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Summary

You have many choices to make about your cancer treatment. One choice you might be thinking about is complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM is the term for medical products and practices that are not part of standard care. Examples of CAM therapies are acupuncture, chiropractic, and herbal medicines.

People with cancer may use CAM to:

• Help cope with the side effects of cancer treatments
• Ease worries of cancer treatment and related stress
• Feel that they are doing something more to help their own care

CAM treatments do not work for everyone. Some methods, such as acupuncture, might help with nausea, pain and other side effects of cancer treatment. Talk to your doctor to make sure that all aspects of your cancer care work together.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Start Here

• Cancer and Complementary Health Approaches: What You Need To Know (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) Also in Spanish
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine (National Cancer Institute)
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Patients (National Cancer Institute)
• Complementary and Integrative Methods (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• PDQ Cancer Information Summaries: Integrative, Alternative, and Complementary Therapies (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Talking about Complementary and Alternative Medicine with Your Health Care Providers: A Workbook and Tips (National Cancer Institute) - PDF

Related Issues

• 6 Things to Know When Selecting a Complementary Health Practitioner (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) Also in Spanish
• Cancer Therapy Interactions with Foods and Dietary Supplements (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Dietary Supplements (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• Finding Cancer Information on the Internet (American Cancer Society)
• Products Claiming to "Cure" Cancer Are a Cruel Deception (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• 6 Things To Know About Massage Therapy for Health Purposes (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
• 714-X (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Acupuncture (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Alternative Cancer Treatments: 11 Options to Consider (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Antineoplastons (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Aromatherapy with Essential Oils (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Cancell/Cantron/Protocel (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Cannabis and Cannabinoids (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Cartilage (Bovine and Shark) (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Coenzyme Q10 (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Essiac/Flor Essence (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Gerson Therapy (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Hydrazine Sulfate (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Hyperthermia to Treat Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Laetrile/Amygdalin (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Milk Thistle (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Mistletoe Extracts (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Newcastle Disease Virus (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• PC-SPES (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Popular Diets, Supplements, and Cancer (National Cancer Institute)
• Spirituality in Cancer Care (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Cancer Alternative Therapies (National Institutes of Health)
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine Cancer Clinical Trials (Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Quality Assessment of YouTube Videos on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)...
• Article: Education about complementary and alternative medicine in cancer self-help groups by...
• Article: Communication and information about complementary medicine in a Dutch oncology setting:...
• Cancer Alternative Therapies -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Dictionary of Cancer Terms (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• American Cancer Society
• Find a NCCAOM Certified Practitioner (National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine)
• National Cancer Institute Also in Spanish
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

Patient Handouts

• Integrative medicine for cancer treatment (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish