[Unconventional therapeutic procedures in oncology]

The popularity and acceptability of unconventional therapy in cancer are increasing. Generally patients ask for unconventional therapy not as a substitute for standard tumor therapy but as a complementary means of improving their health. Discriminating against unconventional therapies on principle might cause patients to seek the advice of unqualified healers. In the search for ways of including particular unconventional therapies into standard therapeutic regimens, possible therapeutic goals and therapeutic substances are defined. For the destruction of cancer cells there is no alternative to standard therapy. On the other hand, conventional medicine has little else to offer if therapeutic goals are followed within the concept of health promotion. The importance of the concept of health promotion in cancer therapy is discussed.