Many Breast Cancer Patients Try Alternative Medicine First: Study

science news

THURSDAY May 12, 2016, 2016 -- Women with early stage breast cancer who turn to alternative medicine may delay recommended chemotherapy, a new study suggests.

And although most of the more than 300 women in the study eventually had recommended chemotherapy, 11 percent did not, the researchers said.
"Previous studies have shown that timely initiation of breast cancer chemotherapy is associated with better breast cancer survival," said lead researcher Heather Greenlee. She is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
The findings show that "women who do not initiate [chemotherapy] are more likely to be users of dietary supplements, and use many different forms of complementary and alternative therapies simultaneously," she said.....