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By Ankur Banerjee
(Reuters Health) – One in three American patients diagnosed with cancer has recently used non-standard therapies to manage their condition – but many have not alerted their doctors, according to survey data.
Among patients who reported using so-called complementary and alternative therapies, such as herbal supplements and yoga, nearly 30% did not disclose this use to their doctors, wrote researchers in a letter published in JAMA Oncology.
This discovery is worrying, they say. The letter cites a previous study of the national cancer database that showed patients who used complementary drugs were more likely to stop using conventional cancer treatments – and that when they did, their results were worse. .
The lack of sharing in the current study is not necessarily due to patients' fear that their doctor would react negatively, told Reuters Health, the lead author, Dr. Nina Sanford, of the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas.
Most often, "patients thought that their providers did not need to know or that providers did not ask," Sanford said via email.
Patients who did not share the information also reported that their doctor did not know as much about the treatment, or did not have enough time to talk about the treatment.
According to the authors, people with cancer may have many motivations to seek complementary and alternative therapies, including persistent symptoms, psychological distress or to gain the feeling of controlling their care.
Dr. David Spiegel of the Faculty of Medicine at Stanford University in California, who did not participate in the study, confirmed, writing in an email to Reuters Health that more often than not, patients use alternative medications to relieve pain and stress.
"It is always best for doctors to ask and discuss the use of these treatments in an open, cooperative manner, which should include discussions about the possible risks and the importance from membership to standard medical care, "Spiegel said.
For the study, Sanford and colleagues badyzed data from 3,118 adults who participated in the 2012 National Health Interview Survey and reported a history of cancer. Of this group, 1,023 reported using complementary or alternative therapies in the past year, of which 288 reported not having talked to their doctor.
The most popular alternative was herbal supplements, followed by chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, then mbadage.
The authors of the study recognize that US data may not be generalizable to international populations. In addition, the data was collected seven years ago.
Sanford said that cancer patients and survivors still seem to be increasingly resorting to complementary and alternative therapies and therapies, although many approaches lack research documenting their efficacy and side effects.
Sanford and colleagues call for medical guidelines to encourage physicians to discuss complementary alternative therapies with patients, as well as additional research to badess quality of life, health outcomes, and financial implications to the use of such therapies.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2Ii70H8 JAMA Oncology, online April 11, 2019.
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