Cancer survival enhanced by complementary therapies
Evidence reported in a study just published in Current Oncology Reports demonstrates that appropriate complementary therapies, beyond improving symptoms and quality of life, prolong cancer survival. The authors note:
"Cancer survivorship has become a topic of great interest in the past few years. Unfortunately, even with successful treatment as well as good follow-up care, many patients continue to experience unmet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs as well as having an unsettling fear, fear of recurrence, a fear which most survivors share, even many years after their treatment ended. As a result, patients are continually looking for additional ways to address these needs and fears. Among the most popular approach is the use of complementary and integrative medicine (CIM). Most studies on CIM use among cancer patients and survivors concentrate on symptom improvement and improvement of quality of life and do not touch a crucial question if these therapies can affect patients’ survival in terms of prolongation of life."
They compiled data from a collection of studies that assessed the use of nutrition and nutritional supplements, mind–body interventions, physical activity, and combined CAM approaches in cancer patients to assess the cancer survival benefit and found:
"Interestingly, in recent years, there are a growing number of studies that suggest that approaches such as mind-body interventions, enhanced general nutrition, nutritional supplements, physical activity, and other CIM approaches may have a positive effect on survival of cancer patients. Although additional studies are needed to confirm these findings, given the low cost of these CIM interventions, their minimal risk, and the potential magnitude of their effects, these approaches might be considered as additional important tools to integrate into cancer survivorship care plans."
More than reducing symptoms and improving quality of life
Lead author Moshe Frenkel, MD, chair of the Israeli Society of Complementary Medicine and founder of the Integrative Oncology Clinic at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, quoted in Medscape Medical News states:
"At times, these modalities can actually have a survival effect that could be similar to conventional care...In the academic arena, complementary therapies are known to be used to reduce symptom intensity and improve quality of life during and after cancer treatments." He and his colleagues "wanted to change this view a bit, and increase the awareness that complementary and integrative medicine can affect survival."
Major effect on cancer survival
Dr. Frenkel further stated to Medscape Medical News:
"This is a point that most integrative oncologists do not emphasize...There is actually quite good evidence from multiple studies that suggest that these therapies — including nutrition, certain supplements, physical activity, and stress reduction — actually do have a major effect on survival."
Clinical note: Besides common sense lifestyle measures such as wholesome nutrition, physical exercise, smoking cessation, stress reduction with guided imagery, mindfulness meditation, and yoga, etc. specific choices for other interventions, including nutritional supplements, a 'try this, try that' approach should be avoided and management guided by targeting genuine needs as indicated by the appropriate objective laboratory tests.