--- title: How Complementary Cancer Therapies Can Increase Risk of Early Death description: Many cancer patients try complementary medicine, hoping it will improve their chance of survival. The latest study questions those choices. canonical: https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-19T15:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:17.519Z article:section: Health og:title: How Complementary Cancer Therapies Can Increase Risk of Early Death og:description: The latest study questions complementary medicine og:url: https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11e539440670afa3/6988c135ab6d7793a76ad785/time-health-stock-first-air-kit.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: time-health-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Complementary Cancer Therapies Can Increase Risk of Early Death twitter:description: The latest study questions complementary medicine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11e539440670afa3/6988c135ab6d7793a76ad785/time-health-stock-first-air-kit.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Complementary Cancer Therapies Can Increase Risk of Early Death ## Video: Liver Cancer Deaths Are on the Rise in the U.S. [Watch (HLS stream): Liver Cancer Deaths Are on the Rise in the U.S.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KpaePVgQ.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2018-07-18. A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that deaths from liver cancer are on the rise in the United States._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 19, 2018 3:00 PM UTC  First aid kit on blue background with copy space First aid kit on blue background with copy spaceGetty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 19, 2018 3:00 PM UTC People diagnosed with cancer have a multitude of treatment options, many of which are standard therapies that have been well-studied to improve their chances of surviving their disease or avoiding recurrence. But people are increasingly also folding in [complementary medicine](http://time.com/4377345/americans-complementary-medicine/) approaches — which include nutrients, herbal remedies and other so-called natural supplements — with their cancer treatment regimes. While these are not nearly as well-studied as conventional therapies like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, many people rely on them because they believe they can improve their chances of surviving their cancer or keeping recurrences at bay. In a new [study published in _JAMA Oncology_](http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.2487), researchers say that may not be the case. Dr. Skyler Johnson, chief resident in therapeutic radiology at Yale School of Medicine, and his colleagues analyzed data from nearly 1,300 people in the National Cancer Database with four common cancers: breast, prostate, lung or colorectal. 1,032 of those people used only conventional medicine, and 258 used at least one conventional treatment and one or more complementary medicine strategies (which were recorded as “other unproven cancer treatments administered by nonmedical personnel”). These included IV, oral and topical therapies made up of vitamins, minerals or herbal supplements, says Johnson. Johnson found that people who added a complementary medicine approach had twice the risk of dying during the nine-year study compared to people who only chose conventional treatment. The people who opted to add complementary medicine were also more likely to refuse surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy compared to people who did not. Johnson says it was this avoidance of recommended treatment that was largely responsible for the higher early death rate; among people who did all of their conventional treatments and complementary medicine therapies, there was no difference in survival. **MORE:** [A New Hope For Cancer Treatment](http://time.com/4895010/cancers-newest-miracle-cure/) “There is data showing that the majority of patients using complementary medicine therapies for cancer treatment are doing so because they believe they are going to improve their survival rates and cure rates,” says Johnson. “But they should know that there is no data suggesting that if you use these therapies you can improve your survival or cure rates.” He says that when patients bring up complementary therapies, some doctors believe they “couldn’t hurt,” since they might make people feel more comfortable about their treatment. But “based on these data, there are clearly some issues with that approach,” he says. He says there is some evidence from other studies that while many complementary approaches are “natural” and therefore believed to be safe, they can contain biologically active ingredients that can interact with chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, making them either less effective or even more toxic and detrimental to people’s health. “We hope this information gives providers and patients pause to at least consider the chance that these complementary therapies might actually result in a detrimental effect,” he says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/"},"headline":"How Complementary Cancer Therapies Can Increase Risk of Early Death","datePublished":"2018-07-19T15:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:17.519Z","description":"The latest study questions complementary medicine","url":"https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/","keywords":["Cancer","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11e539440670afa3/6988c135ab6d7793a76ad785/time-health-stock-first-air-kit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11e539440670afa3/6988c135ab6d7793a76ad785/time-health-stock-first-air-kit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-health-stock","caption":"First aid kit standing on a blue and white background TIME health stock","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/","name":"How Complementary Cancer Therapies Can Increase Risk of Early Death"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Liver Cancer Deaths Are on the Rise in the U.S.","description":"A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that deaths from liver cancer are on the rise in the United States.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KpaePVgQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-18T00:50:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KpaePVgQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5342484/complementary-cancer-treatments-death/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```