href="http://cancer.osu.edu">cancer.osu.edu
Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(800) 789-7366 www.penncancer.org
Fox Chase Cancer Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(888) 369-2427 www.fccc.edu
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(412) 647-2811 www.upci.upmc.edu
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Memphis, Tennessee
(901) 595-3300 www.stjude.org
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee
(877) 936-8422 www.vicc.org
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas Houston, Texas
(713) 792-2121 www.mdanderson.org
Fred Hutchinson/University of Washington Cancer Consortium, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, Washington (206) 667-5000 fhcrc.org
UW Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin
(800) 622-8922 www.uwhealth.org/cancer
Advice at the Outset
First, the best advice is to find the nearest NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. Because there are 41 of these centers across the country, no matter where you live at least one should be within a few hours’ drive of your home. Most of these specialty cancer hospitals are affiliated with major academic medical centers and are leaders in cancer research and pioneers of the latest and best cancer treatments. You can ask your primary care physician to refer you to a specialist at an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, or you can call yourself and make an appointment to see one of the top specialists in your specific type of cancer.
Even if you prefer to receive treatment at a local hospital closer to home, it is still important to get this high-level initial consultation to confirm your exact diagnosis and clinical status and to get a specific treatment plan. Specialists at comprehensive cancer centers have the experience to confirm your diagnosis specifically and to ensure that it is accurate and complete. They can then prescribe an appropriate treatment plan based on the latest scientific evidence.
If surgery or other needed treatment is especially complex, you may prefer to have it at the comprehensive center with a team that specializes in your particular type and location of disease. Some advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities are available only at the major cancer centers. When you have a confirmed diagnosis and a treatment plan, you can decide to complete the treatment at the comprehensive cancer center or return home with your treatment prescription to receive your treatment locally. Your local oncologist will always be able to contact and correspond with his or her counterpart at the comprehensive center. If need be, you can always return to the comprehensive center for follow-up consultation tests and advice as needed.
Serious potential problems will be avoided by seeing experts at a comprehensive center right after a tentative diagnosis. It will avoid such worst-case scenarios as receiving an incorrect or insufficient diagnosis or suboptimal treatment, avoiding time delays when time is of the essence.
What about Complementary and “Alternative” Medicine?
The good news is that, thanks to the latest medical advances, millions of cancer patients—the great majority—live for many years after being diagnosed. But the conventional, evidence-based care delivered by oncologists that has made this possible is sometimes lacking in other aspects of care. While conventional care in the hospital setting can be extraordinarily successful at treating the tumor, it can also feel very impersonal. Cancer patients’ physical and emotional symptoms may fall through the cracks. Where conventional therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation treat the tumor, adjunctive complementary (integrative) therapies treat physical and emotional symptoms. At least some adjunctive complementary therapies are available in virtually all major cancer centers, as well as in many community hospitals.
Cynthia, age 36 with advanced-stage gynecologic cancer, commenting on massage therapy
“Knowing I can count on a massage and on this kind of bodywork has made a huge difference. It’s hard to describe what being touched is like during this time, but everything has been so frightening—the diagnosis, the chemo, the pain, the side effects. I am so unbelievably anxious—and your touch helps me so much.”
Complementary therapies do not treat the cancer itself. Instead, they effectively control physical and emotional symptoms and promote general health and well-being. Such therapies include meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, acupuncture treatment, music therapy, massage therapy, healthy diets, exercise, and more. It is worth repeating that complementary therapies should never be used instead of conventional cancer care. Rather, they are important adjuncts to use along with proper cancer care. Many highly promoted remedies are falsely touted to cancer patients as “miracle cures,” but the old adage about sounding too good to be true applies here. (We’ll discuss this much more in the next section.)
Unfortunately, dissatisfied with the treatment options available to them and looking to take control of their own health and healing, some cancer patients turn instead to a variety of unconventional therapists for “alternative cancer treatments.” These include naturopathy, ayurveda, herbalism, homeopathy, special diets, expensive bogus approaches such as oxygen therapy, bioelectromagnetism, and numerous others.
No “alternative” treatments have been shown through research to cure or treat cancer.
It is important to realize that no “alternative” treatments have been shown through research to cure or treat cancer, despite promoter claims to the contrary. These bogus “alternative” treatments must be separated from complementary therapies, which are evidence based and used to control symptoms and enhance well-being. Respected complementary therapies are detailed in parts 2 and 3.
Our goal in this book is to provide you with clear, objective, and easy-to-use information and resources to help you take advantage of the most useful and scientifically validated complementary modalities, while avoiding those that are unproven or potentially harmful. Information—including much misinformation—abounds on these topics. We hope this book will help light the way as you explore your options.
What Integrative Medicine Is … and Isn’t
Integrative medicine takes advantage of complementary therapies such as acupuncture, massage, meditation, guided imagery and self-hypnosis, and yoga. The field especially emphasizes the crucial importance of good nutrition and physical activity. Always along with,
