Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

The Alternative Appeal, Courtney Deroo

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

For decades, Americans expressed dissatisfaction with conventional cancer treatments. I examine the appeal of biological alternatives to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy for patients with cancer. The limited effectiveness and side effects of many conventional cancer therapies led many patients to pursue a variety of unconventional therapies. To improve the quality of care for cancer patients, "mainstream" providers must better understand, and even collaborate with, alternative practitioners.