ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2016
Complementary and alternative medicine use among US cancer survivors.
Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Physicians' Knowledge and Experiences of Counseling on Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine in Cancer Care: a Qualitative Systematic Review.Current oncology reports · 2026Pooled it
- Using Integrative Therapies to Improve Patient-Reported Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Living Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2025Guideline
- How effective is acupuncture in treating hot flashes in breast cancer patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- The Out-of-Pocket Cost Burden of Cancer Care-A Systematic Literature Review.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2021Pooled it
- Clinical practice guidelines on the evidence-based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment.CA: a cancer journal for clinicians · 2017Guideline
- The Efficacy and Safety of Nutritional Supplements for Cancer Supportive Care: An Umbrella Review and Hierarchical Evidence Synthesis.Integrative cancer therapiesPooled it
- Patterns of complementary and alternative medicine use and factors influencing its utilization in thyroid cancer: findings from the MASTER study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Trial
- A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of the effectiveness of melatonin on neurocognition and sleep in survivors of childhood cancer.Pediatric blood & cancer · 2022Trial
- Cancer pain.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- The financial burden resulting from complementary and alternative medicine in oncology care.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
- Palliative Treatment and Traditional Medicine Among Patients with Cancer in Kumasi, Ghana: Needs for Patient Education.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Exploring biologically-based complementary and alternative medicine use among Irish cancer survivors: findings from a national survey.The oncologist · 2026Article
- Correlates and patterns of using complementary health approaches among individuals with recent and longer-term cancer diagnoses: a US national cross-sectional study.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Cancer pain awareness and communication practices among physicians in China: a nationwide mixed-methods study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Integrative Management of Cancer Pain: A Scoping Review of the Literature.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Evaluating the outcomes and patient experience of group and individual acupuncture in an NHS cancer care setting: a mixed-methods study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Are Nutritional Interventions Worthwhile in Cancer Patients? A Systematic Review on Economic Evaluation.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2025Review
- Association between fish oil and glucosamine use and mortality in patients diagnosed with cancer: the role of the Life Essential 8 score and cancer prognosis.Nutrition journal · 2024Article
- Associations between Chronic Medical Conditions and Persistent Dietary Supplement Use: The US Military Dietary Supplement Use Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Cancer Patients' Use of Apitherapy as Supportive Care: An Exploratory Study.The Eurasian journal of medicine · 2024Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeUS cancer survivors commonly use vitamins/minerals and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). We compare use of vitamins/minerals and CAM between adult cancer survivors and cancer-free adults and estimate annual out-of-pocket expenses.
methodsData on self-reported vitamin/mineral and CAM use in the past 12 months from the cross-sectional 2012 US National Health Interview Survey were used to estimate prevalence of use and out-of-pocket expenditures. The cohort included adults with (n = 2977) and without (n = 30,551) a self-reported cancer diagnosis.
resultsApproximately 79 % of cancer survivors and 68 % of cancer-free adults reported using ≥1 vitamins/minerals and/or CAM modality in the past year. Compared to cancer-free adults, cancer survivors were more likely to report use of vitamin/minerals (75 vs. 61 %, P < 0.001), non-vitamin/mineral natural products (24 vs. 19 %, P < 0.001), manipulative and body-based therapies (19 vs. 17 %, P = 0.03), and alternative medical systems (5 vs. 4 %, P = 0.04). Adult cancer survivors and cancer-free adults spent an annual estimated $6.7 billion and $52 billion out-of-pocket, respectively, on vitamins/minerals and CAM. Survivors spent 60 % of the total on vitamins/minerals ($4 billion), 18 % ($1.2 billion) on non-vitamin/mineral natural products, and 7 % ($0.5 billion) on massage.
conclusionsCompared with cancer-free adults, a higher proportion of cancer survivors report vitamin/mineral and CAM use. Cancer survivors, who accounted for 6.9 % of the total population, accrued more than 11.4 % of the annual out-of-pocket costs on vitamins/minerals and CAM spent by US adults. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Given the high use of vitamins/minerals and CAM in cancer survivors, studies are needed to analyze health outcomes and the cost/benefit ratio of such use.
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