Complementary and alternative medicine use in glioma patients in France

Abstract

PURPOSE Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use increases in cancer patients, including adult patients with diffuse gliomas. METHODS Questionnaires addressing CAM use were distributed to adult patients with gliomas of WHO grades II-IV and ECOG performance score of 0-2 during hospital visits and filled in anonymously. The study was conducted in nine centers in France from May 2017 to May 2018. Descriptive cohort analyses and comparative analyses according to gender, age, WHO grade, and recurrent versus newly diagnosed disease were conducted. RESULTS Two hundred twenty-seven questionnaires were collected; 135 patients (59%) were male. Median age was 48 years, 105 patients (46%) declared having glioblastoma, 99 patients (43%) declared having recurrent disease. Hundred-three patients (45%) had modified their alimentary habits after the glioma diagnosis. At the time of the questionnaire, 100 patients (44%) were on complementary treatment, mainly vitamins and food supplements, and 73 patients (32%) used alternative medicine approaches, mainly magnetism and acupuncture. In total, 154 patients (68%) declared using at least one of these approaches. Expenditures exceeding 100 € per month were reported by users in 14% for modification of alimentary habits, in 25% for complementary treatment, and in 18% for alternative medicines. All approaches were commonly considered as improving quality of life and experienced as efficient, notably those associated with more expenditures. CONCLUSIONS CAM are frequently used by glioma patients in France. Underlying needs and expectations, as well as potential interactions with tumor-specific treatments, and financial and quality of life burden, should be discussed with patients and caregivers.

Use of Complementary and Integrative Medicine Among Patients With Glioblastoma Multiforme Seen at a Tertiary Care Center

“…The German Glioma network reported CIM use by 40% of a cohort of 621 patients. 8 Vitamins were the most common CIM in our study (taken by 38% of patients), which was consistent with the 45% reported by Mulpur et al, 17 23% by Le Rhun et al, 9 and 32% by Heese et al 8 Although homeopathy was the most frequently used alternative therapy method (39%) in the German study, 8 use of homeopathy was low in our study (11%). Acupuncture was used by 12% of our cohort, similar to rates reported previously.…”

“…Mulpur et al 17 conducted structured interviews with 477 patients, at a median of 6 weeks after GBM diagnosis, and 77% reported using CIM. A French GBM study 9 surveyed 227 patients and reported that 68% used CIM. The German Glioma network reported CIM use by 40% of a cohort of 621 patients.…”

“…Acupuncture was used by 12% of our cohort, similar to rates reported previously. 8,9,17 The use of vitamins with antioxidant properties is controversial in gliomagenesis because of the delicate equilibrium between oxidants and antioxidants. 18,19 Preliminary studies examining the influence of various antioxidants have shown inconsistent findings that varied by histologic groups.…”

Antidepressant drug use in glioblastoma patients: an epidemiological view

“…Importantly, there may be an increased awareness for such non-pharmaceutical approaches to treating psychiatric symptoms and comorbidities in the general population. This is also shown by increased use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in glioma patients 30,31 .…”

Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Gliomas: Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal of Current Literature

“…A total of 11 studies with 3372 patients investigating the prevalence of CAM use among patients with brain glioma were found (Supplemental Table 5, http://links.lww.com/NEU/ D457). [2][3][4]6,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] On average, utilization of CAM (including prayer) was reported in 44% of patients (38% if not including prayer). Median time from tumor diagnosis to survey was highly variable and ranged from 1.5 to 31 months.…”