Breast cancer patients who received standard care alongside complementary and alternative medicine were less likely to receive endocrine therapy and radiation as part of their cancer treatment, according to a study published March 2 in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers from New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University School of Medicine analyzed data from 2,157,219 patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2011 and 2021 from the National Cancer Database to assess any association with survival and treatment choice.
Here are five notes from the study:
- Researchers compared survival among patients who received traditional treatment alone, traditional treatment and complementary or alternative medicine, and no treatment.
- Complementary or alternative treatment was defined as treatment administered by nonmedical personnel.
Traditional therapies include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, endocrine therapy and immunotherapy. - Of the 2,157,219 patients included in the study, patients treated with complementary or alternative medicine and patients who received no treatment had the highest risk of mortality.
- Compared to patients treated exclusively with traditional therapies, stage 2 breast cancer patients who received both traditional therapy and complementary or alternative medicine were less likely to receive endocrine therapy and radiation.
- Patients treated exclusively with complementary or alternative medicine were about four times more likely to die within five years of treatment compared to patients treated exclusively with traditional therapies.
“Patients treated with [complementary or alternative medicine] alone experienced outcomes similar to patients who chose not to be treated at all,” according to a March 24 news release from the Yale School of Medicine.
Read the full study here.
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