Complementary and alternative medicine applications in cancer medicine

Besides conventional medicine, many patients with cancer seek complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as an additional treatment option. Since the early 1970s, the use of CAM in cancer treatment has expanded worldwide. CAM, as a tempting option, was used by patients with cancer mainly due to easy accessibility. Patients with cancer used CAM to achieve better quality of life or to find a cure. As physicians are mainly unaware of CAM use by patients, doctorpatient communication about CAM use should be brought to a higher level. To identify circumstances in which CAM are preferred, further investigations are needed especially in biologically based therapies. Clinicalbased evidence for mindbody therapies have been established, so this type of CAM can be recommended for patients with cancer during chemotherapy. Future studies are necessary to fill the gaps so that CAM users, as well as medical experts, are in position to clearly determine all the benefits and disadvantages of the mentioned therapy.