Effects of Complementary and Integrative Medicine on Cancer Survivorship

Abstract

Cancer survivorship has become a topic of great interest in the past few years. Unfortunately, even with successful treatment as well as good follow-up care, many patients continue to experience unmet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs as well as having an unsettling fear, fear of recurrence, a fear which most survivors share, even many years after their treatment ended. As a result, patients are continually looking for additional ways to address these needs and fears. Among the most popular approach is the use of complementary and integrative medicine (CIM). Most studies on CIM use among cancer patients and survivors concentrate on symptom improvement and improvement of quality of life and do not touch a crucial question if these therapies can affect patients' survival in terms of prolongation of life. Interestingly, in recent years, there are a growing number of studies that suggest that approaches such as mind-body interventions, enhanced general nutrition, nutritional supplements, physical activity, and other CIM approaches may have a positive effect on survival of cancer patients. Although additional studies are needed to confirm these findings, given the low cost of these CIM interventions, their minimal risk, and the potential magnitude of their effects, these approaches might be considered as additional important tools to integrate into cancer survivorship care plans.

Using a Whole Person Approach to Support People With Cancer

“…The many effects of providing a combination of physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual support using information, lifestyle advice and education, group support and activities, and self-help techniques on cancer survivorship are reviewed here. 32 Furthermore, participants were given a voice in this evaluation by using MYCaW to let them freely nominate and rate their “concerns,” which provided data that would not normally be captured using standard outcome measures of HRQoL used in cancer research. This is important as research suggests that identifying and meeting patients’ needs can influence outcomes associated with HRQoL (eg, Hussan et al 33 ).…”

“Health in the Mirror”: An Unconventional Approach to Unmet Psychological Needs in Oncology

“…There is a plethora of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of complementary therapies, such as mind-body techniques, acupuncture, manipulative and body-based practices, that help with pain and symptom management, reduce depression and anxiety, and improve the quality of life of patients during and after treatment (Deng and Cassileth, 2013 ; Johnson et al, 2014 ; Frenkel et al, 2015 ). Moreover, adjunctive therapies such as diet and dietary supplements, physical exercise, and stress reduction techniques may also improve survival and reduce the risk of recurrence (Frenkel et al, 2015 ).…”

Scientific rationale for integrative and personalised strategies for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma management

“…Patients with PDAC often experience a severe pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression as well as fear and stress resulting in impaired QOL, reduced treatment adherence, and reduced survival [274,275]. Particularly, prolonged emotional distress leads to suppression or dysregulation of the immune system through downregulation of NK activity which is absent in PDAC [275].…”

“…Particularly, prolonged emotional distress leads to suppression or dysregulation of the immune system through downregulation of NK activity which is absent in PDAC [275]. In addition, stress can be co-factor for the initiation and progression of PDAC, since the catecholamine stress hormone (norepinephrine), which is also elevated by smoking, was shown to induce self-renewal and growth of PDAC cells and immortal ductal cells [276][277][278] Relaxation is associated with a reduction in the stress-induced psychological or physiological responses through modulation of cytokines and other mechanisms [277,278] Thus, relaxation strategies such as meditation, exercise, yoga, and other mind-body interventions can reduce stress, improve mood, alter health behaviour, and maintain adherence to cancer treatment and a reduction in smoking.…”