New Zealand’s Stuff newspaper has been publishing a series of articles about using CAR T-cell therapy to treat lymphatic cancers. New Zealand has the highest rate of lymphoma in the world. In its zest to promote CAR T-Cell therapy, Stuff is ignoring the cause of New Zealand’s high rate of lymphoma cases.

By comparing Bhutan, which has the lowest rate of lymphoma cases, to New Zealand, Dr. Guy Hatchard suggests that the difference between the two countries is the food supply. The Bhutanese government is actively encouraging organic farming.  New Zealand is going in the opposite direction; the Government intends to raise the allowable glyphosate residue limits on food crops.

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Two Roads Diverged in a Wood

By Dr. Guy Hatchard, May 13, 2025, Hatchard Report

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Sometimes life is actually very simple and the answers are staring us in the face, but someone is being highly paid to make the wrong answer sound preferable.

There was a long article on Monday in Stuff newspaper entitled ‘Given months to live, a businessman looked overseas for treatment. Now he’s cancer free’. It was the first of a series of five to be published this week. The article describes the use of CAR T-cell therapy to treat lymphatic cancer. The author makes a pathetic attempt to give us a balanced view of the pros and cons but, unfortunately, there are glaring omissions which invalidate the suggestion that CAR T-cell therapy is a miracle cure for our rising cancer rates.

The managing director of an Auckland construction firm fell suddenly ill during a family holiday in the Philippines and eventually was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer including a tumour the size of a football. When chemotherapy at Auckland Hospital failed to work, he was able to pay to travel to China to receive CAR T-cell treatment at a total cost of $600,000, (about 50% less than the equivalent cost in Australia).

The therapy involved extracting his white blood cells and then genetically modifying them to detect and consequently attack the cancerous cells that were aggressively multiplying in his physiology. The modified cells were multiplied in a bioreactor and then injected back into his body. Overall, the process took weeks to complete and the current result is a happy one, the patient is in remission and beginning to participate in a more normal life. This kind of result is described as “revolutionary.”

A second Stuff article contains the tragic tale of a New Zealand policeman who, unfortunately, arrived in China too late to stem the tide of his cancer and died. The whole point of the series of articles is “to look at what it will take to embed CAR T-cell therapy into New Zealand’s health system.” Apparently, biotechnology researchers believe that Kiwi ingenuity will devise a cheaper and better system, and they want the government to press the green light for funding to make their company “the Rocket Lab of immunotherapy.” In other words, they want more money.

The Bigger Picture

COST: CAR T-cell treatment is currently limited to lymphatic cancers. However, there are plans to expand its application to other types of blood cancers. Currently, there are approximately 28,000 people in New Zealand diagnosed with cancer each year, around 1,100 (4%) of them with lymphoma. The New Zealand health service spends $800 million each year on cancer treatment. If all lymphoma cases were treated with CAR T-cell therapy, the additional cost would be at the very least $660 million, all of it spent on just 4% of cancer cases.

EFFECTIVENESS: Cancer returns within one year in about half of CAR T-cell patients, necessitating further treatment. The five-year survival rate for recipients is around 40%.

SIDE EFFECTS: These can be severe and even fatal, involving an overreaction of the immune system. This is one reason why the treatment involves a whole team of attending specialists for each patient.

An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure

The big question that the series of articles fails to address is the CAUSE of the rocketing number of cases of lymphoma. New Zealand has the highest rate of lymphoma in the world: 12.5 cases per 100,000. The lowest rate in the world is Bhutan with 0.65 cases per 100,000 (about 20-fold less than New Zealand). So, what does Bhutan have that we don’t? 

Among these, the Bhutanese government actively supports organic agriculture. They have implemented a ‘National Framework for Organic Farming’ since 2007 and have a goal of converting 100% of farms to organic production. The government’s commitment is evident in various initiatives, including the National Organic Flagship Programme and the designation of a National Centre for Organic Agriculture. The programme, worth Bhutanese Ngultrum (Nu.) 1 billion (or USD 12.8 million), is the largest fund in the world as a percentage of GDP dedicated to the organic sector. There have been challenges along the way, but the government is continuing to push ahead because the long-term health and economic benefits are obvious.

New Zealand Is Going in the Opposite Direction

The Ministry for Primary Industries (“MPI”) has announced its intention to raise the allowable glyphosate residue limits on food crops. There has been hardly a whisper in corporate media, but make no mistake – this is a big deal. Read all about it at the No More Glyphosate website. The site goes into depth covering the serious health and agricultural issues. Public submissions (or more properly protests) close this Friday, 16 May, at 5 pm and can be accessed through the site. A petition to parliament, currently with 12,000 signatures, is also linked. 

The move to increase allowable glyphosate levels in our foods is inextricably tied to the deregulation of genetically modified crops proposed by the Gene Technology Bill currently before parliament. Many of these crops will require increased use of glyphosate, necessitating a raised residue limit.

We have a rapidly increasing incidence of cancers, our hospital system is overwhelmed, pesticide and herbicide use is suspected to be linked to cancer incidence, and our government is planning to increase allowable residues. How mad is that? No, not mad, deliberately and criminally putting the commercial objectives of large multinational corporations ahead of public health. 

When you are lost in the bush, what do you do? Try to retrace your steps, not madly plunge further ahead.

When a contractor fails to complete the work or deceives you, what do you do? Change contractors.

The current government appears determined to degrade our food supply. We are rapidly reaching a public health tipping point. There is no other sensible approach except wholesale rejection, determined opposition and a personal agenda to drastically improve our health habits.

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Guy Hatchard, PhD, is a New Zealander who was formerly a senior manager at Genetic ID, a global food testing and safety company (now known as FoodChain ID). 

Featured image is from The Expose

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