The Future of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer

Fredi Kronenberg The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New YorkUSACorrespondence[email protected]

, Ph.D.,

Janet Mindes The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New YorkUSA

, Ph.D. &

Judith S. Jacobson Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health; and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10032, USA; The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Columbia University, New York, New YorkUSA

, Dr.P.H.

Abstract

This article explores why cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), why CAM use should be of interest to physicians who treat cancer patients, and how physicians may appropriately support their patients' quest for comfort, quality of life, and healing. We use the term “CAM” to refer to substances and practices that have been available primarily outside of the American medical mainstream, that have sources other than medical doctors and allied health care providers, and that are not commonly recommended by medical doctors as treatments for a given condition. Alternative treatments are those used instead of conventional medicine; complementary treatments are those used in addition to conventional medicine.

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The Future of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer

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The Future of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer

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