title: Traditional and complementary and alternative medicines make for unwilling bedfellows in the management of cancer: a case report with a tragic outcome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Complementary and alternative medicine is very much in the public arena as a treatment option. The pharmacodynamics of most complementary and alternative medicines are not well understood, and some can lead to significant adverse drug interactions. This report aims to present the case of a cancer patient who abandoned traditional medicine in favour of complementary and alternative medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient refused potentially curative adjuvant radiotherapy for his oral cavity carcinoma following surgery, and eventually succumbed to disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recently, there appears to be much public awareness of and empathy for complementary and alternative medicine. Healthcare professionals should be aware of such therapies so that they can advise their patients in an informed manner. The role of such therapies in benign conditions may not be as critical as that in malignancy, where life-saving conventional treatment may be abandoned in favour of complementary and alternative medicine, with consequent loss of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trinidade
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shakeel
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hurman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hussain
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000628:therapy*; D057240:Patient Preference; D012086:Reoperation; D026443:Spiritual Therapies / Q000523:psychology; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*