Resource Roundup: Integrative Medicine for Cancer Treatment and Prevention

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By Avery St. Onge

With a condition as pervasive as cancer, a whole-person treatment approach is crucial. Unfortunately, conventional healthcare often puts too much focus on the cancer itself and not enough on the patient’s actual needs. This is where integrative medicine comes in.

Unlike alternative therapies, which are often proposed as replacements for conventional medicine, integrative therapies are evidence-based, nonsurgical, and nonpharmaceutical approaches that complement traditional cancer care.

In this article, we’ve compiled some of our most insightful resources on integrative cancer treatment and prevention. This roundup addresses every stage of cancer care with articles on early detection, complementary therapies during treatment, and prevention.

Continue reading to learn about an integrative oncologist’s top “clinical pearls”, strategies to help improve chemotherapy effectiveness, nutritional protocols for immune resilience, and more.

Key Insights from an Integrative Oncologist

With integrative oncology we can address unique challenges faced by patients diagnosed with cancer, said Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO, at the 2023 Integrative Healthcare Symposium in New York City.

In this article, Alschuler lists ten fundamentals of integrative oncology, which she calls “clinical pearls”, to help readers become familiar with integrative strategies for addressing the problems of cancer patients and learn about their benefits.

To read more, click here.

Lifestyle Recommendations Make a Difference for Breast Cancer Survivors Before, During, and After Treatment

Recently JAMA published the findings from a prospective cohort study of 1,340 high-risk breast cancer patients to evaluate key lifestyle interventions created by the American Cancer Society and the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR).

To read more, click here.

Effects of Diet and Exercise on Chemotherapy Efficacy

We must ensure that diet and exercise are a part of our conversations with our patients undergoing chemotherapy. For those who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, having residual disease at the time of surgery carries with it a worse prognosis than complete pathological response. While patients seeing integrative practitioners are given exercise and diet guidelines, many patients are not receiving this information.

To read more, click here.

Supporting Immune Resilience in Patients: An Integrative Medicine Case Study

Whether someone is considered at-risk or simply wants to maintain their health, there are several steps practitioners can suggest to put patients in the best position to prevent or overcome illness, and achieve optimal health throughout life. In this case report, we review a patient who experiences frequent illness but is ready to take steps to improve her health and wellbeing.

To learn more, click here.

Racial Considerations in Breast Cancer Screening

Unique screening guidelines should be considered for Black women due to their increased risk of developing breast cancer at an earlier age compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

To read more, click here.

How the National Cancer Plan Fails to Address the Role of Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches

The plan establishes goals, lays out a set of strategies, and has a call to action that covers a wide range of topics, including cancer prevention, early detection, access to care for all Americans, and a brief nod to diet and lifestyle. However, it fails to address the role of complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches in cancer treatment, specifically reducing the side effect profiles of chemotherapy, radiation, and hormonal therapies and improving the quality of life of cancer survivors.

To read more, click here.

Naturopathic Oncology Overview

The Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP) is on a mission to advance the philosophy, science, and practice of naturopathic oncology. In this interview, Erica Joseph, ND, FABNO, discusses important issues associated with naturopathic oncology, including collaborating with conventional oncology, past research, and future objectives.

To listen to the podcast episode, click here.