Society for Integrative Oncology

And now we actually have had the science to show potentially why that is.

The other article that I just want to point out, Dr. Channing-Powler and Dr. Rao, they're part of the SIO, Society for Integrative Oncology Leadership, and they've written a really nice article around some of the ASCO SIO guidelines, talking about, hey, looking at the data with a really fine tooth comb, these are the important pieces of what we're finding is evidence-based.

And so they have guidelines on pain and anxiety and various depression, things like that.

And so fatigue.

So there's something called the NCCN guidelines, which many of us use in practice.

And then ASCO is the main organization for US oncology, and they have, um, you know, co-sponsored guidelines with the Society for Integrative Oncology, which I'm president of, on multiple symptoms, um, for, for using integrative oncology for managing multiple symptoms.

So, you know, those things have already been accepted to a certain extent, and there's lots of integrative oncology representation for managing things like anxiety, fatigue, um, pain especially.

So I think that that alone, there's obviously great need for managing pain with non-opioid and, you know, less toxic approaches.

And there are certain patterns that are well articulated in the literature about what makes for a favorable immune therapy outcome and what doesn't.

I mean, we've known, in fact, I was at a Society of Integrative Oncology conference, I think almost a decade ago, we're coming into that, where there was a Nobel Prize given to the understanding that our microbiome does make a difference.

If you are given an antibiotic within six months of starting treatment for your cancer, you likely won't respond well to your treatment.

Like that's just crazy.

Lorenzo Cohen is the Richard E. Haynes Distinguished Professor in Clinical Cancer Prevention and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, with whom I've had the pleasure and honor to work for 20 years.

He's a co-founder and past president of the Society of Integrative Oncology and the former vice chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.

Uh, Dr. Cohen leads a team conducting research and delivering clinical care of integrative medicine practices such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture, aimed at reducing the negative aspects of cancer treatment and improving quality of life and clinical outcomes.

As most cancers are preventable, yes, I'm gonna say this again, as most cancers are preventable, Dr. Cohen is also conducting research to demonstrate that lifestyle factors can influence cancer outcomes.

Over the past two decades, the field of integrative oncology, the evidence-informed use of mind-body practices, lifestyle interventions, and selected complementary therapies alongside conventional cancer treatment has evolved from a fringe idea into a mature clinical discipline.

The field now has clinical practice guidelines jointly developed by the Society for Integrative Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASCO, and recommendations embedded throughout the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, NCCN.

When ASCO and NCCN agree that a treatment is effective and safe, that should carry decisive weight in coverage decisions.

Yet coverage remains inconsistent, fragmented, and inequitable.

I am a medical oncologist, and I'm also an integrative oncologist.

I most recently finished a term as the president of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

I have long been interested in biofield therapies and am a practitioner myself, and so I'm very interested in this kind of research that focuses on the science behind biofield therapies and allows us to ask more questions.

Okay, great, and then we covered the study in, in detail last season, but could you briefly just give a recap on what the study looked like and the main takeaways?