ABSTRACT
Colorectal cancer accounts for 10% of the overall cancer cases in the United States, and the expected number of new patients in 2009 is 106,100 with 49,920 deaths (Jemal et al., 2009). Although early diagnosis with rigorous screening may have reduced its incidence compared to a few years ago, the prognosis associated with metastatic disease continues to remain bleak. Current treatment of this cancer generally employs surgical resection combined with chemotherapy using cytotoxic drugs and radiation therapy. Because this therapy is only moderately successful for late stage cancers, novel approaches to the treatment of this cancer are required. Several controlled clinical trial data supported a multimodal and multidisciplinary approach, including combination of treatments and schedule in which they are administered, in treating both early and advance stage colorectal cancers (Goldberg et al., 2004; Hurwitz et al., 2004). Studies also showed that patients with cancer often resort to complementary and alternative medical means for treatment of cancer-related symptoms, and/or to reduce the adverse effects of chemotherapy (Shumay et al., 2001; Ott, 2002; Lee et al., 2006; Wu et al., 2007).
