This is a response written by Steve and Mary Jo Siegel regarding The Houston Press’ article:

“THE 10 MOST EMBARRASSING HOUSTONIANS.”

Mr. Rouner,

You are embarrassed by Dr. Burzynski? Interesting. Good for us that we do not embarrass quite so easily as you.

My wife was diagnosed with an incurable form of Non-Hogkins Lymphoma. After having a surgery that required the removal of almost 1 meter of her small intestine, we consulted the top cancer specialists in the U.S. at prestigious (and presumably non-embarrasing to you) research centers, including UCLA, USC, Stanford Medical, and Harvard (Dana Farber Cancer Institute). All this in an effort to determine what course of treatment we should pursue to save her life. All said that with chemotherapy and radiation she could survive for a while, but eventually her disease would mutate, spread, and she would die.

Now here is the embarrassing part for us. One top researcher wanted to enroll her in a clinical trial in order to perform an “autologous bone marrow transplant.” She would receive massive chemotherapy, and in his words “as much radiation as people that were within 1 mile of ground 0 at Hiroshima.” All this in an attempt to kill every single cancer cell in her body, and hope that she would not die of radiation poisoning or from the “massive” doses of chemo. None of this treatment, costing at that time, in excess of $250,000.00, was covered by insurance. That was 25 years ago in 1990.

My wife and I decided to find another way. Perhaps a less toxic approach which was not quite so “embarrassing” to the medical establishment. She never had one drop of chemo, nor 1 rad of radiation therapy (now there’s an oxymoron).

Right there in your beloved Houston (ours too), We discovered the work of the man you call an embarrassment, Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski. My wife started on his Antineoplaston treatment the first day we consulted with him. Within months her tumors began to disappear. She was eventually pronounced to be in remission. Not by Dr. Burzynski, but by her oncologist, an esteemed lymphoma researcher at UCLA. Today my wife remains cancer free. We have 3 grandchildren, none of whom would have known their wonderful grandmother, were it not for the discovery, work, and courage of the man you find so embarrassing.

If you care to do your research, and not continue to embarrass yourself, you will find that Dr. Burzynski has published several peer-reviewed articles on his work with the most aggressive and deadly brain cancers. His results are light years ahead, and better, than any conventional treatment now in use. I am certainly happy to furnish these for your review, but what you may discover, is that you have embarrassed yourself.

You can make amends by first apologizing to Dr. B for your ignorant assertions and cowardly attack. Dr. B. is a forgiving man. But more important is that you apologize to his patients past and present. Those who, after having been cast off by the medical establishment, found their way to Dr. Burzynski, and now are living, breathing proof that this gentle, non toxic, gene-targeted treatment is indeed a real and effective approach for treating some of the most intractable cancers. What is particularly heinous is that you may have scared off cancer patients who would have otherwise sought treatment with Dr. B, but now are relegated to receiving chemo and radiation, mostly ineffective, inhumane, and damaging treatments discovered more than a half century ago and still in use today.

They say mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery. Just look to MD Anderson and you will see they are now offering “Personalized Cancer Treatment”. This is the same concept as the gene-targeted therapeutic approach which started at the Burzynski Clinic more than 30 years ago. Dr. Burzynski has improved and refined this vital treatment year after year. Now comparing conventional cancer treatment to the Burzynski method is like comparing a rotary dial phone to an I-phone 10. Must be embarrassing that you didn’t know all of this was going on just down the road from you.

My wife and all of the Dr. B’s patients await your apology. Maybe your name should go on your list? That would be a good start.

Steven M. Siegel

Mary Jo Siegel

Camarillo, California

See a video clip of the Siegel’s in a “48 Hours” Special below.