Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

Complementary Medicine In Chronic Cancer Care, Daniel A. Monti, Jingduan Yang

Marcus Institute of Integrative Health Faculty Papers

Although advancements in cancer care have led to increased cure rates and survival times, those coping with the long-term sequelae of a cancer diagnosis often report high levels of distress, poor health-related quality of life, and unmet psychosocial needs. The shortcomings of the conventional biomedical system at sufficiently addressing these chronic illness issues are a primary reason that many patients turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Although patients usually use such treatments in addition to conventional care, they often do not discuss doing so with their conventional physicians, who are perceived as being unreceptive to the topic. Physicians may …