Survivorship

Barrie Cassileth, MS, PhD, is Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair and Chief of the Integrative Medicine department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. Since joining MSKCC in 1999, Dr. Cassileth has established prototypic research, education, and clinical programs in Integrative Medicine. She has an extensive medical leadership career and is a foremost authority on complementary therapies and Integrative Medicine in oncology. Her work includes extensive writings in medical literature, medical textbook chapters, and books for physicians, patients, and families. She was a founding member of the Advisory Council to the U.S. National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, now the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, served previously on the National and the NY--NJ Regional Boards of the American Cancer Society, and on multiple national and international committees. A staunch opponent of cancer quackery, she is Founding President of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

From the author: "Many years ago, I completed a doctorate in medical sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. For my thesis project, I chose to spend a year studying the dynamics of care on the adult leukemia unit of the Penn's Cancer Center. What I found that year not only became my thesis, it molded my lifelong profession. I found a world filled with terribly ill adults, mostly young or in their middle years, and I encountered their husbands, wives, parents, and children, all of whom suffered just as much. It became clear to me that more was needed than simply caring for each patient's leukemia, as difficult and consuming as that was. A host of physical, emotional, and interpersonal problems screamed for attention. In 1999, I was invited to bring all that I had learned and developed over the previous decades to Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center, the world's preeminent cancer hospital, and to create a new kind of department, an Integrative Medicine department. This was an opportunity not only to bring the field to a new plateau, but to produce a program that could be a prototype for other hospitals around the world, and that is exactly what happened. The various elements of our program focus on patients' needs throughout the full spectrum of their treatment and well beyond. Helping survivors and their loved ones to live strong and stay well is the major goal of what we do. Survivorship from diagnosis on presents new challenges, and survivorship is what this book is about." -- Barrie Cassileth About Survivorship: "Barrie Cassileth has spent a long, distinguished career at the intersection of rigorous medical science and integrative medicine, defining ways in which relief of symptoms of the disease and side effects of therapies can improve the quality of life of cancer survivors. No one is better positioned to separate viable therapies from scams. In Survivorship: Living Well During and After Cancer, Dr. Cassileth provides authoritative advice, showing how nutrition, massage, yoga, acupuncture, meditation and physical fitness can play legitimate roles in a comprehensive science-driven strategy for confronting cancer." -Paul Goldberg, Editor, The Cancer Letter "As the number of cancer survivors continues to rise, it becomes imperative that we support people to go beyond simply surviving cancer and to start thriving after cancer. A pioneer in the areas of cancer survivorship and integrative oncology, Dr. Cassileth's new book provides critical information to help support people during and after cancer treatment. Cassileth equips readers with the necessary tools to safely and effectively navigate the abundance of information available to support cancer survivors. Cancer survivors will improve their quality of life and feel better after following the wise advice contained within these pages and they may also live longer." --Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Professor and Director, Integrative Medicine Program, MD Anderson Cancer Center "Dr. Cassileth's book Survivorship describes the health behaviors that can be beneficial to cancer patients and survivors, and may improve their outcome. With scientific evidence behind her recommendations, Dr. Cassileth describes the best types of cancer diets, what supplements are safe, what supplements should be avoided as well as talking about the effects of physical activity. Both good nutrition and physical activity can be very beneficial in improving the overall quality of life of cancer patients and improving cancer survival while undergoing chemotherapy. In addition to nutrition and physical activity, Dr. Cassileth focuses on stress and symptom management and talks about the various types of complementary and integrative therapies that could be most helpful to the cancer patient, specifically the mind-body programs that induce the relaxation response, such as meditation, imagery, self-hypnosis expressive arts, music therapy as well as the modified exercise programs such as yoga, tai chi, chi gong and Pilates. Several chapters focus on symptom management by acupuncture, massage and mind-body techniques. This book is a must for the cancer patients as they undergo therapy." --David S. Rosenthal, M.D., Medical Director. Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School "No life, it seems, is untouched by cancer. Instead of tapping into the collective fear and dread surrounding illness, Survivorship: Living Well During and After Cancer, by Barrie Cassileth, takes a life-affirming approach. The book explores complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, massage, and dietary supplements that improve life for cancer patients ... The book gives the basics of each complementary therapy so that cancer patients and their families know what options are available, and then makes that information applicable by answering day-to-day questions that plague cancer patients and reduce quality of life, such as, "What can I do if I'm having trouble sleeping?"...This book destroys the feeling of powerlessness that often comes with cancer by offering sound advice and actionable strategies for improvement. The writing is clear, concise, and well documented--both medically credible and digestible for everyday people. The tone marries a pragmatic, medical slant with a warm, therapeutic approach. In the confusion of diagnosis and treatment, this tone, and its assurance that someone knowledgeable wants to help, is a gift to readers...Cassileth's thorough, empowering approach showcases her expertise (she's founder of the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), but more than that, it shows her compassion for those who are suffering or recovering from cancer." --Foreword Reviews "In 'Survivorship: Living Well during and after Cancer', Barrie Cassileth, PhD, offers a comprehensive overview of evidence-based integrative cancer treatment, providing a welcome resource for patients and their loved ones. Dr. Cassileth provides background on complementary therapies, describing various options and their potential to alleviate symptoms of cancer treatment and including important information about current research related to each topic. Written in a clear, accessible style, the book also provides insight throughout to differentiate effective, evidence-based op-tions from dangerous "alternative" therapies. The result of Dr. Cassileth's work is a book that is at once easy to understand and backed by considerable research--a valuable resource for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis." --Women Magazine "This slender-volume survivorship guidebook provides the latest evidence based information on complementary therapies and is a must-read for both newly diagnosed patients with cancer and survivors living with the short- and long-term side effects of their treatments." --The ASCO Post