Executive Summary

Increased alternative medicine education for health care providers serving cancer patients is necessary due to high prevalence of supplement use among cancer patients, Ruth Patterson, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, et al., conclude from data obtained in survey appearing in the September Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine. Phone interviews of 356 cancer patients selected from the Washington State Cancer Surveillance System indicated 64.6% take supplements, Patterson et al. find. Users spent an average of $68 on alternative medicine per year and were "more likely to be female, younger and more educated than non-users," researchers note. Study limitations included lack of ethnic diversity among respondents, inability to ensure consistent behavior among respondents and non-respondents...