癌症替代療法
癌症替代療法(Alternative cancer treatment)是指宣稱可以治療癌症、有異於現代醫學通行的治療癌症方法的替代醫學療法[2],例如特殊的飲食、運動,或服用某些藥物、藥草,使用特定的設備,或是接受手療等等。絕大部分癌症替代療法都沒有循證醫學證據的有力支持,因此又常常被歸入偽科學之列[3][4][5][6]。一篇2006年的綜述回顧了196項癌症替代療法的臨床試驗,發現這些試驗大都存在嚴重的方法學問題[7]。一項回溯性研究表明,接受癌症替代療法者在五年內死亡的概率比接受通行的癌症療法者高2.5倍[8]。
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/WPA_quack_poster.jpg/220px-WPA_quack_poster.jpg)
許多發展中國家的癌症病人會由於無力支付昂貴的醫療費用等因素而選擇癌症替代療法。例如,研究表明,大約40%的非洲癌症患者會使用巫術、草藥療法等方法治療癌症。在中國,超過四分之三的癌症患者會接受中藥等中醫療法作為治療癌症的一種方式。拉丁美洲的大多數癌症病人也會接受草藥、營養補充劑之類的替代療法[9]。而在發達國家,也有不少人在接受通行的癌症療法的同時接受癌症替代療法[10][11]。
癌症的輔助療法有時會與癌症替代療法相提並論[9][12],但輔助療法(如按摩、催眠等)的主要目的是緩解癌症帶來的病痛而非治療癌症本身[13],在不干擾通行癌症療法的前提下進行一些已被證明對減緩不適有效的輔助療法並非沒有可取之處[14]。
例子
編輯本節列舉一些常見的癌症替代療法,並列出相關的科學研究證據。
替代療法名稱 | 說明 | 科學證據 |
---|---|---|
芳香療法 | 使用精油等芳香物質,用按摩、泡澡、薰香等方式使其得到人體吸收。支持者認為聞到芳香味能使人變得健康 | 美國癌症協會認為沒有證據表明芳香療法對癌症有療效[15] |
阿育吠陀 | 印度的傳統醫學 | 英國癌症研究基金會認為沒有證據表明阿育吠陀的療法對癌症有療效[16] |
食療 | 一些支持者認為如鹼性飲食[17]、巴德維飲食療法[18]、吃粗糧[19]等飲食方式有助於治療癌症 | 沒有科學證據表明飲食療法能治療癌症,一些食物療法甚至可能對人體有害[18][20][21] |
禁食療法 | 又稱為「飢餓療法」,一些支持者認為禁食能「餓死癌細胞」[22] | 美國癌症學會認為禁食療法對癌症治療沒有助益[23]。英國與法國的癌症研究機構也持同樣看法[24][25][26]。甚至有使用飢餓療法導致病人病情進一步惡化的個案[27] |
中草藥療法 | 不少中國的癌症患者會將傳統中草藥療法作為癌症治療的選項之一 | 儘管確實有一些主流的抗癌藥物(如紫杉醇)最初是從植物中發現的,目前沒有明確的證據表明中草藥等草藥療法對治療癌症有作用。支持中草藥能治療癌症的證據大都源自中國的研究[28] |
順勢療法 | 順勢療法認為小劑量使用一些能讓健康人致病的物質反而有治療效果,也就是所謂的「以毒攻毒」[29] | 沒有嚴謹的科學證據表明順勢療法有效[30] |
針灸 | 中醫傳統療法,以針灸針對穴位進行刺激 | 針灸療法對癌症本身的治療沒有幫助。一些證據表明針灸能緩解癌症帶來的噁心,但學界對針灸是否能緩解噁心尚有爭議[31][32][33] |
電療 | 使用電擊的方法治療癌症 | 沒有任何證據表明電療對癌症治療有效。一些銷售癌症電療設備的經銷商已遭美國食品藥品監督管理局(FDA)起訴[34] |
參見
編輯參考文獻
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- ^ Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Patients. National Cancer Institute. 2015-04-10 [2019-11-13]. (原始內容存檔於2022-09-21) (英語).
- ^ Green S. Pseudoscience in Alternative Medicine: Chelation Therapy, Antineoplastons, The Gerson Diet and Coffee Enemas. Skeptical Inquirer. 1997, 21 (5): 39.
- ^ Vickers, AJ; Cassileth, BR. Living proof and the pseudoscience of alternative cancer treatments.. Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology. 2008, 6 (1): 37–40. PMC 2630257 . PMID 18302909.
- ^ Grimes, David Robert. The Struggle against Cancer Misinformation. Cancer Discovery. 1 January 2022, 12 (1): 26–30. ISSN 2159-8274. PMID 34930788. S2CID 245373363. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-1468. eISSN 2159-8290.
This dubious amplification of pseudoscience diminishes trust in the medico-scientific sphere. Cancer misinformation is harmful even when it is not fully embraced or believed, precisely because it creates a lingering impression that no medical consensus exists on the topic or that official sources of information lack credibility.
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