Complementary medicines and alternative therapies – Discussion (Practice Point)
Facilitate open disclosure and non-judgmental dialogue with patients regarding existing or planned use of complementary medicines or alternative therapies.
How this guidance was developed
No evidence-based source recommendation was identified for this topic, which was considered an important aspect of care. This practice point was developed using an expert consensus process. The importance of distinguishing between complementary medicines, complimentary therapies, and alternative therapies, is noted.
Complementary medicines and alternative therapies – Advice (Practice Point)
Advise all patients with breast cancer that complementary medicines or alternative therapies should not be used instead of standard therapies for the purpose of improving breast cancer survival.
Useful Links
Information about complementary and alternative therapies (Cancer Australia)
Cancer Australia position statement on complementary and alternative medicines
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) webpage on ‘Complementary medicines’
Information ‘about herbs’ (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center – MSKCC)
How this guidance was developed
This practice point was developed using an expert consensus process. Development of the practice point was informed by a source recommendation in the JBCS 2016 guidelines (Japan) that was not graded by the source guideline authors and which was based on a non-systematic review of the evidence (the date of the review was not reported). The importance of distinguishing between complementary medicines, complimentary therapies, and alternative therapies, is noted.
Complementary therapies in symptom control (Practice Point)
Offer information regarding effective evidence-based complementary therapies (especially yoga, acupuncture, and meditation) for symptom control in patients with breast cancer.
How this guidance was developed
No evidence-based source recommendation was identified for this topic, which was considered an important aspect of care. This practice point was developed using an expert consensus process.
