The cancer survivor and complementary health approaches

Abstract

There is evidence that the use of complementary health approaches (CHAs), especially for pediatric cancer survivors, is increasing. Research examining the usefulness and efficacy of various practices is still developing, but is showing increased acceptance in the lay population as well as in the medical community. However, while these practices can be thought of as benign, they have the potential for being misused, may interact with conventional medication, and require an understanding of the mechanisms underlying these practices. Furthermore, patients often do not fully appreciate the potential impact of these methods on their medical care, and in many instances, withhold information from their primary care and specialty physicians either because they do not feel that the methods are important enough or forget to disclose, or feel that their provider may discount its use. This chapter reviews the key literature on studies that pertain to CHAs that have been utilized in the cancer survivor population, with discussion regarding use with children when available. Many of the available research studies are lacking in strong methodology; therefore, have limited generalizability. We will discuss the background of the methods, review the available clinical trials, offer summary of efficacy, review risks and benefits, and provide the practitioner with resources. It is our goal to provide the practitioner with a better understanding of the various approaches so that they may be active in their patients’ decision-making process of including these promising techniques that may provide some additional benefit to improve overall quality of life and psychological well-being.