Over 400 oncologists and experts in the fields of economics,
education, public health policy, and health insurance as well as
representatives from patient organizations from around the world
are gathering in Amsterdam, March 11-12, to participate in the
First International Conference on Integrative Care for the Future.
The purpose of the international meeting is to raise awareness of
the increase in evidence-based research in complementary therapies
to remedy the side effects associated with cancer and cancer
treatments and dispel the confusion surrounding integrative
medicine.
Meeting Rationale
"One major reason we're having this
conference is that increasing evidence supports integrative
oncology's important role in cancer patients' lives from diagnosis
through survivorship to end-of-life care," said Barrie
Cassileth, PhD, Chief of the Integrative Medicine Service
at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and
conference Chair.
"The second primary reason is to hammer home the distinction
between evidence-based complementary therapies and 'alternatives,'
an unfortunate conflation perpetuated by the problematic acronym
CAM (complementary and alternative medicine), which puts together
two unrelated approaches," Dr. Cassileth added. "Helpful adjunctive
complementary therapies bear no relationship to bogus alternative
treatments. We need to start using a more accurate term that
describes what we and others are doing: integrative medicine or
integrative oncology, not CAM."
Combating Quackery
Cancer quackery, which relies on false claims to sell
alternative cancer cures, is big business, not just in the United
States-Dr. Cassileth quoted estimates at over $40 billion-but
in Europe, Australia, and in other countries as well. How to put
cancer quackery out of business while making beneficial
evidenced-based complementary therapies more accessible to patients
is one of the topics on the conference agenda.
"The fact is we don't know what is going on around the world in
terms of regulatory activity. In some countries, the term
'integrative medicine' has been hijacked by those promoting
quackery, creating confusion among patients and medical
professionals alike," said Dr. Cassileth. "We need to know what's
happening in other countries and how governments and medical
organizations are responding to the problem. The role of
evidence-based, adjunctive integrative medicine is an essential
component of today's cancer care. We must attend to enduring
physical and emotional symptoms caused by successful cancer
treatments. That is what integrative medicine is about. It also can
bring down health-care costs."
Integrative medicine encompasses a vast array of approaches,
including massage therapy, meditation, acupuncture, nutritional and
herbal counseling, yoga, qigong, and physical fitness regimens.
Conference Agenda
The first day of the conference features a roundtable symposium
on the status of integrative oncology in various parts of the
world, with participants from the United States, Canada, South
America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. On Saturday,
March 12, a plenary session on the current state of
integrative oncology internationally will take place, with
discussions ranging from the role of acupuncture in modern cancer
care to bringing evidence-based therapies into modern cancer
care.
The conference is sponsored by Integrative Care for the Future,
an international organization dedicated to supporting the
scientific investigation of complementary therapies for cancer
care. For more information about the First International Conference
on Integrative Care for the Future and to register for the event,
go to Integrativecareftfuture.org. ■
