Introduction Complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM) has an important role in supportive cancer care in the Middle
East and is often used in association with traditional medicine. This article
provides a comprehensive review of published data on CAM research in supportive
cancer care in the Middle East.
Methods
and results A multi-disciplinary Middle-Eastern Research Group
in Integrative Oncology (MERGIO) was established in six countries. Authors
independently searched Medline database for articles in Arabic, Hebrew, French,
and Turkish using oncology and CAM-related keywords. Articles were recorded according
to the first author’s affiliation with an academic or clinical institution in
the Middle East.
Results We
identified 143 articles on CAM and cancer care that had been published in12
Middle-Eastern countries. Eighty-five articles were directly related to cancer
supportive care. The latter included studies on the prevalence of CAM use by
patients with cancer, aspects related to of doctor–patient communication,
ethics and regulation, psychosocial aspects of CAM, CAM safety and quality
assurance, studies of CAM education for health care providers, and
ethno-botanical studies and reviews. Twenty-eight articles referred to clinical
research on supportive care, and the use of specific CAM modalities that
included acupuncture, anthroposophic medicine, dietary and nutritional
therapies herbal medicine, homeopathy, mind–body medicine, shiatsu, therapeutic
touch, and yoga.
Conclusions
CAM-related
supportive care research is prevalent in the Middle East, a fact that may serve
as a basis for future multinational-multidisciplinary research work in
supportive care in oncology.