until this time patients supposedly "cured" of cancer by herbal medicines remain anonymous(?) thus these alternative herbal concoctions linger unsubstantiated in the scientific clinical studies...and the government isn't keen in pursuing, is it?

Not true.

In the US there is the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is part of the National Institute of Health:

NCCAM
http://nccam.nih.gov/

The mission is to establish the efficacy
of whole medical systems, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic, Naturopathy, Homeopathy as well as other cultures medicines. They study supplements, herbals, diets, accupuncture, reflexology, minerals, vitamins, meditation, yoga . . all of it.

They conduct research and offer Clinical Trials to patients.

List of ongoing or completed Clinical Trials
http://nccam.nih.gov/clinicaltrials/alltrials.htm

Research is ongoing. You can find results of completed studies at Entrez Pubmed which is a part of the National Library of Medicine:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed

National Cancer Institute: Essiac/Flor•Essence Report
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/essiac/HealthProfessional

So startling was the effectiveness of this simple herbal remedy, that it could not be ignored, and the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Parliament became involved. Friends, former patients, and grateful families petitioned Canadian officialdom for Rene Caisse's right to administer the remedy to anyone who asked for it without the threat of interference from the authorities. Fifty five thousand signatures were collected on the petition. In 1938, Essiac came within three votes of being legalized by the Ontario government as a natural remedy for terminal cancer patients. The story of Rene Caisse, her life, her work, and the effectiveness of the remedy she named Essiac, is told in a book “Calling of an Angel” by Dr. Gary Glum of Los Angeles.

http://www.cancer-solutions.net/DrGlumInterview.htm