Integration of Chinese medicine into supportive cancer care: A modern rolefor an ancient tradition

Recent evidence suggests that many traditional Chinese medical therapies ar e effective for the supportive care of cance patients,This is a review of s ome of the published literature (indexed in Medline) and our own practical experience, It is not intended to be a systematic review, but does provide various levels of evidence which support further research into a developing model of integrative care. The holistic approach of Traditional Chinese Me dicine (TCM) may be integrated into conventional Western Medicine to supple ment deficiencies in the current biomedical model. The philosophy of TCM pr oposes novel hypotheses which will support the development of a science-bas ed holistic medicine. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.