Importance of Integrative Cancer Care

What causes a survivor to become a thriver? Some might say hope, and specifically the hope for a cure. Yes, hope is important. But from our perspective, it is not the hope for a cure that encourages us as much as hope for a change - a change in the way cancer, cancer treatment and healing are viewed. Our hope is that collaboration becomes the cornerstone of cancer care in the future. Not just collaboration that mirrors our very own internal systems - a web of interconnectedness, a rhythmic flow that comes naturally. This is not simply teamwork involving treatment. It is an alliance that encompasses body, mind, and spirit. It is a consistent, overarching effort that combines the best of conventional and complementary medicine with the proactive efforts of the patient, which must include a healthy diet, positive lifestyle choices, and appropriate dietary supplements. This is integrated medicine, and it is the future of cancer care.

Conventional medicine has delivered many advances over the past decade. Areas that hold promise for the future of cancer treatment include utilizing nanotechnology for more pinpointed treatments and the study of the biological actions of proteins, known as proteomics. Just as genomics has helped medical science in many ways, proteomics is quickly becoming an important focus in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

In the future, diet, lifestyle, and dietary supplements will go beyond merely supporting and sustaining. These controllable factors will be viewed as significant complementary treatment techniques to reverse cancer. More funding is needed for researching integrative approaches. Our present system primarily rewards those who can substantiate the performance of isolated synthetic drugs that can be patented. Research into combined approaches or utilizing a healthy diet, positive lifestyle choices, and supplements, all of which cannot be patented, is presently not being supported as much as it could be, or should be.

Over the years, we have talked to many leaders in the field of integrative medicine and we hear a consistent, positive message that things are shifting. Conventional medicine, medical schools, and research facilities are beginning to pay attention to the broader aspects that make up an integrated approach to cancer treatment and healing. But we cannot wait until everyone is truly on the same page. Until that time, people must be proactive about using an integrative approach for both prevention and healing.

Throughout history, long-lasting change has come from the masses - groups of people who take the initiative. Our health-care system is in dire need of such an initiative. True and lasting change will come from patients and their loved ones. Our doctors are so pressured by managed care, insurance directives, and other constraints that they are limited as to the degree of change they can invoke. Patients and loved ones need to work in partnership with the system that is in place while also searching for information on complementary approaches to healing and staying healthy. Each of us must take the lead in our own health care. The system will then be forced to change to keep up with the demands of its customers, the patients.