Evidence-Based Complementary Medicine in Breast Cancer Therapy

Complementary medicine is currently widely debated by the oncologic community, because the required scientific proof of safety and effectiveness for most of the therapeutic approaches ha s not yet been met with definite results. In the past years, basic research and clinical evaluation of defined complementary therapeutic concepts in oncology have been intensified in an attempt to integrate these procedures into evidence-based medicine. According to definition, scientifically-based therapies of complementary medicine cannot replace the well-studied conventional cancer-destructive therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy. Complementary approaches in oncology that are recommended as an addition to standard cancer-destructive therapies claim to optimize this therapy. A great body of data emerging from scientifically sound clinical trials prove that defined complementary procedures are beneficial for the patients.