When diagnosed with any type of cancer, many patients consider the use of so-called alternative, natural or homeopathic therapies to tackle the disease. When, in addition, conventional medicine does not provide any hopes for a cure, as is the case in diffuse brain stem glioma, it is understandable that most families look into other types of treatment.

We did so with Alicia.

The problem is that there are countless websites on the internet that, although lacking in any supporting data or evidence, guarantee the efficacy of an endless list of supplements, herbs or treatments that are at the very least strange, and easily convince parents who are desperately searching for a cure for their child. In most cases, these so-called alternatives are not cheap.

However, there are also serious and more rigorous professionals who recommend the use of certain natural supplements or therapies aimed at palliating the negative effects of the aggressive treatments (chemotherapy and radiation therapy) administered to these children. The problem for parents is to know how to differentiate both types.

We tested several of these supplements and treatments with Alicia. Although we do not have any medical or scientific data to support our opinion, we believe that some of these alternative treatments did help her.

Our recommendation is that parents speak with their oncologist before giving any alternative supplements or compounds to their child, given that some might even be counterproductive or incompatible with the treatment that is being followed.

In order to make it easier for parents to contrast the information acquired regarding these natural supplements or therapies, the following list provides the links to several websites of different organizations that analyse this issue with absolute seriousness and rigour:

American Cancer Society (US) website:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/ETO_5.asp?sitearea=ETO

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), US NIH:
http://nccam.nih.gov/

Website funded by the European Comission for the study of alternative therapies against cancer:
http://www.cam-cancer.org

We also included the link to the document about Ruta 6, as it is one of the most known homeopathics treatments for DIPG kids.
http://www.virtualtrials.com/pdf/ruta6.pdf