Practices such as yoga, acupuncture, massage, and others can ease cancer symptoms and decrease treatment side effects. When these practices are used in addition to standard of care treatments (medication, surgery, radiation), they are called integrative or complementary medicine. Alternative medicine is the use of these practices instead of standard of care treatments.
Read below to learn more about complementary and integrative medicine practices and their safety, the Annie Appleseed Project, which provides information on natural cancer therapies, as well as how to talk to your doctor about complementary and integrative medicine.
Introduction to Complementary and Integrative Medicine
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s In a Name?
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: What to Know When Considering a Complementary Health Approach
- National Cancer Institute: Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Breastcancer.org: Complementary Therapy and Breast Cancer
- Breastcancer.org: Types of Complementary Therapies
- NEWUnite for HER: Funding and delivering integrative and supportive therapies to help empower and restore your body, mind, and soul
- Annie Appleseed Project: Annie Appleseed Project
- Practice Update (Video): Integrative Medicine in the Management of Metastatic Breast Cancer with Dr. Timothy Pluard
- National Cancer Institute: Cancer Therapy Interactions With Foods and Dietary Supplements
Talking to Your Doctor
- Breastcancer.org: Talking to Your Doctor About Complementary Medicine
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Clinical Trials That Include Complementary and Integrative Medicine
- Metastatic Trial Search: MBC Trials That Include Complementary and Integrative Medicine
- Solid Tumor Trials: Trials That May Include Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Last Modified on August 2, 2023