Clinical trial NCT06779669: Use of Alternative and Complementary Medicine by Colorectal Cancer Patients
Official title: Use of Alternative and Complementary Medicine by Colorectal Cancer Patients
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Colorectal Cancer
Keywords: colorectal cancer
Complementary and alternative medicine
Lead sponsor: University Hospital, Limoges
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2025-01-16
Enrollment: 217
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is defined by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine as "a group of diverse medical and health systems, practices and products that are not currently considered part of conventional medicine" (Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health, n. d. 2012). Complementary medicine is used to complement conventional medicine, and alternative medicine is used instead of conventional medicine (Dy et al., 2004). These are two very different approaches, whose consequences for a cancer patient can be completely different. The use of CAM is steadily increasing in most countries. A study carried out in France in 2017 revealed that for half of CAM users, the diagnosis of cancer was one of the main factors that led patients to turn to CAM (Sarradon-Eck et al., 2017). CAM use was found to be significantly associated with younger age, female gender and higher education (Sarradon-Eck et al., 2017). The source of information about MAC was mainly friends/family and the media, while doctors and nurses played a succinct role in MAC information (Molassiotis et al., 2005). The most frequently cited reasons for using CAM were to improve their physical well-being, strengthen their bodies, improve their emotional well-being and relieve the side effects of treatment (Sarradon-Eck et al., 2020). Another study carried out in 2019 at nine centers in France showed that 45% of glioma patients had changed their eating habits after glioma diagnosis, 44% were on complementary treatment, mainly vitamins and dietary supplements, and 32% were using alternative medicine, mainly magnetism and acupuncture. A total of 68% reported using at least one of these approaches (Le Rhun et al., 2019). Another single-center study conducted in France in 2019 found that 83% of cancer patients used CAM (M et al., 2019). CAM included osteopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture, therapeutic touch, magnetism, naturopathy, cupping, Chinese medicine, reflexology and hypnosis. However, no studies have been carried out to assess the use of CAM among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients in France.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Over 18 years of age
* Diagnosed with colorectal cancer
* To be operated on between 2017 and 2022

Exclusion Criteria:

* The patient refuses to give consent to participate in the study
* Non-primary colorectal cancer (metastasis to the colon or rectum from another primary cancer; cancer originating in the appendix)
* Primary metastatic cancer other than colorectal cancer
* Discovery of cancer synchronous with colorectal cancer
* Guardianship or trusteeship
* Cognitive disorders (Alzheimer's, dementia, etc.)
* Severe psychiatric disorder (neurodevelopmental disorder, psychotic disorder, mood disorder, etc.) according to the specific DSM-5 and ICD-11 classifications
* Severe deafness (unable to answer questions during telephone interview)

Primary outcomes:
measure: MAC using
timeFrame: Month 2
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Demographic factors
timeFrame: Month 2
measure: Clinical factors
timeFrame: month 2
measure: Recurrence time
timeFrame: Month 2
measure: Quality of life
timeFrame: Month 2
measure: MAC information sources
timeFrame: month 2
measure: Reasons of using MAC
timeFrame: month 2
measure: Effects perceived
timeFrame: month 2
measure: healthcare professionals' report on MAC
timeFrame: month 2
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Limoges
country: France
facility: limoges University Hospital
Study officials:
affiliation: University Hospital, Limoges
name: Niki CHRISTOU, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: