[Alternative medicine: viewpoints of a sociologist and an oncologist]

There is an increasing interest for Alternative Medicine among the lay-man and some physicians. However, no critical nor constructive discussion is happening between them and Scientific Medicine. The scientific evaluation of Alternative Medicine is hampered by the difficulty to transfer the various medical paradigms, and some practitioners are not MDs. Despite this impediment, an evaluation must take place, with adapted criteria, without going to much away from scientific standards. Health officers from several industrial countries are working on that topic. It will be of prime importance to aim at a consensus, and it should be regularly revisited.