Atheist Christopher Hitchens turns to evangelical Christian doctor in his fight against cancer



The last person you might expect Christopher Hitchens, one of the world’s best known atheists, to turn to for help would be an evangelical Christian.

But a highly religious doctor might be the only individual who can help the author and journalist who is suffering from cancer.

Dr Francis Collins, the former director of the National Human Genome Research Project was one part of the team which developed techniques to map out the entire human DNA make-up is using Hitchens as a guinea pig for a new treatment.

Friends: Atheist Christopher Hitchens, left, is being treated by Christian Dr Francis Collins using a new technique of DNA mapping to tackle the mutated DNA directly



Hitchens, author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, has had his genome mapped out in its entirety by taking DNA from healthy tissue and from his cancerous tumour.

On each sample six billion DNA matches were run, in order to catalogue the mutations in the cancerous cells which had given Hitchens cancer of the oesophagus.

Then in the New Year Dr Collins found a mutation and went about tackling the DNA directly.

He discovered that a drug already existed to treat the particular mutation and now Hitchens takes just one tablet a day, rather than undergoing gruelling chemotherapy.

Hitchens, 61, told London’s Daily Telegraph: ‘I’m an experiment.

‘These are early stages, but in theory it should attack the primary site of the tumour.

Authors: The duo have both written books about God. Hitchens said of Dr Collins: 'I won’t say he doesn’t pray for me, because I think he probably does.'

‘If that does happen, it won’t just be good news for me, it will be very exciting in the general treatment of cancer.’

The unlikely alliance between the Christian and Atheist formed when the pair used to debate each other about whether God existed, leading to the two becoming friends.

Dr Collins, who is director of America’s National Institutes of Health, has authored his own book on religion’s role in medicine: The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

Hitchens added: ‘It is a rather wonderful relationship.

‘I won’t say he doesn’t pray for me, because I think he probably does; but he doesn’t discuss it with me.



'He agrees that his medical experience does not include anything that could be described as a miracle cure'

‘He agrees that his medical experience does not include anything that could be described as a miracle cure.’

Hitchens, a prominent Atheist, he refused to change his views on religion even after his diagnosis in June 2010.

He said he finds the new treatment very exciting.

‘At least it spares me some of the boredom of being a cancer patient because what I’m going through is very absorbing and positively inspiring,’ he said. ‘But if it doesn’t work, I don’t know what they could try next.’

He added that during his treatment he was constantly contacted by other atheists sending him positive messages.

‘I get a huge number of letters and emails every day, a lot of them from people I don’t know, and they quite often say things like, “If anyone can beat this, it’s you”, “Cancer is a fool to take you on”… Jaunty, upbeat stuff like that.

'A lot of people, because of my contempt for the false consolations of religion, think of me as a symbolic public opponent of that in extremis. And sometimes that makes me feel a bit alarmed, to be the repository of other people’s hope.’