A study of 1.9M patients published in JAMA Oncology focuses on the association among complementary medicine, adherence to conventional cancer treatment, and overall survival of patients with cancer who receive complementary treatment compared with those who do not.
Their findings show that cancer patients who choose alternative medicine over standard cancer treatments are more likely to die.
The authors found that complementary medicine did no apparent harm if people used it alongside conventional surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. However, when people opted out of proven treatments to choose herbs, homeopathy or other alternative treatments, they were twice as likely to die of cancer.
These are important considerations that cancer patients need to consider when choosing a treatment or alternative treatment plan.
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