CAM/drug interactions are cancer patients at risk, Australia

A growing number of cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) without their physicians know, endanger adverse interactions with conventional medicine, according to a review published today (24 March 2011) in cancer Forum.

Professor Stephen Clarke, the Faculty of medicine at the University of Sydney, said it had a significant increase in CAM use in the last 15 years, with studies which now exceeded not say use in cancer patients 80 per cent, of which more than half (57 percent) could, their doctors.

"Not surprisingly CAM big business,", said Professor Clarke. "Alone in the United States, it has estimated that cancer patients spend more than $ 30 billion in expenses on CAM."

Professor Clarke said while using conventional medicine CAM often had no or minimal effect have in systemically administered herbal medicine and conventional treatments, there was "substantial risks of adverse interactions" which either "Drug toxicity or therapeutic failure" could lead.

St. John's wort, for example, had shown when with cancer drug imatinib (Gleevec), caused co-administered effectiveness the drug from the body 43 percent faster deleted may be decreased that could produce. Other herbs were probably the clearance of other types of cancer drugs, to delay what more side effects. White "but not in many cases we only if there is any interaction."

Professor Clarke calls for doctors, more initiative, complete drugs show stories, including plant use, in all patients, to get the cancer chemotherapy.

The wide-ranging Forum "complementary and alternative medicine" contains papers on:

Overview of complementary and alternative medicine (Ian Olver)

-Botanical products in the 21st century (Monica Robotin)

Additional psychotherapy standard therapy for cancer (Bogda Koczwara, Lisa Beatty)

-Aufklärung of complementary and alternative medicine (Craig Hassad)

-CAM interaction with conventional medicine against cancer (Stephen Clarke, Andrew McLachlan)

Complementary research and alternative therapies (Haryana Dhillon)

Prayers as a complementary therapy (Hayley Whitford, Ian Olver)

-Einbeziehung complementary and agreement medicine (Carlo Pirri)

Family and complementary and alternative medicine (Jakline Eliott, Nadje Klafke)

Patients perception of complementary and alternative medicine (Vivienne O'Callaghan).

Source:
Cancer Council Australia