References 1. Zollman C, Vickers A. ABC of complementary medicine – What is complementary medicine? BMJ 1999; 319:693–6. 2. Ernst E, Cassileth BR. The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine in cancer. Cancer 1998;83(4):777–82. 3. Montbriand MJ. Abandoning biomedicine for alternate therapies: oncology patients' stories. Cancer Nurs 1998;21(1):36–45. 4. Verhoef MJ, White MA, Doll R. Cancer patients' expectations of the role of family physicians in communication about complementary therapies. Cancer Prevention & Control 1999; 3(3):181–7. 5. Montbriand MJ. Freedom of choice: An issue concerning alternative therapies chosen by patients with cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum 1993; 20(8):1195–201. 6. Gray RE, Klotz LH, Iscoe NA et al. Results of a survey of Canadian men with prostate cancer. Can J Urology 1997;4(2):359–65. 7. Gray RE, Greenberg M, Fitch M, Parry N, Douglas MS, Labrecque M. Perspectives of cancer survivors interested in unconventional therapies. J Psychosoc Oncol 1997;15(3/4):149–71. 8. Best, A, Herbert, C. Two solitudes of complementary and conventional medicine: where are we going? Can Fam Physician 1998;44:953–6. 9. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Version 10.0 for Windows. Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.;1999. 10. Kaegi, E. A patient's guide to choosing unconventional therapies. CMAJ 1998;158(9):1161–5. 11. Canadian Cancer Encyclopedia ™ (Computer Software). Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society. 12. Ontario Breast Cancer Information Exchange Project. A Guide to Unconventional Cancer Therapies. Aurora, ON: Ontario Breast Cancer Information Exchange Project; 1994. 13. Kaegi E. on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional Therapies for Cancer: 1. Essiac. CMAJ 1998;158 (7):897–902. 14. Kaegi E. on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies for cancer: 2. Green tea. CMAJ 1998;158 (8):1033–5. 15. Kaegi E. on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies for cancer: 3. Iscador. CMAJ 1998;158(9):1157–9. 16. Kaegi E. on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies for cancer: 4. Hydrazine sulfate. CMAJ 1998;158 (10):1327–30. 17. Kaegi E. on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies for cancer: 5. Vitamins A, C & E. CMAJ 1998;158 (11):1483–8. 18. Kaegi E. on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies for cancer: 6. 714X. CMAJ 1998; 158 (12):1621–4. 19. Canadian Cancer Society. Selected List of CAT's Websites. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 1999. 20. Angus Reid Poll. Use and Danger of Alternative Medicines and Practices. Angus Reid; 1997. 21. Davison, B.J., Gleave, ME, Goldenberg, LG, Degner, LF, Hoffart, D, Berkowitz, J. Assessment of information and decision preferences of men with prostate cancer and their partners. In press: Cancer Nurs. 22. Ramsay, C, Walker, M, Alexander, J. Alternative Medicine in Canada: Use and Public Attitudes. Vancouver, B.C. Fraser Institute; 1999. 23. Alder, SR, Fosket, JR . Disclosing complementary and alternative medicine use in the medical encounter: A qualitative study in women with breast cancer. J Fam Pract 1999;48(6):453–8. 24. Boon, H, Stewart, M, Kennard, MA, et al. Use of complementary/alternative medicine by breast cancer survivors in Ontario: prevalence and perceptions. J Clin Oncol 2000;18 (13):2515–21. 25. Woo, EW, Quinn, M, Figg, WD, Dahut, W. The use of complementary and alternative medicine in prostate cancer patients. Oncol Iss 2000;15(6):23–7. * Leis et al. Use of complementary therapies by cancer patients in 6 Canadian provinces. Presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, Winnipeg, May 2001. Author References Joanna L Eng, Debbie A. Monkman, Darlene L. Ramsum, Tzu Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vancouver, B.C. Marja J Verhoef, Tzu Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vancouver, B.C. and University of Calgary, Calgary, A.B. Jennifer Bradbury, Canadian Cancer Society – BC & Yukon Division, Vancouver, B.C. Correspondence: Dr. Marja J Verhoef, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1; Fax: (403) 270-7307; E-mail: mverhoef@ucalgary.ca APPENDIX CAM and Cancer Information Resources This list contains some of the better known resources on CAM and cancer, from a variety of different perspectives and in a variety of different formats. 1. BC Cancer Agency Library/Cancer Information Centre. Unconventional Cancer Therapies. 3rd edition. Vancouver: BCCA, 2000. http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/uct/ (accessed November 19, 2001) This BC Cancer Agency resource for patients and their families pulls together both the pros and cons of 46 of the most asked-about cancer therapies. Information is taken from the original source material and supplemented with the professional opinion that is given in the evidence-based literature. 2. Boik, John. Natural Compounds in Cancer Therapy. Oregon Medical Press, 2001. A scholarly review of the actions and potential clinical use of over three dozen carefully selected natural compounds, including systematic examination of the molecular actions, pharmacology, toxicology, and potential clinical use of natural compounds as anticancer agents. 3. Center for Mind-Body Medicine. Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative and Complementary Therapies. Conference Proceedings.1998, 1999, 2000. Washington DC. http://www.cmbm.org (accessed November 19, 2001) This conference, held annually since 1998, is sponsored by the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC. Tapes can be purchased and selected transcripts are on the website. The book Comprehensive Cancer Care by James Gordon is based on the information presented at the conferences, along with the expertise of the Center staff and experience of clients. The website also provides a list of Cancer Resources and Links under the “Resources” section. 4. Diamond, W. John; W. Lee Cowden; Burton Goldberg. An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer. CA: Future Medicine, 1997. This book describes the cancer treatment plans of 23 alternative physicians, and describes many types of alternative therapies for cancer. Though mostly uncritical, it is a useful resource for describing the many practices and therapies that patients may ask about. It should be supplemented with more current, research-based information. 5. Labriola, Dan. Complementary Cancer Therapies: Combining Traditional and Alternative Approaches for the Best Possible Outcome. California: Prima Health, 2000. Labriola, a naturopathic doctor, presents a detailed guide for consumers on combining alternative and conventional approaches, including approaches for specific types of cancer. Unfortunately, the book is not referenced. 6. Lerner, Michael. Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994. Available at http://www.commonweal.org/choicescontents.html (accessed November 19, 2001) This book is frequently cited, though somewhat dated, as a detailed resource explaining and evaluating a wide range of complementary therapy programs. The full text of the book is available free of charge on the Commonweal website. 7. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (US). National Cancer Institute (NCI) CAM Information. http:/nccam.nih.gov/nccam/fcp/factsheets/ (accessed November 19, 2001) NCI's fact sheets on various alternative therapies for cancer in both concise and in-depth format. 8. Office of Cancer & Complementary & Alternative Medicine (US) http://occam.nci.nih.gov/ (accessed November 16, 2000) Activities of the Office and clinical trials in progress. 9. Canadian Health Network, Complementary & Alternative Health Centre. Quick Search: Alternative Health & Cancer. http://www.canadian-health-network.ca/1alternative_health.html (accessed November 19, 2001) Links to reliable Canadian organizations' web resources on cancer and CAM for consumers. 10. Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. Guide to Complementary / Alternative Therapies for Cancer Patients. http://www.cancer.duke.edu/PatEd/CAM.asp (accessed November 19, 2001) An example of a patient resource from a cancer care center. Database Searching Searching for current journal literature on CAM and cancer should include both biomedical databases as well as CAM databases. These include: CANCERLit MEDLINE/PubMed CAM on PubMed (a subset of MEDLINE's CAM-related references) Embase (important for European literature, herbal medicine and CAM journals) NAPRAlert (natural health products) IBIDS (dietary supplements) AMED (alternative and allied medicine) MANTIS (manual therapies) AltHealthWatch (includes peer-reviewed CAM journals among consumer magazines) For a more complete listing of CAM databases, see the Rosenthal Center's website (http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/rosenthal/Databases.html) When searching MEDLINE and other databases, it is important to use appropriate subject headings as search terms. These medical subject headings (MeSH) relate to CAM and should be used when searching MEDLINE. Some MEDLINE search interfaces automatically explode MeSH (e.g., PubMed). Important MeSH for CAM include: Alternative Medicine – exploding this term will include most of the alternative practices from herbal medicine to colour therapy Plant extracts – exploding this term will include specific plant extracts Herbs Plants, medicinal – exploding this term includes specific medicinal plants Antineoplastic agents – phytogenic It is important to also use keywords, particularly for specific natural health products (e.g., PC-SPES, green tea) Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.