"A lot of people are selling hope," says Dr. Ann Partridge, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. But there's often little to no evidence that vitamin pills, herbal supplements, or homeopathic products can treat cancer. Some of these alternative therapies can actually decrease the effectiveness of proven treatments chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation or surgery prescribed by your doctor.
Alternative therapies, as well as complementary ones you may take alongside prescribed treatment, sound more appealing than standard medical treatments, Partridge says. But unfortunately, people who choose these therapies have a two-fold greater risk of death compared to patients who don’t use complementary treatments, according to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
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