Patients with cancer undergo numerous conventional treatments: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or immunotherapy. These conventional treatments can cause many side effects, only some of which can be treated with medications. Others take time to resolve after the treatment is complete, but some do not resolve at all. The following summarizes the evidence-based integrative therapies and supplements available to prevent and treat the side effects of conventional treatments and symptoms of cancer.

Note: Dietary supplements are intended to supplement the diet. They are not medicines and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure disease. In some cases, dietary supplements may have unwanted effects, especially if taken before surgery or with other dietary supplements or medicines, or if you have certain health conditions. Also, supplements are not regulated with the same degree of oversight as medications. Products vary greatly in terms of accuracy of labels, presence of contaminants, and the validity of claims on the label. Work with your health care provider to determine how best to achieve optimal health.

Fatigue

Fatigue is experienced by almost every patient undergoing cancer treatment. There are numerous contributing causes including anemia, nutritional deficiencies, endocrine dysfunction, cardiopulmonary dysfunction, mood disturbance, pain, sleep disturbance, deconditioning, treatment-related effects, and the underlying malignancy. The following therapeutic approaches are supported by recent studies:

• Aerobic exercise^1-4
• Meditation and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)^5,6
• Clinical hypnosis, Guided Imagery^6-8
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy^6,7
• Energy therapies—healing touch, therapeutic touch^1,9
• Acupuncture^5,10-12 (For more information, go to Passport to Whole Health Chapter 18 on Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture.)
• Relaxation techniques¹
• Massage¹³
• Yoga^14-17
• Qigong and tai chi ^18,19