A recent US study of more than 350,000 patients showed that cancer sufferers are twice as likely to turn towards complementary medicine as people suffering from other conditions. Every second British cancer patient uses some form of alternative treatment, often at considerable expense. Such findings raise a number of important questions.
Why do so many cancer patients try treatments that are unproven? One of the most prominent reasons must be desperation. Imagine you are faced with a diagnosis of cancer; after recovering from the initial shock, would you not explore your options? And once you did that, you would find yourself bombarded with information on complementary medicine, much of it less than reliable and some outright dangerous.
The Dutch actress Sylvia Millecam was one of those unfortunate cancer patients who trusted the claims made by providers of alternative cures for cancer. She refused conventional treatment and opted to use dozens of different alternative treatments - anything from faith healing to salt therapy. She died only two years later of cancer that could well have been curable. This case alarmed the Dutch authorities who have reported six of her "alternative" practitioners to the prosecution services and are calling for a change in the law regulating such practices. In the UK, the health minister, John Hutton, has recently announced a similar "crack down" on rogue therapists. Cancer patients want to believe in anyone who offers hope and so arevulnerable to misleading claims.
The vast majority of cancer patients, however, use complementary medicine not as a substitute for but as an adjunct to conventional care. About 50% still hope that such treatments will work.
So, do complementary therapies cure cancer? The harsh but truthful answer is, no. There are dozens of alternative treatments promising a cure. Not for a single one is there convincing evidence that it rids the body of cancer cells or prolongs life. Several recent studies even suggest that cancer patients who use complementary medicine die earlier than those who don't.
If we think of it rationally, an alternative cancer cure is not likely to ever exist - as soon as, for instance, a herbal remedy shows any promise, conventional researchers investigate it. Only a few months later, the treatment becomes mainstream. This has happened before: Taxol originates from the yew tree and Vincristine from the common periwinkle. Both are potent anti-cancer drugs which ceased to have anything to do with traditional herbal medicine once their anti-cancer potential had been identified. An alternative cancer cure is a contradiction in terms.
Does this mean that complementary medicine has no role to play in cancer? No. Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, hypnotherapy, relaxation techniques and massage can be very useful. These treatments are not aimed at a cure but at relieving suffering. Cancer patients often suffer from pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, nausea, insomnia and many other such symptoms.
Some complementary therapies can help reduce such complaints and thus improve quality of life significantly. Many dedicated therapists do a tremendous job in helping cancer patients. Sadly it is often the irresponsible and fraudulent side of complementary cancer care that makes the headlines and brings the responsible and valuable aspects into disrepute.
Meanwhile, cancer patients are often left high and dry. Most oncologists understand very little about complementary therapies. Patients therefore turn towards other sources of information, such as books for lay people, or the internet. (There are more than half a million sites offering information). But both lay books and internet sites can be misleading. Patients find it hard to distinguish between fraudulent, misleading or reliable sources. As a result, they are at risk.
What can be done? Always discuss these matters with your healthcare team. Having secrets about complementary medicine is never prudent and sometimes dangerous. Second, rely on trustworthy sources. Third, remember the potentially life-saving principle: that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
· Edzard Ernst is professor of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School at the universities of Exeter and Plymouth. Further information: Rosenthal DS. American Cancer Society's Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Methods.
