Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Cancer Treatment

Complementary and alternative treatments for cancer are becoming more widely used. Here is some basic information to help you evaluate treatment options.

What is complementary and alternative medicine?

How are complementary and alternative treatments evaluated?

What should patients do when considering complementary and alternative therapies?

Where can I learn more about complementary and alternative therapies?

1. What is complementary and alternative Medicine?

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) -- also referred to as integrative Medicine -- includes a broad range of healing philosophies, approaches, and therapies. A therapy is generally called complementary when it is used in addition to conventional treatments; it is often called alternative when it is used instead of conventional treatment. (Conventional treatments are those that are widely accepted and practiced by the mainstream medical community.) Depending on how they are used, some therapies can be considered either complementary or alternative.

Complementary and alternative therapies are used in an effort to prevent illness, reduce stress, prevent or reduce side effects and symptoms, or control or cure disease. Some commonly used methods of complementary or alternative therapy include mind/body control interventions such as visualization or relaxation, manual healing including acupressure and massage, Homeopathy, vitamins or herbal products, and acupuncture.

2. How are complementary and alternative treatments evaluated?

Scientific evaluation is important in understanding if and when complementary and alternative therapies work. A number of medical centers are evaluating complementary and alternative therapies by developing scientific studies to test them.

Conventional approaches to cancer treatment have generally been studied for safety and effectiveness through a rigorous scientific process, including clinical trials with large numbers of patients. Often, less is known about the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative methods. Some of these complementary and alternative therapies have not undergone rigorous evaluation. Others, once considered unorthodox, are finding a place in cancer treatment -- not as cures, but as complementary therapies that may help patients feel better and recover faster. One example is acupuncture. According to a panel of experts at a National Institutes of health Consensus Conference in November 1997, acupuncture has been found to be effective in the management of chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting and in controlling pain associated with surgery.

3. What should patients do when considering complementary and alternative therapies?

Cancer patients considering complementary and alternative Medicine should discuss this decision with their doctor or nurse, as they would any therapeutic approach, because some complementary and alternative therapies may interfere with their standard treatment or may be harmful when used with conventional treatment.

You can ask your health care provider the following questions:

What benefits can be expected from this therapy?
What are the risks associated with this therapy?
Do the known benefits outweigh the risks?
What side effects can be expected?
Will the therapy interfere with conventional treatment?
Will the therapy be covered by health insurance?

4. Where can people learn more about complementary and alternative therapies?

Patients and their doctors or nurses can learn about complementary and alternative therapies from the following government agencies: The NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) facilitates research and evaluation of complementary and alternative practices and has information about a variety of methods. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates drugs and medical devices to ensure that they are safe and effective.