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Unproven methods in cancer: a worldwide problem.
1Centre Régional de Lutte Contre le Cancer, Comprehensive Cancer Center Paul Strauss, Strasbourg, France. Schraub@strasbourg.fnclcc.fr
Summary
Cancer patients worldwide use questionable or unproven therapies, including vitamins, herbs, and diets, alongside conventional treatments. Evaluating usage is complex due to varied methods and reporting, with significant use noted across continents.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Public Health
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Background:
- Cancer patients globally utilize questionable or unproven methods.
- These treatments encompass a wide range, including drugs, vitamins, herbs, diets, and homeopathy.
- Usage is often underreported, complicating accurate frequency evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the global prevalence and patterns of unproven/questionable method use in cancer care.
- To highlight regional variations in the adoption of these therapies.
- To identify common and country-specific unproven cancer treatments.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of existing literature on questionable cancer treatment frequencies.
- Analysis of data from Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Africa.
- Inclusion of data from patient interviews where available.
Main Results:
- High usage rates observed in German-speaking countries (52-65%) and Mexico (50%).
- Reported frequencies vary widely globally, from 7% in North America to 22% in Australia.
- Data gaps exist for many African and Asian countries, despite some available information from India, Taiwan, and Japan.
Conclusions:
- Unproven and alternative cancer therapies are prevalent worldwide, used both complementarily and alternatively.
- Geographical variations in specific treatments and overall usage are significant.
- Further research is needed to address data scarcity in certain regions and understand patient motivations.