Use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with localized prostate carcinoma: study at a single institute in Japan

Abstract.

Background: The use of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) has recently received considerable attention throughout the world. We evaluated the prevalence and predictors of CAM use among Japanese patients with localized prostate cancer.

Methods: A total of 177 patients with localized prostate carcinoma underwent radical retropubic prostatecotomy or external beam radiation therapy between January 1994 and January 2001. Of them, 138 (78%) answered a self-administered questionnaire on CAM use and were eligible for this study. The overall prevalence, types of CAM used, and costs of CAM were assessed. The effects of age, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, clinical stage, pretreatment Gleason score, patients' income, patients' final educational status, and general health-related quality of life at baseline and 1 year after treatment, as estimated using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Prostate Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire on the prevalence of CAM use, were evaluated.

Results: Twenty-seven patients (20%) had once used or had been using some types of CAM. Herbal medicine and vitamins were the most common types of CAM used. Preoperative Gleason score was significantly associated with CAM use, as determined by the χ² test (P = 0.0198), and PSA level and posttreatment physical function domain were marginally associated with CAM use, as determined by the Mann-Whitney U-test (P = 0.0734 and P = 0.0597, respectively). Patient age, income, and final educational status had no impact on CAM use.

Conclusion: A relatively small proportion of Japanese patients with localized prostate cancer have tried CAM compared with the proportions of patients described in previous reports from Western countries.