Complementary and alternative medicine in lung cancer patients: a neglected phenomenon?

Study on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in lung cancer patients has been widely neglected. Therefore, we initiated a study on the use of CAM in lung cancer patients in addition to radiation treatment. Overall, 120 patients from 3 institutions were interviewed by a standardized questionnaire. Besides the tumor parameters and the use of CAM, the reason for the use, patient information of the medication, the information sources and the subjective condition of the patient. Altogether, 54% of the patients reported using CAM (66% of female patients, 52% of male patients). The most frequently used CAM measures were vitamin combinations (17%), mistletoe (15%), and selenium (12%). A total of 52% reported the wish to support the tumor treatment as a reason for using CAM and 27% had a 'better feeling' using CAM. 50% of CAM was bought by the patients themselves and 50% were prescribed by their family physicians. The use of CAM is frequent in lung cancer patients. Our results suggest that it is very important to obtain information on the CAM use of patients and, particularly in controlled clinical trials, to prospectively document it.