Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Gynecologic Oncology: A Critical Review of the Literature

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been defined as any therapy other than contemporary or scientific. The popularity of CAM has grown increasingly in Western countries in the past decade, especially among oncology patients. CAM is most commonly used among women and cancer patients. The aim of this literature review was to review the international and national publications about the use of CAM in patients with gynecologic cancers. A literature review was performed between April and May 2008 on the Akdeniz University internet network for the last ten years. "tamamlayici ve alternatif tip", "jinekolojik onkoloji", "complementary and alternative medicine", and "gynecologic oncology" key words were used for this research. A total of 50 international articles were identified and 15 of them which were relevant to gynecologic oncology directly were included in the scope of the study. Twenty-one national articles were included in the scope of the study and only four of them were relevant to gynecologic oncology directly. Both international and national studies showed that gynecologic oncology patients used CAM extensively; the main sources of information about CAM for the patients were internet, close friends or significant others and the level of knowledge among health care professionals for CAM were limited. Most of the studies were descriptive and the studies that demonstrated the pharmacological or toxic effects of CAM products were limited. In conclusion, further studies are needed to establish if there are any potential drug interactions and/or therapeutic benefit from CAM products. Moreover, the curriculums of health care professionals, especially medical doctors and nurses should be reviewed and should be revised property to educate patients and healthcare providers on appropriate and safe use of CAM products.