Integrative Medicine for Patients with Cancer Concerns: Prevention, Treatment, and Post-Treatment Issues

Usual cancer care involves surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormonal or targeted therapy. Our “toolbox” adds personalized diet, nutritional and herbal supplements, lifestyle, mind-body tools, and testing to characterize the tumor and find potential therapeutic targets. Our approach to cancer care focuses primarily on treating the patient and the intricate web of interactions between the patient and the cancer. We support the judicious use of conventional treatments monitored by an oncologist, but also recognize that conventional treatments “do not modify the complex distortion of the physiological web associated with cancer” (J Clin Inves 2007; 117: 2762‐66).

Goals of Complementary Cancer Care

Our goals are to:

  • Provide educational resources and support to make knowledgeable, informed decisions for prevention, treatment, and post-treatment care.
  • Reduce side effects for patients undergoing treatment, and improve healing and prevent future negative consequences for those who have completed treatment
  • To enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy, radiation or hormonal therapy
  • To target the mechanisms of tumor multi-drug and/or radiation resistance in order to improve treatment outcomes and reduce recurrence risk
  • To alter the tumor’s micro-environment or “terrain” of the patient to be inhospitable to the creation, growth, and spread of tumor cells

 

How we achieve those goals

Leave a Reply