Alternative Therapies for Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Therapy	Best Evidence *	Probably Useful †	Least Evidence ‡
Herbals		Mistletoe (bladder); yew (paclitaxol), (breast); hoxsey; astragalus membranaceus; polysaccharide krestin; chlorella; capsaicin.	Chaparral (toxic); Pau d'arco; essiac tea; evening primrose oil.
Diet and Nutrition/Lifestyle		Mushrooms: maitake, shiitake (colon), enokitake.	Whole grain barley; macrobiotic diet; Gerson diet; Hippocrates wheat grass diet; Livingston-Wheeler; Kelley-Gonzales nutritional programs; vitamins A, C, E (controversial).
Mind-Body Interventions		Getting rid of anger, negative emotions; support groups (breast); group therapy (melanoma); stress management; treatment of depression, feelings of helplessness, hopelessness; encouraging a fighting spirit; imagery, biofeedback, hypnosis, meditation; yoga, qi gong; spiritual approaches, prayer, faith healing.	Intuitive, psychic approaches.
Pharmacological and Biological Treatments			Antineoplastins (brain); shark cartilage; bovine tracheal cartilage; hydrazine (cachexia, lung); ozone therapy, hydrogen peroxide; Livingston therapy; immunoaugmentive therapies; melatonin.
Bioelectromagnetic Therapies			Nordenstrom electrical stimulation; therapeutic touch.
Alternative Systems of Care		Acupuncture, acupressure, moxibustion for relief of pain, nausea, side effects of cancer treatment.	Chinese herbal remedies; ayurveda; Homeopathy: gelsemium 6C (anxiety) 2–3×; ipecac 30C (nausea) 3–4× q 15–30 min; nux vomica (nausea/vomiting) 6C t.i.d.–q.i.d. for 1–2 days; cadmium; sulfuricum 30C (vomiting, exhaustion) t.i.d. for 1–2 days.
Hands-On Healing Techniques		Massage and gentle manipulation for pain control, immunostimulation, relaxation.	Laying on of hands.

^*Therapies with the highest degree of scientific support for efficacy and safety.
^†Therapies that are often helpful but that do not have the highest degree of supporting evidence for efficacy and safety.
^‡Therapies that may be useful but that have limited scientific evidence for efficacy and safety.
NOTE: C denotes the number of times that a substance is diluted at a ratio of 1:100.
SOURCE: Sierpina, VS: Integrative Health Care: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Whole Person, F.A. Davis, Philadelphia, 2000.