Gwyneth Paltrow is under fire after campaigning for a non-invasive cancer treatment called histotripsy – with disappointed fans slamming her for advising treatment when she is not a medical professional.
The 53-year-old spoke with Mike Blue, the CEO of HistoSonics – a non-invasive, sonic beam therapy platform, on her Goop podcast, where she opened up about her father’s battle with cancer and the toll that radiation had on his body.
Paltrow’s father, Bruce Paltrow, died in October 2002, at the age of 58 from complications of pneumonia and a recurrence of oral and throat cancer.
‘I lived through the side effects of radiation with my dad’s throat cancer, and it was just awful,’ the Goop founder said in a snippet of the conversation shared to Instagram.
Paltrow described her father’s treatment as extreme and invasive, admitting there were days when her family wondered if it was worth it.
‘The whole inside of his throat was burned from the radiation. He couldn’t swallow – I mean, it was barbaric,’ she told Blue.
Blue, who does not appear to have experience working in medicine himself based on his LinkedIn profile, responded saying: ‘I really believe there will be a day when we look back and say, “we did those types of surgeries, I can’t believe we used radiation in that location, it’s just so extreme,”‘ he said.
He continued, ‘I fully believe we can eliminate a lot of that.’
Gwyneth Paltrow is under fire after campaigning for a non-invasive cancer treatment called histotripsy – with disappointed fans slamming her for advising treatment when she is not a medical professional
Histotripsy is a non-invasive, radiation-free, and non-thermal ablation technology. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2023 for destroying liver tumors using high-frequency, targeted ultrasound waves.
According to the University of Texas Cancer Center, histotripsy is being tested for tumors in other organs in clinical trials, but is not currently approved for the treatment of tumors outside the liver.
Radiotherapy (radiation therapy), often administered alongside chemotherapy and surgery, is one of the most powerful treatments for treating cancer, as per the Cleveland Clinic.
Appalled followers took to the comments section to share their thoughts. Many worried the actress’s comments would discourage people from getting radiation therapy for cancer when they need it.
‘Chemotherapy and radiation saved my life 14 years ago. I would do it all over again if I had to,’ one user shared. ‘Modern medicine is amazing and I hope the U.S. can get the funding for cancer research back that was taken away.’
‘I’ve received radiation, yes it burnt, but 23 years ago totally worth it, trust your doctors,’ urged someone else.
‘Please don’t, the misinformation from untrialed treatments kills,’ someone else wrote.
They continued: ‘Hopefully one day this treatment will be available after clinical trials, promoting it now without clinical trials is doing people a disservice.’
Paltrow described her father’s treatment as extreme and invasive, admitting there were days when her family wondered if it was worth it
Paltrow pictured with her father Bruce Paltrow, who died in October 2002, at the age of 58 from complications of pneumonia and a recurrence of oral and throat cancer
‘Putting out this clip is incredibly dangerous,’ agreed another. ‘Many aggressive cancers can’t be treated holistically or with alternative therapies [and] for many people this is currently their only hope of staying alive.’
They continued: ‘Creating more mistrust of doctors in a climate where (in the US) cancer funding is already being cut, is endangering people who are already having to make the hardest decisions at the most frightening time in their lives.’
‘Until there are other advances, don’t scare people away from the treatments available now. It is misleading,’ agreed another.
The Daily Mail reached out to Paltrow for comment.
Dr Daniel Landau, a board-certified doctor in medical oncology, internal medicine, and hematology, told the Daily Mail that histotripsy is often used by patients who are not candidates for surgery.
‘When there are isolated areas of cancer, for instance, a growth in the liver, these areas are often targeted with non-invasive techniques,’ he explained.
He said that while surgery to remove these tumors is traditionally the standard approach, many patients are not candidates for surgery due to having other health issues, being elderly, or being on active chemotherapy.
‘So, ways to target tumors without major surgery become a need. Histotripsy is one of these techniques.’
Other similar therapies include radio-frequency ablation, targeted ultrasounds, or radiation. But histotripsy is a little different. Histotripsy has an effect where it creates ‘bubbles’ out of the tissue to destroy them. And it does this without radiation or heat.
However, he said that the treatment is not currently FDA-approved to treat most tumor types.
‘More research is being conducted to determine if histotripsy is superior to ultrasound or radiation, or just offers an alternative option,’ he said.
