Naturopathic Oncology Care for Thoracic Cancers: A Practice Survey

• Published in: Integrative cancer therapies Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 793 - 805
• Main Authors: Seely, Dugald, Ennis, Julie K., McDonell, Ellen, Zhao, Linlu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2018; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Canada - epidemiology; Cancer; Chemotherapy; Combined Modality Therapy - methods; Combined Modality Therapy - statistics & numerical data; Diet; Esophageal cancer; Fatty acids; Gastric cancer; Humans; Lung cancer; Medical Oncology - methods; Medical Oncology - statistics & numerical data; Naturopathy - methods; Naturopathy - statistics & numerical data; Nutrient deficiency; Oncology; Patient Care Planning - statistics & numerical data; Pectin; Postoperative Period; Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data; Preoperative Period; Probiotics; Radiation therapy; Surgery; Surveys and Questionnaires; Thoracic Neoplasms - epidemiology; Thoracic Neoplasms - therapy; Thoracic Surgical Procedures - statistics & numerical data; Thorax; United States - epidemiology; Vitamin D; Canada; United States; lung cancer; physical interventions; mental-emotional interventions; nutrition; naturopathic oncology; esophageal cancer; gastric cancer; natural health products; integrative oncology; complementary and alternative medicine; naturopathic medicine; surgery
• ISSN: 1534-7354; 1552-695X
• DOI: 10.1177/1534735418759420

Background and Objectives: There is a lack of information on therapies recommended by naturopathic doctors (NDs) for lung and gastroesophageal cancer care. Study objectives were to: (1) identify the most common interventions considered for use by NDs; (2) identify interventions NDs recommend to support key therapeutic goals; and (3) identify potential contraindications between integrative and conventional therapies. Methods: Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP) members (n = 351) were invited to complete an electronic survey. Respondents provided information on interventions considered for thoracic cancer pre- and postoperatively across 4 therapeutic domains (supplemental natural health products, physical, mental/emotional, and nutritional), therapeutic goals, and contraindications. This survey was part of the development of the Thoracic Perioperative Integrative Surgical Evaluation trial. Results: Forty-four NDs completed the survey (12.5% response rate), all of whom were trained at accredited colleges in North America and the majority of whom were Fellows of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO) (56.8%). NDs identified significantly more interventions in the postoperative compared to preoperative setting. The most frequently identified interventions included modified citrus pectin, arnica, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, probiotics, exercise, acupuncture, meditation, stress reduction, low glycemic index diet, and Mediterranean diet. Potential contraindications with conventional treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) differed across natural health products. Conclusions: These findings highlight naturopathic interventions with a high level of use in thoracic cancer care, describe and characterize therapeutic goals and the interventions used to achieve these goals, and provide insight on how practice changes relative to conventional cancer treatment phase.