The Patient-Oriented Guidebook for the Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Cancer Treatment

Abstract

The nationwide survey done by study group of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan (Grant-in-Aid; 13-20) revealed that the prevalence of CAM use was 44.6% (1382 of 3100) in cancer patients. CAM was used without sufficient information by 57.3% of users with cancer and without a consultation with a doctor by 60.7% of users. Recently, the patient-oriented guidebook for the CAM in cancer treatment was made by another study group of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan (Grant-in-Aid; 17-14). This paper reports the opinion and request on this guidebook. We also discusses the view towards a future revised edition.