Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Complementary and alternative therapy use before and after breast cancer diagnosis: the Pathways Study

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many women use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to maintain or improve their health. We describe CAM use among the first 1,000 participants enrolled in the Pathways Study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of women diagnosed with breast cancer (BC). Participants, identified by rapid case ascertainment in Kaiser Permanente Northern California, are women ≥ 21 years diagnosed with first invasive BC. Comprehensive baseline data are collected on CAM use through in-person interviews. Study participants include 70.9% non-Hispanic whites, 10.2% Hispanics, 9.0% Asians, 6.5% African–Americans, and 3.4% others. Most women (82.2%) were diagnosed with AJCC stage I/II BC at average (±SD) age 59.5 (±12.0) years and reported prior use of at least one form of CAM (96.5% of participants). In the 5 years before diagnosis, CAM therapies used at least weekly by >20% of women included green tea, glucosamine, omega-3 fatty acids, prayer and religion. CAM use was high (86.1% of participants) in the period immediately following diagnosis; 47.5% used botanical supplements, 47.2% used other natural products, 28.8% used special diets, 64.2% used mind-body healing, and 26.5% used body/energy/other treatments. In multivariable analyses, frequent use of each CAM modality before and after diagnosis was associated with use of other CAM modalities and other health behaviors (i.e., high fruit/vegetable intake, lower BMI). CAM use before and after BC diagnosis is common in this diverse group of women. Our results emphasize the need for clinicians to discuss CAM use with all BC patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. American Cancer Society (2008) Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2007–2008. American Cancer Society Inc., Atlanta

    Google Scholar 

  2. National Centers for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health (2008) What is CAM? Available via http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/

  3. Eschiti VS (2007) Lesson from comparison of CAM use by women with female-specific cancers to others: it’s time to focus on interaction risks with CAM therapies. Integr Cancer Ther 6:313–344. doi:10.1177/1534735407309257

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Kwan ML, Ambrosone CB, Lee MM et al. (2008) The Pathways Study: a prospective study of breast cancer survivorship within Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Cancer Causes Control 19(10):1065–1076. doi:10.1007/s10552-008-9170-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bair YA, Gold EB, Greendale GA et al (2002) Ethnic differences in use of complementary and alternative medicine at midlife: longitudinal results from SWAN participants. Am J Public Health 92:1832–1840. doi:10.2105/AJPH.92.11.1832

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee MM, Lin SS, Wrensch MR et al (2000) Alternative therapies used by women with breast cancer in four ethnic populations. J Natl Cancer Inst 92:42–47. doi:10.1093/jnci/92.1.42

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pierce JP, Faerber S, Wright FA et al (2002) A randomized trial of the effect of a plant-based dietary pattern on additional breast cancer events and survival: the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) study. Control Clin Trials 23:728–756. doi:10.1016/S0197-2456(02)00241-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Gammon MD, Neugut AI, Santella RM et al (2002) The Long Island Breast Cancer Study project: description of a multi-institutional collaboration to identify environmental risk factors for breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 74:235–254. doi:10.1023/A:1016387020854

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics (2000) 1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. NHANES 1999–2000 public data release file documentation. Available via: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/gendoc.pdf

  10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics (2002) 2000–2001 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. NHANES 2001–2002 public data general release file documentation. Available via: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_01_02/general_data_release_doc.pdf

  11. Oehrli MD, Quesenberry CP, Leyden W (2006) Northern California Cancer Registry: 2006 Annual report on trends, incidence, and outcomes. Kaiser Permanente Northern California Cancer Registry

  12. Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K et al (2004) Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. Adv Data:1–19

  13. Gansler T, Kaw C, Crammer C et al (2008) A population-based study of prevalence of complementary methods use by cancer survivors: a report from the American Cancer Society’s studies of cancer survivors. Cancer 113:1048–1057. doi:10.1002/cncr.23659

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Buettner C, Kroenke CH, Phillips RS et al (2006) Correlates of use of different types of complementary and alternative medicine by breast cancer survivors in the Nurses’ Health Study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 100:219–227. doi:10.1007/s10549-006-9239-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Newman V, Rock CL, Faerber S et al (1998) Dietary supplement use by women at risk for breast cancer recurrence. The Women’s Healthy Eating and Living study group. J Am Diet Assoc 98:285–292. doi:10.1016/S0002-8223(98)00068-6

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Lawenda BD, Kelly KM, Ladas EJ et al (2008) Should supplemental antioxidant administration be avoided during chemotherapy and radiation therapy? J Natl Cancer Inst 100:773–783. doi:10.1093/jnci/djn148

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Messina M, McCaskill-Stevens W, Lampe JW (2006) Addressing the soy and breast cancer relationship: review, commentary, and workshop proceedings. J Natl Cancer Inst 98:1275–1284

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge all Pathways Study participants, as well as the office and field staff. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (CA094061, CA105274); the American Cancer Society (RSG-06-209-01-LR); and the Department of Defense (BC043120). The contents of this manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather Greenlee.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Greenlee, H., Kwan, M.L., Ergas, I.J. et al. Complementary and alternative therapy use before and after breast cancer diagnosis: the Pathways Study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 117, 653–665 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0315-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0315-3

Keywords

Navigation