Muscular Development, Vol 12, No 1, Page 24, January 1975
The Demise Of Tom Sansone
THE TRAGIC NEWS shocked us!
Tom Sansone, Mr. America of 1958 died . . . and still only in his thirties. It just couldn't be we thought; Tom, we heard, was always in fairly good shape, rugged and strong.
It was late July when we first heard that Tom was in hard training and making the kind of gains that every weight trainee strives to achieve. But something wasn't right. Tom used to complain about internal pain and it bothered him considerably for months, all the while growing more intense. He then got a medical checkup which proved that one kidney was badly infected and there were other complications. But the doctors couldn't even guess the seriousness of his condition because even at this stage Tom was indeed a massive, muscular specimen and terminal cancer was the farthest thing from their minds. An exploratory operation was suggested to determine the seriousness of the condition and to mend the kidney if possible.
What they found was not very encouraging. One kidney was removed, part of his lungs had to be cut away and there some complications about Tom's heart.
Yet for a time, Tom seemed to rally. He came out of the operation in fine shape and those who visited him after his surgery said he looked great and looked like he would make it. He had none of the "dragged out, drawn feeling" that most people who undergo surgery show, especially those who undergo major surgery. Everyone who saw Tom felt that after another few days rest, he would be on the road to complete recovery. Even the doctors were optimistic although they did inform Tom that he had cancer, then adding that they felt sure they removed all the infected areas and that his chances for complete recovery were excellent.
A short time later we received a call from a concerned friend who said that Tom's case was terminal and that it was only a matter of weeks. This was hard news to accept and we felt sure that it was only a rumor, an error, so we promptly forgot it. Instead we expected to hear news of how Tom was back in training again and making good progress in his training. So it was with some shock that the tragic news of Tom's death on October 16th hit us. We were really disturbed and the news was most difficult to accept but facts are facts and there was no way we could alter them.
The sad details of Tom's death could not be pieced together immediately, and even now the facts are not clear except that Tom was just another cancer victim in spite of his massiveness and muscularity.
As many readers may recall, Tom began training as a teenager and during the early 50s he made an impact in physique contests around New York City. By mid-summer of 1956 he developed sufficiently enough to win the Mr. New York City title, which was always of great importance. Two years later he entered and won the Mr. America contest, which proved to be another great achievement for him. Then London was the scene for two more great victories. In 1963 he won the amateur Mr. Universe crown there and sometime later he went back to garner the professional title.
That, to our knowledge, was the last time that Tom participated in a physique contest, although we had heard that he always stayed in great shape, since working in a health studio afforded him a better opportunity than any other vocation. However, we had heard rumors that Tom smoked a lot and was addicted to using tissue building drugs - steroids. When he was hospitalized we heard more of such rumors. If Tom was a steroid user, and there was evidence to prove that he did take anabolics, there can be no doubt that this contributed to his untimely death at 38 years of age. The sad facts remain that while steroids can and do stimulate tissue growth, these steroids are unable to differentiate between benign and malignant cells and the reaction is the same on both...stimulating and encouraging growth! [THIS IS FALSE]
It's very possible that Tom's internal system harbored cancer cells that laid dormant and just waiting for a catalyst of some sort to send them off on a tangent, and such a catalyst is the anabolic drug - steroids.
It's really sad and kind of frightening to think what some bodybuilders will do just to gain a couple extra pounds or put on an extra quarter-inch of muscle here and there. Dedication is fine, but to try and build your body at the risk of losing your life is downright idiotic!
It's really unfortunate that anyone should be so rock-headed as to assume that he can beat the odds, although he may . . . for a time. Eventually, however, it will get to him and then what would be the purpose of all that training, sweating and sacrificing when, in the end, he winds up dead and all he leaves behind are some unpaid bills!
Tom's is not an isolated case. It's happened before and continues to happen but little is heard about them. One of our men (some years ago) started taking these drugs without supervision and for no apparent reason except, "I feel better when taking them" he said. This "better" feeling didn't last too long, however, because the cancer cells which were lying dormant in his lower duodenum started to grow, stimulated by the anabolics he took and hastened his demise!
Actually in his case his muscles or strength never responded very much to the drug, and when he finally underwent surgery, he never recovered, leaving this mortal coil with nothing but a big hospital and doctor bill. Moreover, had he survived long enough to see himself, and to see exactly how much size he lost aver undergoing surgery, I am sure that this would have made him turn over and die for he could never stand to lose even one-eighth of an inch anywhere. In his case he lost everything, everywhere and all his previous efforts for years went for naught! Whatta utter waste of time and effort!
Don't let it happen to you. Leave all drugs alone and train sensibly. It may take a little longer but you won't be running any great risks.
PHOTO CAPTIONS
- Some exercise pictures selected from the Tom Sansone file, all of which were taken during the time he wrote and posed for his Mr. America series in S&H magazine.
- An impressive pose of the late Tom Sansone.
- Tom as he worked in one of the health studios instructing one of the students.
Muscular Development, Vol 12, No 3, Page 7, May 1975
Mail From Muscledom
To the Staff of MD:
I have just read your article on "The Demise of Tom Sansone" and I must take exception to the entire premise of your story. If you wanted to pay tribute to Tom's memory, you should have gotten in touch with someone who knows the true story at first hand and not someone with hearsay information.
Tom was first stricken with a pain in the left kidney area in June 1974 and not months before. He immediately went through a series of tests which showed a tumor had grown around the kidney - an infection it wasn't. Subsequent tests showed it had already spread to the Vena Cava and into the chamber of the heart as well as both lungs. A lung biopsy showed that the cancerous tissue was a type of childhood tumor called Wilm's Tumor, somewhat common in children and less common in adults. The mother cell are based in the kidney and had spread from there.
The doctors knew from the onset what it was so whoever told you they "couldn't even guess" was all wrong. There was no exploratory operation. The doctors, some of the best in the United States, decided to remove the kidney, clean out the Vena Cava (a major vein from the kidney area) and perform open heart surgery. They couldn't do any radical lung surgery at all. They treated the lung tumor with chemicals.
For you to try to convince people not to use questionable medicine and drugs is commendable but to have readers infer that Tom died because you think or heard he used steroids borders on libel. To print rumors or innuendo that Tom was "addicted" to steroids in unforgivable and the lowest form of journalism not to mention defamation of character.
I can tell you right now that the only "addiction" he had was to desiccated liver tablets, vitamins and wholesome foods. He also consumed huge quantities of milk.
Following your questionable "logic", these wholesome foods may have acted as the "catalyst for stimulating and encouraging growth". Taken one step further we can also assume that the hundreds of children who die yearly from Wilm's Tumor also used steroids and that we may expect thousands of men and women to die from the same tumor because there doctors prescribed steroids for their various ills. Your premise is totally absurd and downright idiotic.
It is really unfortunate that you could be so rock-headed to print unfounded rumors and uneducated guesses to defame a man who is loved and respected by all who knew him.
What makes you think you know the cause of cancer when the brightest minds in medical science do not know?
I was with Tom throughout most of his life and with him daily during his ordeal and we tried to figure out what the trigger was for this disease. We couldn't come up with any evidence either.
I hope you have the courage and good sense to print this letter in its entirety even though you may be pictured as a misinformed and unprofessional in your journalistic approach to researching an article.
Looking forward to reading your magazine, I remain, Tom's brother.
Joseph Sansone
E. Northport, N.Y.
The facts concerning the death of Tom Sansone, Mr. America 1958, as given by his brother Joseph, certainly must be correct. We sincerely regret that our information came from three reporters, none of whom were sufficiently experienced in properly verifying there information.
Joseph's letter should clear up and doubts and give readers the actual facts which differ from MD's unintentional and seemingly unfair account. - Editor
Thirty years later, there is no evidence that anabolic steroids cause or contribute to cancer.
