Many people with cancer have questions about various treatments, techniques, or products that are not considered conventional medicine called complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). For example, meditation, acupuncture, and herbal remedies are all considered CAM. However, Before you begin any CAM therapy, it is important to first discuss all treatment options with your doctor to make sure it doesn’t interfere with your cancer treatment plan.

Learning to evaluate a CAM approach in collaboration with your doctor or health care team member is important. While some CAM therapies have research supporting their safety and effectiveness, others are ineffective and may even cause harm.

Use the following questions to help you gather the information you need about a CAM therapy.

• What is the treatment supposed to do? Does it work in combination with a standard therapy, or would it replace it?
  
  
• What research is available about this treatment’s safety?
  
  
• Is the treatment effective for my particular type of cancer? Has research to support the treatment's effectiveness been published in peer-reviewed medical journals? Find out who is recommending this CAM therapy. If there are only anecdotal claims (people's personal stories) and no trustworthy clinical research, the treatment probably does not treat cancer.
  
  
• Is it possible to have a reaction to or side effects from this CAM therapy? (Many herbal therapies and dietary supplement can act like drugs in your body and cause various side effects).
  
  
• If the therapy is used instead of a conventional treatment or a clinical trial, will it delay my ability to receive the standard treatment? Could this delay be harmful? How does this therapy affect the chances of being effectively treated later?
  
  
• Is the treatment being promoted only on the Internet or in paid advertisements? (If you only see it advertised in mass media rather than referred to in scientific literature, it is unlikely to help treat cancer.)
  
  
• Does the treatment promise a cure for all cancers? (If so, the advertisement could be a fraud. There are more than 100 different types of cancer, and no single treatment will work for everyone or for every type of cancer.) Is there a clinical trial on this particular CAM therapy that I can participate in? (Read about in CAM and clinical trials.)

Other things to consider include:

• The word "natural" does not guarantee "safe." For example, poisonous mushrooms are natural, but not safe. Additionally, it is possible to have toxic reactions to natural products — even those that are safe — particularly if they are taken in large doses.
  
  
• Before giving a dietary or herbal supplement to a child, discuss this with his or her pediatric oncologist. A child's body uses drugs and nutrients differently and requires different doses than an adult's body.

More Information

About Dietary and Herbal Supplements

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Additional Resources

Federal Trade Commission’s “Cure-ious? Ask.” Campaign to Avoid Cancer Scams.

National Cancer Institute: Thinking About Complementary and Alternative Medicine

National Institute of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM): Are You Considering Using CAM?

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: FAQs on Botanicals and Other Products