Well in the simplest terms, alternative is just that, a choice different than what we might consider mainstream treatments. Complimentary means that it is something that adds to (compliments) our existing standard of care treatments. If people choose not to go with what we know scientifically works... for whatever reason, and choose to try herbal cures, faith healing, cure by diet choices, and similar things, then those people are better served finding a site that has like kinds of people on it. This is because OCF, and it's doctors that compose our science advisory board, recommend those current mainstream clinical treatments that are contemporary and being used in the top cancer treatment facilities in the US. These treatments which are the current standard of care (which is reflected in many forms, such as the NCCN guidelines which you can see on the main site), are not absolutes, but they are based on clinical evidence of efficacy. We know the ups and downsides of them, and given the alternatives, they are the treatments of choice BASED ON CLINICAL EVIDENCE, NOT SOMEONE'S OPINION OR TESTIMONIAL. When you find sites with testimonials, that is a red flag that they are promoting something that is more likely to separate you from your money than your disease.
Things can compliment these SOC treatments in many ways, in not all of which is there hard evidence to prove that they really do help, but there exists enough anecdotal evidence to know that they at least do no harm. For instance, proper diet and nutrition is complimentary to treatments, even supplementation with vitamins etc. likely has a complimentary effect, but it is not black and white. There is evidence that some of what seems logical, like taking over the counter antioxidants during treatment, may have a detrimental effect on the success or effectiveness of the treatments. So in all this we ask people to follow their doctor's recommendations, and if they wish to add something to the mix, that they treating staff is aware that they are doing so.
We have had numerous people come here over the years that appear to be more afraid of the treatments than the disease. They invariably, early in their illness, choose to try an "alternative" that has few of the significant negative side effects of radiation or chemo etc. By the time they find out that their alternative is not working, and make a choice to submit to the mainstream treatments which most cancer patients survive through, it is often too late for those treatments to be effective, as the disease has progressed. Each time this has happened it is a sad experience for all involved. We do our best to discourage these kinds of people from this path, but fear is often much stronger than logic. I personally have stopped trying to change people's minds about this as logic and reasoning seldom works. So in the end, while we discuss complimentary things on these boards, we do not discuss alternative healing methods.
