Recent surveys demonstrate that many patients with cancer use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies at some point after their diagnosis. Therefore, CAM has increasingly been the focus of international research. However, due to insufficient evidence and/or insufficient good quality evidence, this has mostly not translated to practice recommendations. In these circumstances, medical practitioners need to be aware of the importance of this issue and of the rationale used to promote CAM. A great need for public and professional education regarding this subject is evident.
