Rx for Hope: An Integrative Approach to Cancer Care

MD Chen (founder, Seattle Integrative Cancer Ctr.) and Tabatsky (Reimagining Women's Cancers: The Celebrity Diagnosis Guide to Personalized Treatment and Prevention) combine patient stories with an overview of the history and research on integrative and complementary treatments for cancer to help patients learn more about possible alternatives. Chen's clinic treats cancer with drugs given using metronomic low-dose chemotherapy (continuous, regularly spaced administration of chemotherapy medicines) and provides complementary therapies to boost the immune system and help with the side effects of these treatments. While metronomic chemotherapy has been shown to be effective for many cancers, the evidence for the efficacy of complementary medicine is not conclusive, depending on the treatment. Readers should check a source such as PubMed Health to insure there are no side effects and that the treatment has been shown to help with symptoms they hope to alleviate. There are studies that show people feel better using complementary therapies, so patients should discuss these with their doctor.