Indeed, many physicians recommend psychosocial and nutritional interventions. I see no reason to avoid such options, including acupuncture, homeopathy and trace-element supplementation. If conventional treatments have been exhausted, unconventional ones may increase patients' sense of control and well-being even if they do not lengthen survival. As a result, some patients attracted to these treatments may benefit in some way. The chosen method must be absolutely safe, however, and it must not replace conventional treatments that have documented efficacy.
Cancer is a highly variable disease, and some forms are in fact curable.
It would be a tragedy if patients with juvenile leukemia or Hodgkin's lymphoma died because they had picked an alternative medication over a well-tested conventional therapy. Further Reading Unconventional Cancer Treatments. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990. American Cancer Society in CA Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Vol.