Cancer Patients Turning to Complementary Therapies

May 10, 2007 — -- Surgery. Radiation. Chemotherapy.

They are the three pillars of modern cancer treatment. And with every passing year, doctors add to this arsenal of proven therapies.

However, a steady and significant number of patients are adding alternative treatments into their care -- not to replace, but to complement conventional therapies.

In fact, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, run by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), currently estimates that more than 60 percent of cancer patients are using complementary and alternative therapies -- not as a substitute for conventional medicine, but as a means to stay as healthy as possible during treatment.

So what's the appeal? To many, alternative and complementary therapies for cancer represent a strategy in which doctors treat a patient as a whole, not just cancer as a disease.

One of the most popular choices in complementary medicine is acupuncture -- a modality that proponents say provides benefits for a host of ills.

"From organ to organ, acupuncture is good for treating headaches and chronic pain, many things having to do with gynecology, including menopause," said Dr. Christiane Northrup, a women's health expert and author of "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom" on Thursday's "Good Morning America."

Northrup, a longtime proponent of complementary therapies, said she uses the therapies in conjunction with conventional techniques.

"Many of my patients who have used acupuncture during chemo have not lost their hair or their energy. So it is the perfect complement for chemotherapy."

Indeed, the NIH noted in its Consensus Statement on Acupuncture that various studies have suggested -- albeit inconclusively -- the usefulness of acupuncture in treating adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting. Even for those without cancer, some benefits of acupuncture have been seen in the treatment of addiction, stroke rehabilitation and chronic pain therapy.