Americans really want to believe in alternative cancer therapies

October 30, 2018 / 12:11 GMT

By Maggie Fox

They are wrong, the proof shows.

"There is no doubt that evidence-based cancer therapy is needed to effectively treat the disease," said Dr. Richard Schilsky, Chief Medical Officer of ASCO.

"The vast majority of alternative therapies have not been rigorously studied, nor have they been deemed beneficial to patients. When patients make critical decisions about cancer treatments to undergo, it is always best to follow evidence from well-designed research studies. "

The survey found that younger people were more likely to believe in "natural" or alternative therapies. It shows that 47% of 18-37 year olds and 44% of 38-53 year olds believe in alternative medicine, compared to 21% of those aged 72 and over.

And 83% of those surveyed were in favor of using marijuana for medical purposes, which helps relieve the nausea caused by some cancer treatments, but did not help cure the disease.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Americans just after heart disease. The American Cancer Society predicts that 1.7 million people will be diagnosed with cancer by 2018 and 600,000 will die from it.

But cancer mortality rates are steadily decreasing. The cancer death rate has decreased by 1.7% between 2014 and 2015, according to the American Cancer Society, and the cancer death rate has decreased by 26% since 1991.

Standard treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and newer treatments, such as immunotherapy, have all contributed to the decline.

But people really want to believe that there is something better, said Dr. Skyler Johnson of the Yale Cancer Center, who worked for a team conducting studies on alternative cancer treatments.

"Despite our recent studies showing that alternative therapies have an increased risk of death, there are still quite a few people who are influenced by this misinformation," Johnson told NBC News.

"People have the impression that these types of therapies align with their personal and philosophical beliefs about managing their health. They want a form of autonomy and want to make their own decisions about treatment. "

Johnson's team reported in July that cancer patients had an unrealistic view of the importance of complementary therapy, with two-thirds believing it would help them live longer and a third believing it was a cure .

Doctors and other health experts need to do more to educate patients, especially with so much misinformation online, Johnson said. "I am not a supporter of censorship, but we must do more to protect consumers against cancer. They are a particularly vulnerable group of patients, "he said.

The National Complementary and Integrative Health Center at the National Institutes of Health has an app for people who want to see research on alternative therapies.

Doctors and the Food and Drug Administration have been warning for years that untested treatments can move patients away from legitimate life-saving treatment.

Maggie Fox

Maggie Fox is the senior editor of NBC News and TODAY, where she writes major news on health policy, science, medical treatments and diseases.

She has been editor-in-chief of health technology and technology at the National Journal and senior editor of health and science for Reuters in Washington, DC and London.

Maggie has won awards from the Society of Business Editors and Writers, the National Immunization Program, the Overseas Press Club, and other organizations. She has made scholarships at Harvard Medical School, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Maryland.