Under one roof

Cancer Treatment Centers of America provides a wide range of complementary therapies together with conventional treatments — all under one roof.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America assembles a team of expert care providers to help you fight cancer on many fronts — including naturopathic medicine, mind-body medicine, nutritional therapy, and spiritual support — and works with you to create a treatment plan that meets your own unique set of needs.

Not a substitute

Using CAM therapies as a substitute to conventional medicine can be a risky approach and isn’t recommended by most healthcare practitioners.

For instance, using acupuncture to relieve post-operative pain is a complementary therapy endorsed by the National Institutes of Health. But using acupuncture alone to treat cancer might be dangerously ineffective.

Complementary therapies

Your choice of cancer treatments isn’t limited to what’s conventional.

Conventional medicine is the foundation of most people’s cancer treatment. However, studies show that at least 70% of people with cancer use some form of non-traditional, or complementary, therapy in addition to their primary treatment. For instance, many people turn to therapies as diverse as acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic therapy to supplement their medical care.

Certain therapies may be especially effective at fighting cancer since they are proven to reinforce the immune system — the first line of defense against cancer — and enhance overall health. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches, such as naturopathic medicine, nutritional therapy, rehabilitation therapy, and mind-body medicine, are gaining wide acceptance as indispensable aspects of a comprehensive cancer treatment plan.

It’s how you use it

Broadly speaking, CAM includes the extremely diverse range of therapies outside of conventional medicine. They have been developed all over the world, many from non-Western medical philosophies. Some are thousands of years old, while others are more recent developments.

A therapy may be complementary or alternative depending on how it’s used. Therapies are considered complementary when they’re used in addition to conventional treatment to reinforce the immune system, relieve symptoms, and enhance the effectiveness of conventional therapies. The same treatment may be considered alternative if it is used instead of conventional treatment.

Caring for the whole person

Many CAM therapies promote a holistic approach to health. This means that they address your overall well-being rather than just the physical manifestations of illness. CAM therapies often aim to identify and treat the root causes of disease — including its physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological dimensions — rather than just eradicate symptoms. In addition, CAM therapies can help you achieve a sense of inner balance and peace.

It is this emphasis on a better quality of life that helps make CAM therapies so popular among people with cancer. Psychological, emotional, and spiritual factors all play a role in your health, but most conventional treatments only address physical concerns. Complementary therapies can also reduce side effects, promote overall wellness, and focus on your comfort, making conventional treatment more bearable. CAM therapies themselves are often pleasant, since they’re usually natural, non-toxic, and minimally invasive.

Be discriminating

It’s important to distinguish between legitimate complementary therapies that will bolster your fight against cancer, and those that won’t help and may even harm you. Researching therapies with your oncologist or a qualified naturopathic practitioner are good ways to find out if a particular approach might be helpful.

You want to know about any dangers a particular therapy might pose. But there’s also a chance that you’ll find a treatment that, while it has had no proven effect in a scientific study, makes you feel better. Keep an open mind, but make informed treatment decisions by consulting with your healthcare team.

In general, be wary of treatments or practitioners who claim to be able to cure cancer. If something sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is. Responsible complementary therapists will encourage you to use their treatments as enhancements to a carefully planned course of conventional treatment. You should also be cautious when considering therapies that are prohibitively expensive. Some unethical individuals try to take financial advantage of people with cancer with costly but ineffective treatments.