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Term
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Definition
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Conventional or standard oncologic therapy
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Current validated cancer therapies include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and combinations of them.
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Complementary and alternative medicine (Oncology)
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Refers to validated treatments aiming to help patients cope with the adverse effects provoked by conventional anti-cancer therapies (Complementary) plus other non-validated treatments that substitute conventional therapy with controversial or inexistent efficacy (Alternative).
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Integrative medicine/oncology
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The sum of conventional and complementary anti-cancer treatments. A holistic approach to cancer patients.
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Unconventional therapies
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All other therapies not included in the conventional or standard therapy.
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Holistic therapies
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Therapies that try to unify and combine the best of both conventional and complementary treatments. Addresses spiritual, psychological and physical needs.
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Natural remedies
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Non-pharmacologic therapies generally using medicinal herbs to prevent or treat disease or promote health.
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Alternative medicine
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Diverse health care practices, like homeopathy, whose tenets often differ from those of conventional medicine and are not generally taught in conventional medical schools. Scientifically unproven therapies.
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Pseudoscience
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Statement, belief or practice incorrectly presented as scientific and not supported by a valid scientific method, which cannot be reliably confirmed.
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Oncologic charlatanism
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Fake pretension of self-attributed medical or oncologic knowledge or skills.
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Cancer quackery
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The promotion of unproven or disproved cancer treatments instead of conventional therapies, usually within the context of a profitable business.
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Conspiracy oncology
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Irrational belief that drug companies and government agencies suppress alternative cures for cancer in their own benefit.
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