Evidence-based Assessment of Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer

Soo-Young Kim

doi:10.5124/jkma.2008.51.5.403

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Kim: Evidence-based Assessment of Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer

Focused Issue of This Month

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer

Journal of the Korean Medical Association

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2008; 51(5): 403-410.

Published online: 31 May 2008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2008.51.5.403

Evidence-based Assessment of Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer

Soo-Young Kim, MD

Department of Family Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Korea. hallymfm@gmail.com

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not currently considered to be the parts of conventional medicine. Many patients suffering from cancer use CAM therapies. Physicians, patients, and policy makers need information on current evidence on the efficacy and safety of selected CAM therapies that are commonly used by patients with cancer. The commonly used CAM therapies among cancer patients were assessed by systematic reviews of surveys on Korean cancer patients' use of CAM. A total of 82 CAM interventions were selected for assessment of the effectiveness and safety. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Korean database (KoreaMed, KMbase), Japan and China database in most sensitive modes. We adopted methodologies of classification of study design, study quality assessment, and determination of evidence levels from Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). Safety of each CAM intervention was assessed according to the level of risk grading. External reviews were done by multidisciplinary experts.

Keywords: Complementary and alternative medicine, Assessment, Evidence-based medicine, Methodology

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Algorithm for classifying primary study designs about effectiveness.

Table 1

Considered grading systems

Table 2

Selected CAM interventions

Table 3

Selected database

Table 4

Level of evidence

^*RCT: randomized controlled trial, ^†: CBA : controlled before and after study, ^‡: interrupted time series.

Table 5

Level of risk

Notes

This study was supported by a grant from the National R & D Program for Cancer Control, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea(0720590).

References

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