike Elle, Olivia did have traditional medical treatment as well as herbal therapy, meditation, and lifestyle and diet changes.
The actress died aged 73 in August 2022, after a thirty year breast cancer battle.
Reflecting on their conversations, Elle said: ‘We spoke a few times when I was diagnosed and also through both of our healing journeys.
‘We did things differently, but we did share experiences with each other and how we feel and how we approach things.’
Experts, meanwhile, slammed the model for promoting the ‘dangerous’ treatment and warned women may follow her approach ‘costing them their lives’.
Liz O’Riordan, a retired breast surgeon and co-author of The Complete Guide To Breast Cancer, told MailOnline: ‘We now know that three in four women with breast cancer survive their disease for 10 years or more if they have all the treatment that’s offered.
‘We know that breast cancer can come back 10, 20, or even 30 years in the future, so Elle is still very early days.
‘Everything that mainstream doctors offer is based on years and years and hundreds of thousands of patients worth of data.
‘We know it works. We know it’s safe. We know what happens if it doesn’t work.
‘Elle has gone down the naturopathic holistic dentistry, chiropractor, alkaline diet and there is no evidence to show that any of this works.
‘Naturopathic medicine is based on folk medicine, and they believe that the body can heal itself with a supernatural vital energy that guides your body’s processes.
‘Holistic medicine means never having root canal surgery and having your fillings removed, but there is absolutely no proof to show that this causes cancer.
‘There is no medical science behind any of it to prove it can work.’
Meanwhile, Professor Karol Sikora, former chief of the World Health Organisation’s cancer programme, told MailOnline: ‘I’ve had several patients that do this. You just can’t fight cancer this way.
‘It always ends badly — if all that stuff she’s doing actually worked it would be fully integrated into mainstream medicine.
‘Complementary medicine is great but only when used alongside conventional care.
‘There’s a risk that the cancer will grow and enlarge in the breast, spread to the lymph nodes under the armpit and then spread through the bloodstream to her liver and lungs.
‘That is the normal pattern for breast cancer.’
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