# Evidence-based integrative oncology in every cancer centre to meet demand safely

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-moon-integrative-oncology-bridge/  
OnCo record `idea-moon-integrative-oncology-bridge` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Offer the complementary approaches that have evidence (acupuncture for nausea and pain, exercise, mindfulness, yoga) inside the cancer centre, so patients do not seek them, and worse, elsewhere.

## Summary

Demand for complementary approaches is high and unmet demand pushes patients toward unregulated providers. ASCO and the Society for Integrative Oncology have issued joint guidelines identifying interventions with supporting evidence for pain, anxiety, fatigue and nausea. The proposal is that cancer centres provide these services under clinical governance, staffed by trained practitioners, with clear statements of what is and is not evidenced, and that payers cover the evidenced components.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Centres offering integrative services report lower use of unproven external therapies, higher disclosure of complementary use, and improved symptom scores compared with matched centres.
- Rationale: Meeting a real need inside the system keeps patients within evidence-based care and builds trust for the conversations about what does not work.
- Proposed test: Matched comparison of centres with and without integrative programmes on external unproven therapy use, disclosure and symptom PROs; embedded randomised trials of specific components.
- Maturity: being-tested-at-scale
- Actor: clinic

## Sources

- Bottleneck evidence (Misinformation and unproven therapies): Johnson et al., Cancer misinformation and harmful information on Facebook and other social media (JNCI 2022): https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djab141

## Connected records

- technologies: [Alternative medicine used instead of standard treatment](https://onco.cc/technologies/alternative-medicine-instead-of-treatment/), [Exercise & lifestyle oncology](https://onco.cc/technologies/exercise-oncology/), [Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/mindfulness-based-interventions/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/), [Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-toxicity-qol/)
- key papers: [Cancer Misinformation and Harmful Information on Facebook and Other Social Media: A Brief Report](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-johnson-j-natl-cancer-inst/)
- roadmaps: [Diet, exercise and lifestyle roadmap: causes established → interventions that disappointed → exercise proven as treatment](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/nutrition-lifestyle-roadmap/)

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