Integrative Medicine for Cancer

How Does Integrative Cancer Care Help?

It’s no secret that cancer treatment — including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — can have many unwanted side effects. And while your oncologist is busy treating the disease, they rely on us to help you feel better during treatment.

The integrative medicine specialists at Memorial Cancer Institute start by asking you what you hope to achieve through treatment. We talk to you about your symptoms and how cancer treatment is affecting your mental, emotional and physical wellness. Then, we recommend a plan to help address these concerns.

During cancer treatment, you are understandably focused on doing everything you can to treat the disease. But we want you to know that you don’t have to experience the side effects of that treatment in silence.

Our integrative cancer care can help you manage a variety of symptoms and side effects, including:

• Body aches and pain
• Constipation or diarrhea 
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Nerve pain (neuropathy)
• Stress
• Weight gain or loss

Support With Supplements

Vitamins and other nutritional supplements can sometimes be helpful during cancer treatment. But you want to ensure that whatever you take is of the highest quality and won’t cause unwanted interactions with your medications or treatment. 

To help you navigate supplement use safely, we’ve created an online “green pharmacy” database. All the products we recommend have been independently tested for purity and potency, so you know that whatever you buy will be safe and effective.

If you decide to take supplements, we use a system to track your intake as part of your electronic medical records. This tracking system allows your cancer care team to ensure your supplements are safe to take during your treatment.

Integrative Cancer Care at Memorial Cancer Institute: Why Choose Us?

Integrative medicine is a vital part of cancer care at Memorial. We use proven therapies to improve the quality of life for those navigating cancer treatment. Not only can our treatments help you feel better, but they can also help you get better and recover more quickly. 

Our compassionate team is here to support you throughout cancer treatment. When you seek integrative cancer care at Memorial Cancer Institute, you can expect:

• Expert team: The medical director of our Integrative Medicine Program has extensive training in both Western medicine and integrative care. Under this expert leadership, our Integrative Medicine Program provides holistic care to people with all types of cancer.
• Collaborative approach: Integrative medicine isn’t an alternative to cancer treatment. Our therapies directly support your medical care. That’s why we partner with your cancer treatment team to create a plan that helps you feel better and get well faster. 
• Science-supported treatments: For some people, it’s hard to see the connection between therapies like yoga or acupuncture and cancer. But our integrative medicine experts understand the science behind the treatments we offer. Using only the safest and most proven therapies, we’re able to help people with cancer navigate treatment with fewer side effects. 
• Patient-centric care: Integrative cancer care is all about you. Our goal is to learn how cancer treatment affects you — and what we can do to help. 
• Improved outcomes: Integrative cancer treatments not only help you manage symptoms. By boosting your overall physical and mental health, our therapies can improve the results of your cancer treatment. Making smart lifestyle changes — such as eating healthfully, exercising and managing stress — also reduces your risk of the cancer recurring.