Abstract
Goals of work
In gynecological oncology, there is growing interest in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods. The lack of data regarding side effects, the lack of any survival advantages, and the costs of these methods appear to have no influence on patients’ decisions on whether to use CAM. Our interest was to evaluate the association between CAM use and the patients’ quality of life/life satisfaction (QoL/LS).
Materials and methods
One thousand thirty women with breast cancer of gynecologic malignancies were asked to participate in this study, which included a questionnaire and a personal interview on CAM. User status was compared with the patient’s own description of her QoL/LS and with the cancer type.
Main results
CAM was used by 48.7% of all women (n = 502). Breast cancer patients stated that they used CAM in 50.1% and women with gynecological cancer in 44.0%. The use of mistletoe was widespread (77.3%) and was more often seen in breast cancer patients than in gynecological cancer patients (74.4% vs 67.0%). CAM users less frequently stated an overall deterioration of their health status (35.1%) compared to nonusers (50.1%). CAM use resulted in a stated improvement in family conditions (6%) in comparison with the nonusers (2%).
Conclusions
With regard to patients’ perception of health status, CAM use is associated with a better coping with their disease. Most other categories of LS are not affected by CAM use. Patient-oriented information comparing standard therapies with CAM methods should be made widely available, and patients’ expectations of CAM use should be discussed between the physician and the patient.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Astin JA (1999) Use of alternative medicine by women with breast cancer. N Engl J Med 341:1156, author reply 1156–1157
Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL (2004) Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. Adv Data:1–19
Bertz J, Hentschel S, Hundsdörfer G, Kaatsch P, Katalinic A, Lehnert M, Schön D, Stegmaier C, Ziegler H (2004) Krebs in Deutschland (Cancer in Germany), 4th edn. Saarbrücken
Brennan J (2001) Adjustment to cancer-coping or personal transition?
Burstein HJ, Gelber S, Guadagnoli E, Weeks JC (1999) Use of alternative medicine by women with early-stage breast cancer. N Engl J Med 340:1733–1739
Carlsson M, Arman M, Backman M, Flatters U, Hatschek T, Hamrin E (2004) Evaluation of quality of life/life satisfaction in women with breast cancer in complementary and conventional care. Acta Oncol 43:27–34
Carlsson M, Arman M, Backman M, Hamrin E (2001) Perceived quality of life and coping for Swedish women with breast cancer who choose complementary medicine. Cancer Nurs 24:395–401
Cassileth BR, Deng G (2004) Complementary and alternative therapies for cancer. Oncologist 9:80–89
Chrystal K, Allan S, Forgeson G, Isaacs R (2003) The use of complementary/alternative medicine by cancer patients in a New Zealand regional cancer treatment centre. N Z Med J 116:U296
Cui Y, Shu XO, Gao Y, Wen W, Ruan ZX, Jin F, Zheng W (2004) Use of complementary and alternative medicine by Chinese women with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 85:263–270
Drew AK, Myers SP (1997) Safety issues in herbal medicine: implications for the health professions. Med J Aust 166:538–541
Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, Appel S, Wilkey S, Van Rompay M, Kessler RC (1998) Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990–1997: results of a follow-up national survey. JAMA 280:1569–1575
Ernst E, Cassileth BR (1998) The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine in cancer: a systematic review. Cancer 83:777–782
Fasching PA, Nicolaisen-Murmann K, Lux MP, Bani M, Thiel F, Bender HG, Beckmann MW, Ackermann S (2007) Changes in satisfaction in patients with gynecological and breast malignancies: an analysis with the Socio-Economic Satisfaction and Quality of Life (SES-QOL) questionnaire. Eur J Cancer Care (in press)
Ganz PA, Guadagnoli E, Landrum MB, Lash TL, Rakowski W, Silliman RA (2003) Breast cancer in older women: quality of life and psychosocial adjustment in the 15 months after diagnosis. J Clin Oncol 21:4027–4033
Ganz PA, Kwan L, Stanton AL, Krupnick JL, Rowland JH, Meyerowitz BE, Bower JE, Belin TR (2004) Quality of life at the end of primary treatment of breast cancer: first results from the moving beyond cancer randomized trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 96:376–387
Kappauf H, Leykauf-Ammon D, Bruntsch U, Horneber M, Kaiser G, Buschel G, Gallmeier WM (2000) Use of and attitudes held towards unconventional medicine by patients in a department of internal medicine/oncology and haematology. Support Care Cancer 8:314–322
Knobf MT, Pasacreta J (1999) Use of alternative medicine by women with breast cancer. N Engl J Med 341:1156–1157
Lee MM, Chang JS, Jacobs B, Wrensch MR (2002) Complementary and alternative medicine use among men with prostate cancer in 4 ethnic populations. Am J Public Health 92:1606–1609
Lutz S, Spence C, Chow E, Janjan N, Connor S (2004) Survey on use of palliative radiotherapy in hospice care. J Clin Oncol 22:3581–3586
Marstedt G, Moebus S (2004) Inanspruchnahme alternativer Methoden in der Medizin. Robert-Koch-Insitut, Berlin
Nicolaisen-Murmann K, Thiel F, Mohrmann S, Grünewald E, Ackermann S, Bender HG, Beckmann MW, Fasching PA (2005) Complementary and alternative Methods (CAM) in women with gynecologic and breast malignancies-a multicenter study estimating prevalence and motivation. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd 65:1–8
Sollner W, Maislinger S, DeVries A, Steixner E, Rumpold G, Lukas P (2000) Use of complementary and alternative medicine by cancer patients is not associated with perceived distress or poor compliance with standard treatment but with active coping behavior: a survey. Cancer 89:873–880
Sprangers MA (2002) Quality-of-life assessment in oncology. Achievements and challenges. Acta Oncol 41:229–237
Sprangers MA, Moinpour CM, Moynihan TJ, Patrick DL, Revicki DA (2002) Assessing meaningful change in quality of life over time: a users’ guide for clinicians. Mayo Clin Proc 77:561–571
Waldron D, O’Boyle CA, Kearney M, Moriarty M, Carney D (1999) Quality-of-life measurement in advanced cancer: assessing the individual. J Clin Oncol 17:3603–3611
Weiger WA, Smith M, Boon H, Richardson MA, Kaptchuk TJ, Eisenberg DM (2002) Advising patients who seek complementary and alternative medical therapies for cancer. Ann Intern Med 137:889–903
Werneke U, Earl J, Seydel C, Horn O, Crichton P, Fannon D (2004) Potential health risks of complementary alternative medicines in cancer patients. Br J Cancer 90:408–413
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fasching, P.A., Thiel, F., Nicolaisen-Murmann, K. et al. Association of complementary methods with quality of life and life satisfaction in patients with gynecologic and breast malignancies. Support Care Cancer 15, 1277–1284 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0231-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0231-1