Integrative Therapies for People with Lung Cancer

Abstract

Lung cancer is a serious illness with a myriad of harmful effects due to both the disease itself and its treatments. Many patients with lung cancer use both complementary and alternative therapies to alleviate symptoms and sometimes for treatment. It is important for healthcare practitioners to be aware of the prevalence and use of these therapies by their patients because of their potential biological effects, which may interact with current therapies including chemotherapy, biological therapy, and radiation treatments. Practitioners must help patients distinguish between “complementary” and “alternative” therapies in oncology care because complementary care incorporates the use of nonpharmacological interventions in addition to evidence-based medicine, while alternative care is often given in place of traditional medicine with little or no existing information regarding safety and efficacy. Recognizing patients’ interest in both complementary and alternative options and the importance of having a patient-centered approach to cancer care, the use of complementary therapies has gradually been incorporated into the oncology care in the United States through integrative therapy programs. Research on both complementary and alternative therapies in oncology is in the infancy stage due to difficulty designing high-quality randomized clinical trials, lack of funding, and use of these interventions by patients without scientific evidence of their efficacy. Therefore, more rigorous research is needed to determine the safety, efficacy, and long-term outcomes of these modalities. This chapter summarizes the current research on complementary therapies that are available to patients with lung cancer.