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Cancer Treatment Cancer Treatment Options: Options:
Complementary and Complementary and Alternative MedicineAlternative Medicine
Where Health Care Professionals Go for Information
Review Date 2/12O-0567
Contributed by Jason Machowsky, MS, RD, CDN, CSCS
This presentation provides general information about cancer treatment options. Consult with your health care professional if you have any questions or for additional information because each case is unique.
Where Health Care Professionals Go for Information
Complementary and Alternative Treatment
•Acupuncture•Chinese herbal medicine•Homeopathy•Dietary approaches•Energy medicine•Massage and reflexology•Mind-body medicine
Acupuncture
•Generally safe if performed properly•May potentially help with:
– Symptoms of nausea and vomiting– Pain– Shortness of breath/breathlessness
Chinese Herbal Medicine
•Holistic system of medicinal herbs, acupuncture, food therapy, massage, and therapeutic exercise
•Studied in reference to advanced pancreatic cancer—efficacy not established in clinical trials
•Potential liver/kidney damage related to interactions of herbs with other drugs taken
Homeopathy
•Based on the idea of “treating like with like”
•Involves taking diluted remedies to stimulate the body to heal itself
•Little evidence showing efficacy of homeopathy in cancer treatment
•Few risks involved, unless used in place of standard cancer therapy
Dietary Approaches
•Many proposals and studies of dietary approaches to treat cancer or its symptoms exist, but efficacy of most of these is not proven and some even carry safety risks
•Ornish diet when paired with exercise, stress management, and group support shows the most potential, especially for improvement of quality of life
Dietary Approaches (cont’d)
•The following interventions may have a positive effect in certain cases, but still may have side effects: – Melatonin– Shiitake– Certain vitamin E derivatives
Energy Medicine
•Qigong: – Aims to regulate the flow of vital energy– Shown to have positive results for
symptom management, but study quality is considered poor
– No serious side effects
Energy Medicine
•Reiki: – Energy healing used as a supportive or
palliative treatment– Little evidence showing effectiveness– No serious side effects noted
Herbal Products
•Many proposals and studies of herbal approaches to treat cancer or its symptoms exist, but efficacy of most of these is not proven and some even carry safety risks
•Interventions may have a positive effect in certain cases, but may still have side effects
Herbal Products (cont’d)
•Side effects may include:– Cannabinoids: Has mild analgesic effect
and may help reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting
– Garlic: May help reduce the risk of certain cancers
– Ginseng: May help with cancer-related fatigue
– Mistletoe extract: May have anticancer activity
Massage
•Massage may:– Improve quality of life– Decrease pain, nausea, anxiety, stress,
fatigue, anger, and depression in those with cancer, though study quality is poor
– Generally considered safe
Reflexology
•Reflexology:– Involves manual pressure to certain
areas of the body, usually the feet, which may correspond to certain internal organs
– Insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness
– Generally safe
Mind-Body Medicine
•Hypnotherapy:– May reduce cancer therapy-related pain,
nausea, vomiting, and anxiety– Minimal risks– Caution for those with significant mental
health issues
Mind-Body Medicine (cont’d)
•Progressive muscle relaxation:– Sequential contraction and relaxation of
major muscle groups– Effectiveness inconclusive– Generally safe– Caution for those with psychiatric
disorders
Mind-Body Medicine (cont’d)
•Autogenic therapy:– Mental exercises designed to turn off the
stress response– Effectiveness inconclusive– Generally safe
Mind-Body Medicine (cont’d)
•Biofeedback:– Learning how to change physiologic
activity to improve health– Effectiveness inconclusive– Generally safe
References and Resources
American Cancer Society®. Treatment types. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/index. Accessed February 23, 2012.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer Consortium (CAM-Cancer),. CAM Summaries. Available at: http://www.cam-cancer.org/CAM-Summaries. Accessed February 23, 2012.
For more references and resources on cancer, visit the Onocolgy Center at http://rd411.com/.