Alternative and complementary therapies for cancer: integrative approaches and discovery of conventional drugs

Cancer is a common disease with a devastating impact on the physical and psychological well being of patients. The diagnosis of cancer brings upon many clinical challenges and questions for which clear and simple answers are not always provided by modern medicine. To date, only limited therapeutic options are available for patients with advanced cancer. The recent shift toward targeted therapies has improved substantially patient’s survival, however, relapses arefrequent and cure remains rare. This led patients and many health care managers to shift attention to the holistic approach of traditional medicine particularly preparations from herbal products to manage and alleviate the disease. Typically, herbal preparations contain single or multiple plant ingredients, including a number of potential active components. Yet, they remain classified as food supplements and thus are exempt from regulations on quality control andproof of efficacy that govern standard pharmaceuticals. Clinical evidence formany preparations is often based on non-documented or anecdotal evidence. In consequence, several preparations with unproven efficacy are circulating in the market with the fear of interference with standard cancer therapies and/or severe toxicity that some can generate, in addition to the unjustified economical burden to patients. Despite inconsistent and conflicting clinical results single molecules have been isolated from herbal preparations and many are exploited to develop potential novel agents. This has fostered the need to organizea set of timely, in-depth and up-to-date review covering the latest developments in alternative cancer management from a scientific and clinical perspective dedicated to the medical community and health care providers, as well as to patients and their families. This book brings the latest comprehensive cancer information and practical recommendations on the best documented practice of alternative therapies for cancer management put together by recognized experts in the fields of medical oncology, traditional medicine, and cancer pharmacology. It goes hand-in-hand with the patient’s medical treatment options, qualityof life issues, and more. The book is organized into four major sections: Thefirst is an overview of the cancer syndrome by renowned medical oncologists from the USA and Europe. The second is a comprehensive description of traditional medicine by renowned experts from China and Germany. The third is an overview on the pharmacological impact of herb-based formulations on standard chemotherapy agents used in clinical practice. The fourth is a survey of cases reports from several hospitals with approved practice of alternative medicine. The book will feature simple definitions and essential information grouped in bothmedical and lay-term terminology, and straightforward illustrations related to human physiology, disease definition, scientific data on know and potential mechanisms of action, and preventive approaches. Finally, the book will feature collaboration of experts from China, India, USA, Canada, Germany, France, and other centres with recognized expertise in alternative/traditional medicine.This international cooperation is crucial to cover the complex topic of alternative therapies for cancer. Comprehensive with detailed descriptions of herbal recipes used, particularly for cancer where conventional therapies are stillof limited success Provides reliable examples of the integration of alternative therapies in modern oncology Addresses unique legal and ethical issues frompractical perspectives Provides an up-to-date review on modern cutting-edge methods and approaches to exploit alternative therapies in modern drug discovery Easy to use/read INDICE: Preface.- Overview of efficacy and limitation of standard and targeted therapy for malignant disease using lung cancer as a case study.- Integrative complementary and alternative medicine for cancer-care; Overview of current practice and potential impacts on conventional practice; Complementary and alternative medicine for cancer-care in India: Basic and clinical perspective;Integrated TCM for cancer care in China : Principles, recipes and case studies for selected sites. Oesophagus cancer. Gastric cancer. Cancer. Liver cancer.Pancreatic cancer. Breast cancer. Ovarian cancer. Prostate cancer. Kidney cancer. Bladder cancer. Brain cancer; Complementary and alternative treatments for the management of cancer related fatigue; Complementary and alternative treatments for the management of cancer related pain.- Clinical, pharmacological and safety issues using complementary therapies; Challenges conducting clinicaltrials with herbal products in oncology; Herbal product-drug interactions from a pharmacological perspective.- Patient-physician relationship: Creating an optimal healing environment.- issues; Legal issues in alternative treatment ofcancer; Intellectual properties for alternative medicine.- >From practice to basics; Chemical-biology of natural products from medicinal plants for cancer therapy; Flavonoids in cancer prevention and therapy: chemistry, pharmacology,mechanisms of action and perspectives for cancer drug discovery; Marine natural products and their synthetic derivatives for cancer therapy; Natural-product-like scaffolds for molecular dissection of macromolecular interactions and new therapeutic applications; Mining natural product-derived molecules against cancer targets: The case of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer.- Index.

• ISBN: 978-1-4419-0019-7
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 350
• Fecha Publicación: 29/08/2010
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés