Skeptic March 2020

volume 25 number 1 2020 WWW.SKEPTIC.COM 35

For those unfamiliar with the term “integrative
cancer care,” simply substitute “integrative oncology,”
“complementary cancer care,” “integrative whole
person cancer care,” or even, over the protests of
practitioners of “integrative cancer care,” the more rec-
ognized “cancer complementary and alternative medi-
cine.” While dating back centuries with such practices
as Qigong and meditation,^1 an emphasis on “mind-
body” approaches to curing cancer was re-emphasized
in the 1970s with such books as Norman Cousins’
Anatomy of an Illness,^2 Bernie Siegel’s “Love, Medicine,
and Miracles,”^3 and C. Simonton’s Getting Well Again.^4
Such books promoted the idea that our mind can cure
cancer and that positive outlooks, “fighting spirit,” or
imagining your immune system battling cancer cells
can directly impact the disease process itself.
As a practicing health psychologist at the Johns
Hopkins Cancer Center, in the early 1980s I (MS) was
once physically threatened by the spouse of a patient if
I ever dared to approach the topic of death during my
counseling sessions with his wife. Fortunately, while
psychological counseling can indeed be effective in
helping patients with side effects of treatment, quality
of life and emotional distress, the idea that “the mind”
can cure cancer has largely been debunked and booted
from the mainstream media. Likewise, while a number
of believers of integrative therapies still promote the
idea of dramatic cures in the absence of data (one need
not go far on the internet to read of Qigong “healing
masters” dissolving tumors in less than a minute),^5 we
hear less of cures from miracle drugs or procedures
such as laetrile^6 or coffee enemas (cream and sugar?)^7
Perhaps more so than for any other disease, the
belief that complementary and alternative medicine
has an assortment of weapons to offer the fight against
cancer has persisted. Indeed, the Office of Cancer
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM)
was established in October 1998 to coordinate and en-
hance the activitiesof the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) in complementary and alternative medicine.^8
The National Cancer Institute is the only Institute
among the 27 at the National Institutes of Health that
has such an office distinct from the NIH National

Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

(NCCIH).^9

The popularity of such integrative approaches

prompted the birth of a new professional organization,

the Society of Integrative Oncology (SIO). Founded in

2003, the mission of the SIO is to “advance evidence-

based, comprehensive, integrative healthcare to im-

prove the lives of people affected by cancers.”^10 More

specifically, integrative oncology is a “patient-centered,

evidence-informed field of cancer care that utilizes

mind and body practices, natural products, and/or

lifestyle modifications from different traditions along-

side conventional cancer treatments. Integrative on-

cology aims to optimize health, quality of life and

clinical outcomes across the cancer care continuum

and to empower people to prevent cancer and

become active participants before, during and beyond

cancer treatment.”^11

As noted in the definition above, the SIO does

not exclude the utilization of integrative therapies to

directly impact disease prevention, clinical outcomes,

and health. However, much of its focus is on treating

cancer side effects or side effects caused by the sur-

gery, radiation, or chemotherapy that accompanies

the disease.

A recent study analyzed the website presence of

information promoting integrative therapies and the

provision of integrative oncology services across 4 5

leading Cancer Centers in the United States.^12 The au-

thors published a similar review in 2010^13 and wanted

to assess the number of cancer centers that currently

promote integrative therapies on their websites in

comparison to seven years earlier. They also assessed

how many centers provide integrative therapies cur-

rently. The assessment involved 20 such therapies, in-

cluding “standard” complementary and alternative

therapies such as acupuncture, Qigong, Tai Chi, Heal-

ing Touch, Reiki, along with movement/creative in-

terventions such as art, dance, and exercise. The

results were striking. Overall, the number of web-

sites that provided information increased an aver-

age of 27% ranging from guided imagery (-6.1%, the

only therapy to decrease) to dietary supplements

Integrative Cancer Care

Below the Bar of Science

BY M ICH AEL STEFAN EK AN D CH RISTIN A D. JO RD AN

ARTICLE