What is Integrative Oncology?

Botanical Oncology in conjunction with conventional chemotherapy is commonly referred to as Integrative Oncology (IO).

More and more people diagnosed with cancer are choosing to supplement their conventional oncology treatment with complementary care
provided by licensed complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers, including doctors of osteopathy, doctors of traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM), and oncology board certified naturopathic oncologists This growing field of medicine is increasingly being referred to as integrative oncology (IO).

Such care consists of a whole-person-oriented approach, including a variety of evidence-based complementary and integrative medicine practices that
include a diversity of nutrient and botanical natural products, diet and exercise plans, acupuncture, hyperthermia, and mind-body medicine. Many of these
therapies are based on clinical evidence.

Numerous studies report that in Europe, one cancer patient out of three turns to add-on Integrative Oncology treatments, in combination with conventional
therapies, and the most widely used treatments are homeopathy, herbal medicine and spiritual therapies.

In the last decade, in order to meet the requests of cancer patients, departments of integrative oncology have been set up in the main US hospitals (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, among others) and over 20% of the European oncological structures also deliver complementary treatment.