I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any of the "no so main stream" treatments. I have had surgery, radiation and chemo and am looking at some of the alternative treatments such as immunotherapy. I have looked into Envita Medical Center and Sanoviv Medical Institute. I just was wondering if anyone in this forum had any personal experiences with any of these places.

Both the EMC and SMI websites just reek of scam and bogus medicine IMO. Mix a little truth with a lot of lies is the recipe these places use.
The American Cancer Society site shows zero Immunotherapy approved by the FDA for head and neck cancers unlike some other cancers. It is a promising future alternative but at least for oral cancer, it seems "not quite ready for prime time"
But since you already had real TX - the only harm would appear to be to your pocketbook and these side effects
[quote]Side effects of immunotherapies can vary, but most exhibit similar symptoms, including fatigue, a rash or swelling at the injection site, and flu-like symptoms including nausea, diarrhea and fever.[/quote]
MD Anderson uses immunotherapy but my understanding is not for oral or head and neck cancer. It has a good reputation even if they stole OCF's slogan. Here is a link to their page where I excerpted the side effects
Immunotherapy
As for patients who use that instead of the TX you got, well they are dead so they won't be responding.
Charm

I am new to the forum...can you tell me what IMO is?

Thanks for the feedback.

In My Opinion

Ted, welcome to OCF! Are you having a recurrence? I hope you arent. If it were me and I was having a recurrence I would never trust it to something that is not the standard tried and trusted treatment procedures like chemo w/ radiation and/or surgery. I have had all 3 and know that if I would be sick again I would head to one of the country's top cancer centers. Please let me know if you need a list of cancer centers.

Hi Ted - I'm going to mimic Christine pretty much. - first off I sincerely hope you aren't going through a recurrence. I'm hoping that you are just looking for some way of living post treatment. If that's the case - actually even if you ae dealing with a recurrence, being treated at a CCC is the way to go. As for anything else - the best thing you can do for your body - recurrence or not is eat healthfully - and exercise - and by that I don't mean go out and pump iron, I mean go for a walk - breath in the air, maybe do some meditative yoga, and make sure you're taking in enough protein to heal, and for me I limit my sugar intake (carbs are not all made the same). I never use raw sugar, or fake sugar! I eat low carb fruits - and grains and limit dairy. Anyone trying to sell you on 'alternative' beware especially in place of actual treatment. Complimentary treatments are okay (eating well, exercise etc..) but anything out of the normal should be run past your dr. Good luck!

To the best of my knowledge, no one here, who opted for alternative treatments, is alive to talk about it. Your best bet is conventional medical treatment.