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Effect of a 12-week integrative oncology intervention on gastro-intestinal concerns in patients with gynecological and breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy

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Abstract

Research on the long-term effects of complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) is limited. In this study, we explore the impact of a CIM intervention on gastro-intestinal (GI)-related concerns in patients with breast/gynecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Patients reporting chemotherapy-related GI concerns were referred by their cancer care providers to a CIM consultation and treatments and assessed at baseline and at 12 weeks. The following tools were used: Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCAW) and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). The intervention group was subdivided according to adherence to the integrative care program (AIC), defined as attending ≥4 CIM treatments with ≤30 days between each session. Controls chose not to undergo the CIM consultation or treatments. Of 289 patients reporting GI-related concerns, 42 were treated with CIM and optimally assessed (intervention arm; AIC = 33), as were 32 of controls. ESAS scores for appetite and nausea improved more significantly in the intervention group, more so in the AIC subgroup (appetite, p = 0.025; nausea, p = 0.033). MYCAW scores for GI-related concerns also improved in the intervention group, again more so in the adherent subgroup. EORTC scores improved more significantly with respect to global health (p = 0.021) and cognitive functioning (p = 0.031) in the intervention group, when compared to controls. The integration of a 12-week CIM intervention in conventional supportive cancer care may reduce nausea and improve appetite in patients with breast/gynecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Ms. Ronit Leiba for her assistance in the statistical analysis of the data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Integrative Oncology Program, The Oncology Service, Lin Medical Center, Clalit Health Services, Haifa and Western Galilee District, Hafia, Israel

    Ilanit Shalom-Sharabi & Eran Ben-Arye

  2. The Graduate Studies Authority, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Ilanit Shalom-Sharabi

  3. School of Public Health, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Lital Keinan-Boker

  4. Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Lital Keinan-Boker

  5. Tal Center for Integrative Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

    Noah Samuels

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gynecologic Oncology Service, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

    Ofer Lavie

  7. Department of Israel Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Efraim Lev

  8. Complementary and Traditional Medicine Unit, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Eran Ben-Arye

Authors
  1. Ilanit Shalom-Sharabi
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  2. Lital Keinan-Boker
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  3. Noah Samuels
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  4. Ofer Lavie
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  5. Efraim Lev
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  6. Eran Ben-Arye
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Contributions

Ilanit Shalom-Sharabi, Dr. Noah Samuels and Prof. Eran Ben-Arye contributed to conception and design of the study, acquisition of the data, analysis and interpretation of the data, drafting the article and revising it critically for important content and final approval of the version to be submitted. Prof. Lital Keinan-Boker, Prof. Ofer Lavie and Prof. Efraim Lev helped in conception and design of the study, drafting the article and revising it critically for important content and final approval of the version to be submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eran Ben-Arye.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Shalom-Sharabi, I., Keinan-Boker, L., Samuels, N. et al. Effect of a 12-week integrative oncology intervention on gastro-intestinal concerns in patients with gynecological and breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Med Oncol 34, 155 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-1016-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-1016-0

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