Must Read for March: Integrative Oncology in Breast Cancer Care by Dr Penny Kechagioglou and Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel
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“The evidence around the value of integrative Oncology in terms of improving outcomes for people with cancer is overwhelming and cannot be ignored.”
This March, Dr Penny Kechagioglou and Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel released hardcover copies of their highly compelling book Integrative Oncology in Breast Cancer Care. The Springer Cham published text provides a robust introduction to integrative oncology and a practical toolkit for clinicians working with breast cancer patients. By exploring the field of integrative oncology and providing in-depth research outcomes, the coauthors create a highly engaging educational text that addresses the whole person journey from prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.
At Oncology Professional Care 2024 in May, we are privileged to be hosting both Dr Penny Kechagioglou and Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel as speakers in our Living With and Beyond Cancer Theatre. They will be sharing insights from their esteemed book and helping promote the role of Integrative Oncology in breast cancer care and the wider oncology community.
Until then, let’s take a look at their newly released book and exactly why it is our must-read book of the month for all those working in cancer care.
Integrative Oncology: In their own words
Dr Kechagioglou and Dr Fuller-Shavel are champions of Integrative Oncology and believe that it plays a crucial role in improved patient outcomes and quality of life. As they write in their book:
“The book is about the science and philosophy of Integrative Medicine applied to breast cancer, and its content has been carefully crafted to include contemporary evidence in the field. When we talk about Integrative Medicine for cancer or Integrative Oncology, we refer to integration of mainstream Oncology care with lifestyle, supportive and complementary therapy practices which aim to improve quality of life, reduce risk of cancer recurrence and improve long-term clinical outcomes for cancer patients.”
“What we do know and will be discussed in the main body of the book is that healthcare providers and systems who provide integrative Oncology services have better long-term outcomes in their cancer patient populations.”
“The evidence around the value of integrative Oncology in terms of improving outcomes for people with cancer is overwhelming and cannot be ignored.”
The Problem
Integrative Oncology (sometimes referred to as IO) is an evolving evidence-informed field of medicine with little high-quality professional literature currently available to support clinical practice. Healthcare professionals are asking for further education on Integrative Oncology, as evidenced by the BSIO (British Society for Integrative Oncology) survey results, webinars and conference engagements. The growing BSIO membership highlights the need to educate and train healthcare professionals, and this book is written by clinicians for clinicians.
Looking at breast cancer specifically, it is the common cancer in women globally with growing incidence, and breast cancer patients are the most frequent users of integrative oncology practices, yet the sector is still somewhat lacking in high quality training accessible to all.
In the book, Dr Kechagioglou and Dr Fuller-Shavel explore the key challenges holding back healthcare professionals from unilaterally embracing the field, including access to high quality training, varying healthcare systems’ regulations and policy regarding the integration of IO into clinical practice, and constrained financial resources.
The Solution
“Acknowledging the above challenges and in an effort to bridge the gap between the clinical unmet need and the socio-politico-economical difference between countries, we have written this book on Integrative Oncology in breast cancer to share the knowledge we have gained through our training, clinical practice and global collaborations.”
The approaches and tools discussed in the book can help guide clinicians on how to support better quality of life, improve patient resilience, minimise the side effects of treatment and optimise clinical outcomes for people impacted by breast cancer.
“We hope that our readers will be inspired and motivated to make a change which can be scaled and transform cancer care globally”
We highly recommend all those who are interested in learning more about Integrative Oncology make time to read this highly education and compelling text. The book is widely available from sources including:
Meet the authors:
Dr Penny Kechagioglou is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist and Medical Director who has been trained in Functional Medicine and Health Coaching. She specialises in the oncological management of patients with breast cancer and she is passionate about integrating evidence-based medical and complementary therapies to improve clinical outcomes in breast cancer.
Dr Kechagioglou has chaired the British Society for Integrative Oncology for two years and currently co-chairs the Education and Training BSIO sub-committee. She is also the co-founder on the ONCIO Integrative Oncology App which supports cancer patients with information, courses and tools to optimise their health and wellbeing.
Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel is an award-winning Oxbridge-trained Integrative Medicine doctor, scientist and educator with over a decade’s experience in integrative healthcare. Dr Fuller-Shavel is a Fellow of the College of Medicine, the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and the Royal Society of Arts. Dr Fuller-Shavel was the Co-Chair of BSIO (British Society for Integrative Oncology) over 2021-2023 and now co-chairs the BSIO Education Committee.
Alongside her scientific and medical training, Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel holds multiple qualifications in nutrition, functional and integrative medicine, health coaching, herbal medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, yoga, mindfulness and other therapeutic approaches. Dr Fuller-Shavel is the founder and Director of Synthesis Clinic, an innovative multidisciplinary practice in the UK, specialising in women’s health and integrative cancer care.
Dr Fuller-Shavel is active in education and research, as well as contributing to journal editorial boards and guideline development panels nationally and internationally. Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel is also the Co-Founder of Oncio CIC, an innovative non-profit that recently launched the Oncio app, empowering people impacted by cancer to put integrative oncology tools and strategies into action.
Oncology Professional Care (21-22 May 2024) at the ExCel London will host an deep-dive educational session by Dr Kechagioglou and Dr Fuller-Shavel on Integrative Oncology in Breast Cancer Care, showcasing some of the book’s content, engaging attendees in the subject of integrative oncology, and exploring their education plans for accrediting clinicians in the field of Integrative Oncology.
Join us at the event to hear more about these trailblazers and the amazing work being undertaken to drive forward the field of Integrative Oncology.
