J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2013 Sep;139(9):1515-22. doi: 10.1007/s00432-013-1460-y. Epub 2013 Jul 6.
A total of 40 % of cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and patients with advanced cancer use CAM more often than others. The aim of our study was to gather data on CAM use and reasons to use CAM of patients with advanced cancer being admitted for residential palliative care and their relatives.
Structured interviews were carried out with 25 patients and 25 relatives of those patients, respectively, of a German comprehensive cancer center based on a standardized questionnaire of the working group Prevention and Integrative Oncology of the German Cancer Society.
Median age of patients was 64.5 years (relatives: 53.5); 15 patients were male and 10 were female (relatives: 7 and 18). In total, 40 % of all patients used some CAM method at the time of the study, supplements and prayer being the most frequent method. Main reasons for using CAM were to sustain one's own strength (52 % for patients and 72 % for relatives) and to be able to do something by oneself (36 and 40 %). Sources of information were television/radio (48 and 28 %) and family/friends (40 and 48 %). Relatives also use the Internet (40 %).
Also for patients in palliative care and their relatives, CAM is important. Reasons for using CAM are similar for patients with less advanced cancer. As most patients do not discuss using CAM with their physician, side effects and interactions of biologically based treatments may be dangerous. The desire of patients to act autonomously should be encouraged. Yet, physicians should ensure safe administration of complementary methods by including CAM in their communication with the patient and the family.
共有 40%的癌症患者使用补充和替代医学（CAM），晚期癌症患者比其他患者更常使用 CAM。我们的研究目的是收集接受住院姑息治疗的晚期癌症患者及其家属使用 CAM 的情况和使用原因的数据。
基于德国癌症协会预防和综合肿瘤学工作组的标准化问卷，对德国一家综合癌症中心的 25 名患者和 25 名患者亲属分别进行了结构访谈。
患者的中位年龄为 64.5 岁（亲属：53.5 岁）；15 名患者为男性，10 名患者为女性（亲属：7 名男性和 18 名女性）。在研究时，所有患者中有 40%使用了某种 CAM 方法，补充剂和祈祷是最常见的方法。使用 CAM 的主要原因是保持自身力量（患者为 52%，亲属为 72%）和能够自己做些事情（患者为 36%，亲属为 40%）。信息来源为电视/广播（患者和亲属均为 48%）和家庭/朋友（患者和亲属均为 40%）。亲属还使用互联网（40%）。
即使是在姑息治疗中的患者及其亲属，CAM 也很重要。使用 CAM 的原因与癌症程度较轻的患者相似。由于大多数患者没有与医生讨论使用 CAM，因此基于生物的治疗方法的副作用和相互作用可能会很危险。应鼓励患者自主行动的愿望。然而，医生应通过将 CAM 纳入与患者和家属的沟通中，确保补充方法的安全管理。
