Opinions of gynecologists on unconventional and complementary cancer therapy (UCT)

Purpose: Up to 70% of all cancer patients use unconventional cancer therapi es (UCT). In spite of unproven benefits and costs around 1.5 billion German Marks, physicians including obstetricians and gynecologists have to be con sidered to be the major sources of provision and information. This article analyzes characteristics and UCT provided by gynecologists. Material and Methods: 348 out of 921 questionnaires referring to the subjec t, distributed to gynecologists between 1998 and 1999, were analyzed. Results: 53.4% of all responders provided UCT. Providers significantly diff ered with respect to place of work (private practice > community hospital > university clinic), gender (male > female) and age (older > younger). Mist letoe extracts represent the best known (68.1%) and most frequently applied method (28.7 %), followed by homeopathy (58.3 % and 18.7 %), and acupunctu re (52.9% and 14.9%). Main reasons for provision of UCT were patients' desi re for additional therapy (82.3 %) as well as better patient motivation for therapy in general (61.8%). The influences of UCT on the course of the dis ease and on quality of life was considered to be very low in general. Conclusion: A scientific, rational discussion on UCT is at its beginning. P erhaps training of doctors on better ways of communication with cancer pati ents will avoid the provision of UCT as an act of despair.