Use of alternative medicine by women with early-stage breast cancer

Background We analyzed the use of alternative medicine by women who had rec eived standard therapy for early-stage breast cancer diagnosed between Sept ember 1993 and September 1995. Methods A cohort of 480 patients with newly diagnosed early-stage breast ca ncer was recruited from a Massachusetts statewide cohort of women participa ting in a study of how women choose treatment for cancer. Alternative medic al treatments, conventional therapies, and health-related quality of life w ere examined. Results New use of alternative medicine after surgery for breast cancer was common (reported by 28.1 percent of the women); such use was not associate d with choices about standard medical therapies after we controlled for cli nical and sociodemographic variables. A total of 10.6 percent of the women had used alternative medicine before they were given a diagnosis of breast cancer. Women who initiated the use of alternative medicine after surgery r eported a worse quality of life than women who never used alternative medic ine. Mental health scores were similar at base line among women who decided to use alternative medicine and those who did not, but three months after surgery the use of alternative medicine was independently associated with d epression, fear of recurrence of cancer, lower scores for mental health and sexual satisfaction, and more physical symptoms as well as symptoms of gre ater intensity. All groups of women reported improving quality of life one year after surgery. Conclusions Among women with newly diagnosed early-stage breast cancer who had been treated with standard therapies, new use of alternative medicine w as a marker of greater psychosocial distress and worse quality of life. (N Engl J Med 1999; 340:1733-9.) (C) 1999, Massachusetts Medical Society.