Retrospective study reveals high concurrent symptom burden and frequent therapy referrals in young cancer patients, highlighting a valuable role for integrative medicine in oncology care.
Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer experience substantial symptom burden. Integrative medicine (IM) offers evidence-based symptom management, yet real-world data in AYAs are limited. We retrospectively examined initial IM visits for AYAs (15-39 years) at a tertiary cancer center, abstracting demographics, clinical characteristics, symptoms, and discussions/recommendations. Among 272 AYAs (59.6% female), 42.7% had three concurrent symptoms, most commonly nausea, gastrointestinal issues, and pain. Discussions addressed diet (91.2%), supplements (87.5%), and stress management (77.2%). Nearly half (46.0%) received at least one IM referral, most commonly acupuncture and massage (24.6% each). IM interventions may support symptom management in AYA oncology care.
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Wu et al. (2026) studied this question.
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