Tumors, pathologist Halassy tests a new treatment on herself. Bassetti: “Medicine is the exact opposite”

they are Xafter the many user comments on the the case of a Croatian virologist Beata Halassiwhich she developed and tested herself modern medicine to fight cancer, comes the infectious disease expert’s opinion Matteo Bassetti which explains because « there have been many self-tests for decades made for convenience».

Breast cancer, Croatian researcher Beata Halassy tests virus-based therapy on herself to cure herself and recover

The Halassy case

The entomologist and researcher atUniversity of PriestBeata Halassy attracted public attention to take care of herself breast cancer with modern medicine. He said: “Don’t do this at home», suggests not doing independent tests. But her consciousness did not stop her from completing the project. The choice, based on self-examination, he promised no success. Halassy used two special viruses, created in her lab, in a way she described as “unconventional.”

The case has sparked an ethical debate about self-examination. In 2020, at the age of 49, Halassy was diagnosed with a tumor again in the same place where she had already undergone a mastectomy. Despite the possibility of new chemotherapy, he decided to look for another option, taking advantage of his knowledge of virology and researching scientific literature. So he developed a customized version of the virotherapy oncoliticaan innovative method that involves the use of viruses to attack tumor cells and stimulate the immune system.

Halassy decided to “attack” the tumor with two viruses: first the measles virus and then the vesicular stomatitis virus, both already used in clinical trials in virotherapy, although not for breast cancer. For two months, she injected the viruses directly into the tumor, staying under regular oncological monitoring and ready to undergo chemotherapy in case it worsened. The treatment resulted in a gradual reduction of the tumor, which was then surgically removed, without major side effects.

After several rejections, Halassy managed to publish the results of her experience. Today, despite the criticism and ethical doubts raised by her case, she says that she is sure about the choice that was made. The complexity of the treatment, which requires advanced virology skills, makes it unlikely that others will be able to replicate it. Currently, Halassy has received funding to test his therapeutic method on pets suffering from tumors.

Bassetti’s answer

Regarding the case of Halassy, ​​Matteo Bassetti expressed his medical opinion by saying that with the progress of science, a «a more virtuous and less conscientious mind», arguing that “the time of self-examinations should already be over”. In fact, Halassy herself “treated her own breast cancer by injecting the virus she was working on in the laboratory into the eardrum”, a self-treatment that raised “strong doubts from an ethical point of view” . The treatment was carried out under the supervision of oncologists, using first the measles virus and then the vesicular stomatitis virus, pathogens that have already been studied in the context of oncolytic virotherapy.

Thus Halassy’s intervention opens up an important debate about the practice of self-examination, which Bassetti describes as «the impact of the documentary or the exact opposite on evidence therapy». Also remember historical examples, such as an example of Evan O’Neill KaneThat he took away a paper to demonstrate the practicality of local anesthesia, and to Gianni Pauletta, he died at only 34 years old after you have tested an antibiotic on yourself.