Complementary Therapies and Cancer

The Cancer Institute NSW aims to provide people with cancer, their health professionals, carers and families with credible information about the benefits and risks of using complementary therapies. The benefits of complementary therapies may include their impact on the quality of life of people with cancer.

What are complementary therapies?

Complementary therapies are a group of diverse medical and healthcare systems, practices and products that are used to diagnose, treat and/ or prevent illness, although the effectiveness and exact mechanism of such treatments may not have been scientifically proven. Complementary therapies are taken in conjunction with conventional treatments, while alternative therapies are used instead of conventional treatments.

Cancer in Australia is conventionally treated by surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or combinations of these. Many people with cancer choose to use complementary therapies although studies to evaluate their effectiveness are limited.

Complementary therapies include:

Nutritional and dietary approaches: supplements, Gerson diet, macrobiotic diet, coenzyme Q10, omega-3 fish oils, sharks cartilage, biological products;
Herbal supplements: ginseng, black cohosh, red clover
Mind-body therapies: imagery, psychotherapy, meditation, spiritual healing, prayer, hypnosis;
Manipulative & body based therapies: acupuncture, massage, reflexology, chiropractic,
Traditional whole medicine systems: naturopathy, homeopathy, ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine; and
Energy Medicine: reiki, therapeutic touch, qi qong.

(Incorporating definitions from the Therapeutic Goods Administration, 2005 and adapted from the National Centre for Complementary and Alternate Medicine, 2005).

What are we doing?

The Cancer Institute NSW has established a Complementary Therapies Committee as part of the NSW Oncology Group (NSWOG). The Committee members include complementary therapists, researchers, conventional health professionals and community representatives. The Committee has conducted a seminar Complementary Therapies in Cancer – What Health Professionals Need to Know, and is providing advice regarding current research into the existing scientific evidence to support the use of four key complementary therapies as an adjunct to cancer treatment – diet, meditation, massage and exercise.

The Committee has also participated in a Complementary Therapies Access Review undertaken by the Cancer Institute NSW to determine those complementary therapies currently offered to people with cancer through the NSW Area Health Services.

Click here to download a fact sheet about the review.

The Cancer Institute NSW has awarded a Clinical Fellowship to Ms Dolores Foley, a psychologist who is studying the benefits of a technique called “mindfulness” to help cancer patients cope with the psychological effects of their disease.

Where can I find more information on complementary therapies?

The Cancer Institute NSW
A number of frequently asked questions are explored on our site.

British Columbia Cancer Agency
This site has a database of information detailing specific therapies.

The Cancer Council NSW
This site includes useful questions to ask when considering complementary therapies.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre
Database : About Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products which gives details of specific therapies.

National Cancer Institute (US)
This site provides information in Question and Answer format on Complementary and Alternate Medicine.

National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (US)
This site provides information on the type of therapies people use, gives decision tools to use if thinking of using complementary therapies and explains what each therapy is.

Quackwatch
This is the website of a US-based nonprofit organisation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. It includes a section for people seeking complementary or alternative cancer treatments.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
The TGA regulates all therapeutic products sold in Australia, including drugs and devices used in complementary therapies. An overview of the regulation of complementary medicines is included on this site.