Complementary and Adjunctive Cancer Care is about recognizing the importance that patients receive the best in supportive therapy, and to supplement conventional cancer treatment. It is about using the most successful natural cancer therapies available globally to encourage healing of the body without doing harm. Conventional treatment often focusses solely on treating the tumor with little emphasis on the entirety of health of the patient. The goal of Integrative Cancer Care is to bridge conventional medicine with natural support before, during and after treatment.

The outcomes of addressing a patient's goals include facilitating the body's ability to heal, improving quality of life, providing counselling support, and making the journey as comfortable as possible. Taking the time to understand the patient's condition, prognosis and mental/emotional state is key to creating an individualized plan for all patients.

The cancer care program offered at Polo Health is designed by Dr. Drew Jamieson, our cancer specialist, and is always individualized as no two patients are alike, nor is cancer displayed the same way in any two people.

Cancer care treatment plans include the following:

• Dietary counselling and modification
• Nutritional supplementation (vitamins and minerals)
• Botanical extracts
• Intravenous infusion of vitamins and minerals
• Prevention of recurrence

When natural agents are used amongst cancer patients undergoing conventional therapy (chemo, radiation, surgery), the natural agents are and have been well researched to prevent any drug-nutrient interactions.

Benefits to therapies provided include:

• Reduction in side effects such as fatigue, nausea and loss of appetite
• Improved tolerance and efficacy of chemotherapy
• Increased survival
• Reduced rates of recurrence
• Improved quality of life (improved energy, stress reduction, improved appetite, pain reduction)
• Education and empowerment
• Ongoing support for patients and their families