Melanoma
Lowell  B. Taubman  MD

The following is the unedited conversation with Peter Grimes of UPN FOX TV.


Q: What is your knowledge about Cancer?

A: I do not claim to be an expert in Dermatology or Cancer, but I am a Board Certified Internist which is a specialist in Internal Medicine, and I also completed an extra 2 years of training in Geriatric Medicine.

Q: You are also a big Reggae fan. Did you follow the Bob Marlet Story? Please tell me about your knowledge.

A: I first heard Bob Marley in college, and I was asked to write an article about Bob Marley's Cancer/Malignant Melanoma. Some of the issues I addressed were genetic transmission, black vs. white incidence, could the CIA have given or transmitted the Cancer, could the Melanoma have been injected into Bob, and finally could trauma (hurting your toe) cause Melanoma.

Q: How common is Melanoma in a black person?

A: There are different types of Melanoma. Bob had a form which was exceedingly rare. 7% of Melanomas are the Lentigenous type,. Bob had the classical type of Melanoma that is found in black people. Bob's father was white and that was an issue with many people. Bob's Melanoma was the type that is found in people of African descent. His Melanoma presented as a macule or spot on his great toenail. This spot can look like a black and blue spot and frequently they are neglected. An individual might think that they might have inadvertently stubed their toe. Bob Marley's nail partially came off while playing soccer in France, and was treated by a physician there.

Q: What is the treatment for this sort of thing, and did he follow the treatment?

A: I should say that I have not seen the medical records, nor have spoken to the physician. Bob's Melanoma was seen and treated by a physician who probably used Lidocaine for pain control. The nail was removed. I cannot say whether the Melanoma was diagnosed or misdiagnosed appropriately, because there are some flat Melanomas. If the Melanoma was under the fingernail, it can grow down much worse than originally anticipated. The hard nail acts as a barrier, so the skin cancer grows downwards. I cannot tell what advise the physician gave Bob Marley at that time.

Q: So you cannot speak with any authority on what the treatment was or how he should have been treated.

A: Well, in the later stages I could. Most likely I cannot say when the exact diagnosis was made in 1977, but from what I have read amputation was sugested and was refused by Bob. Once again, speculation, based on Bob's beliefs, and Bob's following of the Bible, amputation was not in agreement with Rastafarian
doctrine.

Q: Well, you know it has been suggested by his manager, Don Taylor, who has published a book, that the French physician injected Bob with Melanoma, and 30 days after he received the injection the diagnosis was confirmed as malignancy. How long after this did he die?

A: Approximately 3 years, Melanoma sometimes is a slow progressive disease, and can have a 50 %mortality rate despite adequate treatment.

Q: What do you think about this? Can someone inject Melanoma into someone?

A: Well, to the best of my knowledge, it is not possible. I will try to simplify this. If I give you a piece of my tissue to you, your body will reject it. So you cannot take Cancer from one person and inject it into another person. Let me clarify that. It's sort of like a heart transplant. For immunological reasons, the body would reject the implanted tissue/heart. Science has now figured out a way to block the tissue rejection with strong medications.

In 1977 when Bob developed his Melanoma, tissue rejection and transplantation was a new field of science. If Bob was injected with Melanoma his body would not have recognized it, thereby it would be walled off so it would not spread.

Q: It is known that Joseph Issles had Nazi connections. What is your scientific opinion about Nazi medical research.

A: That is another issue, and not pertinent to Bob's Melanoma. Bob's disease was rapidly progressing, and it was not treated in regular 20th century fashion. Let me just state for the record, I am not opposed to alternative medicine. Bob was treated with a holistic, conservative treatment, and Bob paid the price. First of all, it is not possible to give cancer through a shot. Holistic care probably did not help Bob. This "natural treatment" did not prevent his death. I feel it was Bob's choice to treat Melanoma as it was treated. It was based on his religious beliefs. I feel Bob's clinical course or his demise was due to Bob's choice and the natural course of his illness. In other words most likely the several physicians who saw him both in Jamaica and in the USA recommended amputation of his toe, if not his foot. I cannot say what was going through Bob's mind, nor was I present, nor did I see the physician's progress notes, but I feel that, he felt that, through the power of the Most High, he would persevere and survive this illness, based on the beliefs, i.e., the Bible, that by not cutting off his foot. He was in compliance with his religious beliefs and Jah's mission. The Hasidic Jewish people also believe in having the body being buried whole. this probably has the same Biblical interpretation.

Q: How plausible is it that someone injected Bob Marley with Melanoma to cause his death?

A: I do not know everything about all the underground private, sector, private funding and clandestine research, but it is highly implausible that Bob Marley was injected with Melanoma which caused his death. This is the type of material that science fiction books are written about.

Of Course, I was not present, so there is always a one in a billion possibility that this scenario occurred. Besides the Medical implausibility, the reason I feel so strongly against the theory that the CIA injected Bob with Malignant Melanoma cells is that Bob's cells would have fought them off and rejected the melanoma. To the best of my knowledge Cancer can not be transmitted by an injection, as opposed to AIDS or other Viral Syndromes which can be. Based on my knowledge of Immunology, the body would wall off the offending Antigen and reject it. there are ways to overcome the rejection process such as Radiation, Steroids, and other immunotherapy, but this did not occur in Bob's case. With 1999 DNA knowledge and current immunological knowledge many medical miracles are possible, but in 1977, this was highly unlikely.

Q: Did Bob Marley have to die?

A: There are a few different ways to look at that. The is a spiritual way, and Medical way. Did Jesus have to die? That's just the way the scenario played out. It was probably Bob Marley's decision and the Rastafarian elders belief that Chemotherapy, amputation, or surgery was not the path to proceed.

In the later stages of his illness, when Bob went to the larger city Hospitals, it was too late. Bob received radiation and his dreadlocks fell out. I'm sure the Doctors prepared Bob for this, as best as they knew how. After this Bob, choose not to stick with Taditional/Babylon Medicine and that is why he choose not to stick with traditional Medicine. Bob Went to Germany where he received coffee enemas and painful injections to no avail. Bob choose unfortunately (and I cannot legitimately speak for Bob) to continue living his life. He probably felt significant pain, physical and emotional, in the later stages of his illness but it was too late to reverse the Mastastasis.

I do not want to come off as a person who is gaining notoriety about Bob, but I was approached about my expertise on Bob Marley. In my professional opinion, early aggressive intervention probably would have saved his life. If a cancerous Melanoma is caught in the very early stages, a combination of chemotherapy and Surgery could be curative. It was Bob's decision not to follow this path.

To summarize what was said, it was highly unlikely that Bob was injected with Melanoma that caused his Cancer, and if it was treated with traditional Medicine, he possibly might still be alive, but unfortunately, in people of African descent, and Bobs' particular type of Melanoma the acro (foot) lentiginous type grows downwards, and it spreads out. (and rapid) One can not really say how well, Bob would have done if he had an early amputation.

The nail is hard so the Cancer cannot grow through it.

Q: To reiterate the question regarding the conspiracy theories of Bob Marley, i.e., the CIA, bob chose not to treat the Melanoma traditionally and that probably cost him his life.

A: Unfortunately, the melanoma did cause Bob Marley his life, but he did have his work cut out for him, and he consciously chose that course, to complete his family and his albums and actively bring Reggae Music and the teaching of Rastafari to the world, which was actually his mission.

Q: You are a scientist and a hard core Bob Marley fan. How do you see this entire matter? Isn't it a waste of talent, and didn't he make these choices on his own? Indirectly, Bob had a killer in his in his body and he choose not to get rid of it.

Here is a guy who had something wrong with him and did not take steps to clear it up,

A. The Melanoma probably was diagnosed a bit late. I do not know whether the Physician sent off the nail or of the surrounding tissues for a biopsy. The odds are he did not. If someone saw me as a Physician, who had a dislodged nail or a toe injury sustained while playing soccer, and it did not appear normal, a pathological specimen would be sent to a local pathologist at a laboratory. Bob was seen in a French Hotel probably by a local Physician. If the correct treatment and correct diagnosis was institute immediately, Bob would probably be alive, Unfortunately for a lot of reasons, such as Religion, Bob's choices, and maybe professional advise, he is not. I cannot state what was going through Bob's head, but he probably felt his work, his message, his culture, his Religious beliefs, took precedence over dealing with his illness in a traditional fashion.

Q: Do you think the CIA killed Bob Marley?

A: No, I do not, but they were closely monitoring his activities, as many others, and saw his potential. The CIA has file on Bob Marley as previously published but it is essentially impossible to transmit Melanoma via an injection.

Q: Is there anything out there that you want the public to know about getting check ups or anything about Melanoma?

A: I actually addressed this issue twice in the Beat magazine to Bob's family, and anybody with a suspicious brownish/blackish lesion should see their Internist, and then be referred to a Dermatologist if necessary. Another issue I addressed is that marijuana does not cause Melanoma. Trauma also does not cause Melanoma.

Q: to sum it up, Bob Marley did not seek Medical help and died at the age of 36. He was a loved person and people look for answers, but the truth is he did not seek Medical help?

A: Bob had his own beliefs, and in the Bible there are some passages that indirectly say that a knife should not cut a piece of the body of, and I believe that that was going through his mind.

Q: Did Bob make his own choices?

A: Bob had advise from friends and loved ones, but did make his own choices. I cannot say if Bob realized how serious his illness was. I also cannot say of he believed he was going to die. He believed in Jah. (And if he did foresee the future, which he probably did, He knew it was Jah's way)

Q: As a fan, does it bother you that this is the way it is?

A: He knew he had to get his message across, and if he didn't choose this way, we might not have received his last 3 albums. He perused his work instead of his treatments and thereby spread Jah's message.