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Review
. 2017 Nov;25(4):275-283.
doi: 10.1177/2292550317716126. Epub 2017 Aug 22.

Complementary and Alternative Medicines and Patients With Breast Cancer: A Case of Mortality and Systematic Review of Patterns of Use in Patients With Breast Cancer

Grayson A Roumeliotis  1 , Genevieve Dostaler  2 , Kirsty U Boyd  1
Affiliations
Review

Complementary and Alternative Medicines and Patients With Breast Cancer: A Case of Mortality and Systematic Review of Patterns of Use in Patients With Breast Cancer

Grayson A Roumeliotis et al. Plast Surg (Oakv). 2017 Nov.

Abstract
in English, French

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) is common among women being treated for breast cancer. A recent mortality associated with CAM at our center precipitated a systematic review of the Cochrane, EMBASE, and PubMed databases to identify English manuscripts including "CAM" and "breast cancer."

Methods: Papers included for review were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary outcome was the use of CAM by women with breast cancer. Secondary outcomes included timing of use along disease trajectory, attitudes toward CAM by allopathic practitioners, and patient disclosure of CAM use to treating allopathic physicians.

Results: Of 701 titles identified by the search strategy, 36 met the inclusion criteria. The weighted average proportion of women with breast cancer who use CAM was 40% (standard deviation: 18%). The diagnosis of breast cancer also prompts the initiation or increase of CAM use. However, up to 84% of patients do not disclose the use of CAM to their allopathic practitioners.

Conclusions: Although CAM is often dismissed as a harmless addition to allopathic therapy, significant complications and interactions can occur. Our review and the dramatic case example provided highlight the need for physicians to educate themselves regarding CAM and to engage with their patients regarding its use.

Historique: Les femmes traitées pour un cancer du sein utilisent souvent des approches complémentaires et parallèles (ACP). Un récent décès lié à l’utilisation de telles approches, qui s’est produit au centre des chercheurs, a suscité une analyse systématique des bases de données Cochrane, EMBASE et PubMed pour en extraire les manuscrits anglophones incluant les termes complementary and alternative medicine et breast cancer.

Méthodologie: Les chercheurs ont retenu les articles d’après des critères d’inclusion et d’exclusion prédéfinis. Les résultats primaires étaient l’utilisation d’ACP par des femmes atteintes du cancer du sein et les résultats secondaires, le moment de leur utilisation dans la trajectoire de la maladie, les attitudes des praticiens allopatiques envers les ACP et le fait que les patientes informaient ou non les médecins allopathiques qu’elles utilisaient des ACP.

Résultats: Parmi les 701 articles obtenus par la stratégie de recherche, 36 respectaient les critères d’inclusion. La moyenne pondérée de femmes atteintes d’un cancer du sein qui utilisaient des ACP s’élevait à 40 % (ÉT 18 %). Le diagnostic de cancer du sein incite les patientes à utiliser des ACP ou à en accroître l’utilisation. Cependant, jusqu’à 84 % des patients n’informent pas leur praticien allopathique qu’elles utilisent des ACP.

Conclusions: Les ACP sont souvent considérées comme des ajouts inoffensifs au traitement allopathique, mais des complications et des interactions importantes peuvent surgir. L’analyse des chercheurs et l’exemple d’un cas dramatique jettent la lumière sur la nécessité que les médecins s’informent des ACP et discutent de leur utilisation avec leurs patientes.

Keywords: alternative medicine; breast cancer; breast reconstruction; complementary medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Large ulcerative phyllodes tumor of the right breast in a patient who delayed seeking medical attention.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
En bloc excision of the 27 × 20 × 12 cm phyllodes tumor.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Flow diagram for study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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