Breast Cancer Survival Drops for CAM Users, Large US Study Finds
A Yale-led analysis of the National Cancer Database covering 2011–2021 found that women with breast cancer who used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) had notably higher five-year mortality than those receiving conventional treatment; CAM-only users faced more than a threefold increase in death risk, and CAM plus traditional treatment still carried about a 45% higher death risk than traditional therapy alone. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, suggest delaying or substituting standard care can be dangerous and highlight the need for doctors to discuss CAM use with patients.
