Integrative Medicine ; Medical Oncology

The use of alternative medicine (AM) in Australia dates back to its earliest times, with the indigenous medicine of the aboriginal peoples and the folk medicine of the early English settlers. AM has until recently existed quite separately from Western biomedicine (WB) and there has been little integration of the two systems. Now, referred to as complementary medicine (CM), there has been a movement over the last 20 years to include CM in WB mainstream practices. Varying degrees of success have been reported but for the discipline of oncology. Medical oncology (MO) in Australia is demanding CM provide high levels of evidence for any inclusion in cancer protocols. There are just now the beginnings of this integration, particularly as CM is now being taught in the public university system to a PhD level as well as the public demand for their medical doctors to communicate with their CM practitioners. MO specialists are now open to a dialogue with their CM counterparts.
Australia ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Medical Oncology ; Neoplasms ; therapy

China ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; history ; Medical Oncology ; history ; Physicians ; Portraits as Topic

As cancer rates rise globally, standard care is being questioned; new approaches involving immune therapies are emerging. With this shift comes a corresponding shift in the use and potential of herbal medicines and extracts. The focus of this article, which has evolved from a presentation at the Second Beijing International Symposium on Integrative Medicine (BISIM May 19-20, 2012), is particularly on Chinese medicine, but is generalizable to Eastern medicine more broadly and to other herbal traditions. Until recently, herbal and related treatments have been used as adjuvants to conventional care - for reducing side-effects, enhancing cytotoxicity, and sometimes, undesirably counteracting the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiation. Now, in the context of a new class of immune-based cancer therapies, herbal and other complementary modalities are looked at as enhancers of the body's immunity.
Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Integrative Medicine ; Medical Oncology ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Precision Medicine

Malignant tumors are one of the leading causes of death in the world. Considerable progresses have been made on the treatment of tumors in recent decades, especially in the prevention, early diagnosis and the model changing of therapeutics. But we are still facing tough challenges, including the increasing treatment burden and limited improvement of efficacy. In China, Chinese medicine (CM) provides a powerful arsenal to fight against tumors. CM can be well applied to the onset and progression of tumors in China, bearing the characteristics of multi-target, multi-phase and multi-effect. But there are also many problems demanding urgent attention in the use of CM. Some most debated problems in this field were summarized. We should upgrade our concepts in using CM, find its position scientifically, and establish evidence of its effect by high quality clinical research.
Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; trends ; Medical Oncology ; trends ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; trends ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; therapy

Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; trends ; Medical Oncology ; trends ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; trends ; Neoplasms ; therapy

Music therapy is an integrative oncology practice that has been rapidly emerging, over the past two decades, as a field of its own, clinically and academically. The randomized controlled trials that evaluate the clinical impact of music therapy are growing in number, and at the same time, there has been progress in understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that underly the beneficial effects of music therapy. Cultural background and autobiographical memories may uniquely influence music perception and cognition. It is vital to personalize music therapy because music preferences are unique; one size does not fit all. Cognitive music science studies and clinical music therapy trials that study individualized music choices will serve as a vital step forward in providing patient-directed personalized integrative cancer care. The field of music therapy is advancing, and its ability to improve a patient's quality of life can be understood only through robust, personalized, evidence-based initiatives that focus on research, advocacy, education, and delivery of care.
Humans ; Integrative Oncology ; Music/psychology* ; Music Therapy ; Neoplasms/therapy* ; Quality of Life

Western integrative oncology (IO) combines conventional mainstream medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the care of cancer patients. Since it includes patient orientation and the holistic approach of many CAM options, IO offers not only preventive measures, but also a wide spectrum of treatment modalities for all stages of illness, from the acute phases through the rehabilitation period. Many therapeutic methods of IO are supported by scientific evidence, for example, dietary and nutritional counseling, exercise, and mind-body medicine, among others. IO also includes therapeutic interventions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). At present acupuncture, qigong, and foot massage play an important role in the Western care of cancer patients. However, unlike in China, in Western countries herbal remedies are usually only used during those periods in which chemotherapy is not applied in order to avoid herb-drug interactions. Instead, acupuncture is widely used to manage the side-effects that often accompany chemotherapy. This paper focuses on the role of Chinese medicine in Western IO and reviews the scope and limitations of IO in the care of cancer patients today. The future challenges of IO will also be discussed in this paper.
China ; Complementary Therapies ; Europe ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Medical Oncology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Practice Patterns, Physicians' ; Precision Medicine

Chinese Medicine (CM) has been used for several thousand years, playing an important role in the prevention and treatment of diseases including cancer. In the recent four decades, a number of CM herbs have aroused extreme interest in the world-isolating anticancer components from medicinal herbs, using them as biological response modifiers, and most recently as angiogenesis inhibitors. The present review reports both the experimental and clinical results obtained in the field of clinical oncology, especially conducted by our group. The review also presents the possible future of integration of CM and modern medicine in basic research and clinical practice, especially when CM used as adjuvant and maintenance therapy.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Medical Oncology ; history ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; history