Supermodel Elle Macpherson has rejected specialists’ concerns that her breast cancer could return, claiming that “fear is something that can really make you ill”.
Experts have warned that the 60-year-old’s decision to reject chemotherapy and instead undergo a holistic treatment following her 2017 breast cancer diagnosis has increased the risk of it coming back.
Elle Macpherson during her 60 Minutes interview.Credit: Nine
Macpherson told Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday that it “wasn’t an easy decision” to reject medical advice after she was diagnosed with HER2-positive oestrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma breast cancer.
After two lumpectomies – surgery that removes cancer from the breast – doctors in the US advised her to undergo treatment that included a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and a breast reconstruction.
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“Something didn’t feel right about it though ... [the treatment advised by doctors] was not logical – it was just an inner sense ... I made a choice to go a more natural route in my treatment because that’s what really resonated with me from within,” she said.
Instead of following medical advice, Macpherson underwent an eight-month treatment program under the guidance of two holistic practitioners based in Phoenix, Arizona. The treatment included natural medication, dentistry, osteopathy, chiropractic treatment and, according to 60 Minutes, “a lot of spiritual work”.
“I spoke to 32 doctors along the way,” Macpherson said. “I had a very formidable team that helped me through it … I’m now clinically in remission, that’s the word most doctors would say.”
But according to 60 Minutes, an Australian breast oncologist not named by the program expressed “very real concerns”, telling 60 Minutes that Macpherson’s decision to reject conventional treatment meant the supermodel statistically now had a 20 per cent chance of recurrence in 10 years.