Complementary Therapies

The following information about complementary and alternative therapies is designed to help you make informed decisions. You can discuss these therapies with your health care provider.

What are complementary and alternative therapies?

Why is it important to talk about complementary and alternative treatments with my health care provider?

Why would I use complementary therapies?

Does LRCP reject the use of complementary or alternative therapies?

What questions should I ask before using complementary or alternative therapies?

How will I know if a complementary or alternative therapy works?

Where can I get unconventional therapies?

Are herbal products regulated?

Are there other factors I should consider before using unproven therapies?

Should I use the therapies along with my conventional treatment?

What are complementary and alternative therapies?

Complementary therapies are therapies that are used along with conventional treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Alternative therapies are therapies that are used instead of conventional treatments.

There are a lot of questions about what defines complementary and alternative therapy. You may sometimes hear complementary and alternative therapies called unconventional therapies or unproven therapies.

Examples of unconventional therapies include:

Vitamins, herbs and mineral supplements
Chiropractic treatments
YogaMeditation or pray
Diet-based therapies

Why is it important to talk about complementary and alternative treatments with my health care provider?

It is important to tell your health care provider about all the therapies and treatments that are not part of your cancer treatment plan so they can assess your case properly.

Some therapies like meditation do not interfere with cancer treatments. Other therapies, however, can make your cancer treatment ineffective or may be harmful when used along with conventional treatment.

Why would I use complementary therapies?

Many studies show that people living with cancer use complementary therapies as part of their cancer treatment.

People using complementary therapies hope to:

Reduce stress
Prevent or reduce side effects and symptoms
Control the cancer
Cure the disease

Does LRCP reject the use of complementary or alternative therapies?

LRCP does not endorse or reject the use of any particular type of complementary or alternative therapy. LRCP believes that:

You are part of the decision-making process along with members of your health care team.
You can openly discuss unconventional therapies with members of your health care team.
You may use a variety of complementary therapies.
You have the right to accept or refuse treatments.

What questions should I ask before using complementary or alternative therapies?

It can be challenging to make sense of the information about different therapies. Sometimes there is too much information. Other times there is not enough.

Some of the things you should ask or think about before using complementary therapies are:

What benefits can be expected from this therapy?
What are the side effects of the therapy?
How common are the side effects or interactions?
Are the side effects or interactions mild, moderate or severe?
Are the side effects or interactions temporary or permanent?
Will there be any interactions with existing health problems or current treatment? (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy)
Will the new therapy cause any problems when taken with other drugs or foods that you are already taking?
Is this therapy part of a clinical trial? If so, who is sponsoring the trial?
Do the known benefits outweigh the risks?
Does the complementary or alternative therapist tell you to avoid conventional treatment or criticize your conventional care?
Does the complementary or alternative therapist suggest the therapy can help a whole range of unrelated diseases and conditions?
Does the complementary or alternative therapist suggest that you “think for yourself” and ignore medical advice?
Will the therapy be covered by health insurance?

If you do not know the answers to these questions or if you do not understand all of the information you find, please be sure to talk to your health care provider.

Your health care provider will do their best to review any information and offer advice as it relates to your care, although this can be difficult on busy clinic days.

How will I know if a complementary or alternative therapy works?

How a therapy is tested is very important. Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) and LRCP are committed to developing and using evidence-based treatments.

CCO and LRCP believe that research evidence is the best way to maintain and improve quality cancer care. They also believe that research provides the best evidence for the safety and effectiveness of treatments.

The goal of research is to find effective treatments based on strong evidence. This is done through controlled studies. Researchers design the studies so that the results are not influenced by bias or chance.

When looking at research results it is important to look at:

The number of patients selected to participate
Whether treatments were exactly the same for each patient
Factors that could affect the outcome of the study were controlled
Whether or not the results were reported completely

Many complementary and alternative therapies have not been subject to the strict standards that are used to test new drug treatments.

Where can I get unconventional therapies?

It can be hard to figure out where to get a therapy, but there are some safeguards in place to help you. There may be a college or other organization that regulates people delivering the therapy.

In Ontario, there are 23 regulated health professions with legally accountable practitioners.

Are herbal products regulated?

Health Canada regulates all products that are intended to be eaten or swallowed as either a food or a drug.

A food is normally something that is taken for its nutritional value.
A drug is something that is sold to treat or prevent a disease or problem.

Many herbal products can be considered both a food and a drug. If the product does not carry a health claim on the label and is intended to be taken by mouth, it is classified as a food.

If there is a drug claim on the label then there should be a drug identification number (DIN) or a general product (GP) number on the label. A DIN or GP number does not guarantee a product is effective for uses not listed on the label.

This number is given after the product’s formulation, labeling and instructions for use have been reviewed and approved by the Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada.

If you are buying products that you take by mouth, choose well-known companies. These companies have quality control processes in place to make sure that the ingredients listed are actually present in the product in the quantities stated and that harmful substances have been excluded.

Are there other factors I should consider before using unproven therapies?

Weighing the benefits and risks of different treatments is a complex and very personal process. Each one of us has things we value and things we are willing to change.

The following things may be important for you and your family to think about before starting any new therapies:

Will I need to change my lifestyle?

When using some complementary and alternative therapies you and your family may need to make major changes in your lifestyle. Some of the therapies may become very time consuming. You may have to change activities and foods that are important to you. Only you can decide if the possible benefits outweigh the changes.

How much does the therapy cost?

Complementary and alternative therapies can range in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. These costs are rarely covered by health insurance plans and must be paid for by you and your family.

How will the therapy affect me emotionally?

There are no easy answers to these questions. Members of your health care team can be a valuable resource to help you make a decision.

The use of complementary and alternative therapies can affect your emotional well-being. You may be told the therapy will result in a cure or remission. Sometimes people using these therapies feel like they “didn’t start soon enough, try hard enough or have enough self-control” if the therapy doesn’t work.

Some people also have these feelings if they avoid conventional treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy while using alternative therapies.

You may find that previously offered conventional treatment options may no longer be effective, if the cancer has progressed.

Should I use the therapies along with my conventional treatment?

Complementary therapies may not have been studied when combined with chemotherapy or radiation treatments. This makes it very difficult for health care professionals to know what interactions might happen when the two are used together.

For the most part, we don’t know if complementary therapies have a positive or negative impact on the way that conventional treatments work.