A team led by Oluwaseun Ayoade at Yale examined treatment choices and outcomes for patients with breast cancer. Their analysis of the National Cancer Database, which captures about 70% of newly diagnosed US patients, included more than two million people and appears in JAMA Network Open.
About 98% of women received traditional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, or radiation. Patients treated only with complementary and alternative medicine had a 3.7-fold higher mortality, meaning they were nearly four times more likely to die within five years. Outcomes for the CAM-only group were similar to patients who received no treatment.
Patients who combined CAM and traditional treatments had 1.4 times higher mortality than those who used only traditional care. Further analysis suggested the combined group often skipped radiation and endocrine therapies, which likely reduced survival. The authors urged open discussion between patients and medical teams about all treatments.
Difficult words
- therapy — medical treatment to help a diseasetherapies
- alternative medicine — medical treatments not part of usual care
- mortality — number of deaths in a group over time
- chemotherapy — drug treatment to kill cancer cells
- endocrine therapy — treatment that affects hormones in body
- analysis — study of information to find results
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Should patients tell their medical team about any complementary or alternative treatments they use? Why or why not?
- How might skipping radiation or endocrine therapy change a patient’s chance of recovery? Give one or two reasons.
- What questions would you ask a doctor if you wanted to combine traditional and alternative treatments?
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