Affiliations 

  • 1 Clinical Research Centre (CRC), Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Electronic address: sharonlojikip.crc@gmail.com
  • 2 Dr Vijae Integrative Cancer Center, Mahkota Medical Center, Melaka, Malaysia. Electronic address: vijaendreh@gmail.com
  • 3 Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Institute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: amanda.limwy.crc@gmail.com
  • 4 Clinical Research Centre (CRC), Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Electronic address: amarhss@gmail.com
Complement Ther Clin Pract, 2019 Sep 06;37:73-85.
PMID: 31521007 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2019.09.001

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This case series describes the survival outcomes of patients who underwent integrative medicine (IM) protocol for ovarian cancer, a treatment protocol, that integrated a carefully selected set of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into the conventional treatment for ovarian cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of patients' medical records was conducted at a private medical centre that delivered the IM protocol for patients with advanced and recurrent ovarian cancers. We explored and analysed the overall survival and disease progressions of those who received the IM treatment for at least 2 months.

RESULTS: Forty patients with advanced ovarian cancers fulfilled the inclusion criteria for this case series. An overall of 75% of the cases achieved remission with initial IM treatment, 17.5% had a partial response and 7.5% showed progressive disease. The overall 5-year survival for all 40 cases is 53.1%. When explored further, the 5-year survival for cases who received CAM only is 75%, and cases who received combined limited chemotherapy with CAM had a 5-year survival of 55%. At study endpoint, 11 cases died due to ovarian cancer.

CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that CAM may be a valuable addition to conventional therapy to treat and improve the survival of patients with ovarian cancers. A formal randomized control trial is required to evaluate the efficacy and long-term outcomes of using IM to treat advanced and recurrent ovarian cancers.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.