Affiliation:
1. Cancer Communications, Inc, PO Box 1076, Lemont, PA 16851
Abstract
This article contains observations and historical considerations on cancer and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Italy, a country that has a great tradition in medical research, going back to the Renaissance. However, Italy does not have a strong tradition of using CAM approaches in the treatment of cancer. While surveys show that the Italian population is eager to learn more about CAM, the medical profession there is largely dismissive of these methods. In 1997-1998, the notorious Luigi Di Bella affair occurred in Italy, when a professor of physiology at Modena proposed a nonconventional approach to cancer treatment, based on the off-label use of somatostatin. This treatment found champions in the media and general public but was opposed by most of the medical profession. Although clinical trials later demonstrated that it had no efficacy, the affair divided Italian public opinion and nearly brought down the national government. Italy no longer has prominent proponents of nonconventional treatments in cancer. However, it continues to have innovative scientists who do important work that is consonant with a CAM approach. This article considers the work of 3 such scientists: Paolo Lissoni, MD, of Monza (Milan), who has carried out numerous clinical trials with the pineal hormone melatonin; Giancarlo Pizza, MD, of Bologna, who has done extensive work on the use of transfer factor and other immunomodulators in the treatment of renal cell and other kinds of cancer; and Aldo Mancini, MD, of Naples, who has isolated a mutated formof Mn-SOD-2 from the growth medium of a unique liposarcoma cell line. These scientists have introduced some flexibility into a rigid state-run hospital system by offering patients innovative treatment options in the context of approved clinical trials.
Subject
Complementary and alternative medicine,Oncology
Reference49 articles.
1. 5. Nagykalnai T. Evolution of adjuvant chemotherapy of breast cancer from Bonadonna to the taxanes [in Hungarian]. Magy Onkol. 2002;46:307-313.
2. 7. Timio M. Historical archives of Italian nephrology: the Cerretani and charlatans: a poor page in the history of medicine and nephrology [in Italian]. G Ital Nefrol. 2002;19:55-59.
3. The patient’s motivation in seeking complementary therapies
4. Cancer care during the last phase of life.
5. 15. Vicarelli G, Mallet JO. Italy: a national health service with a tumultuous history [in Italian]. Cah Sociol Demogr Med. 1999;39:5-23.
Cited by
3 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献