ABSTRACT
The rise in the appeal of patient-centered prevention, nutrition, and lifestyle change over the last 50 years has led many cancer patients in conventional treatment programs to seek alternative therapies including herbal medicine and acupuncture in parallel to their oncology treatment often without informing their oncologists or primary care doctors. There was a widespread tradition of social and psychological support for cancer patients in many cancer center programs and individual oncology practices for decades, but in the last 20 years, there has been an increasing presence of integrative oncology programs at clinical cancer centers which combine psychological and social support with complementary and alternative therapies alongside orthodox treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. These comprehensive programs attempt to address a range of physical, mental, emotional, and environmental aspects of cancer employing an array of disciplines that often include mind-body interventions and botanical dietary supplements. This chapter will emphasize the primary role of personalized nutrition in integrative oncology and will review several different alternative therapies which are typically part of integrative oncology including botanical dietary supplements.
