Frequently Asked Questions

General Topics

How can I find more information about complementary and alternative medical practices?

The NCI has produced summaries of the scientific literature (PDQ summaries) and shorter question and answer documents (Fact Sheets) about certain CAM therapies.

You may also wish to contact the NCCAM Clearinghouse to obtain the fact sheet, "Considering Complementary and Alternative Therapies." The NCCAM web site provides helpful hints and questions to consider when choosing an alternative healthcare practitioner.

Can I receive an alternative treatment at the OCCAM?

The OCCAM is not a treatment facility and cannot answer specific medical questions. The OCCAM cannot make referrals to individual practitioners or recommend particular therapies for patients.

Does the OCCAM provide advice for specific medical conditions?

The OCCAM website does not offer personalized medical advice to individuals about their condition or treatment. The resources on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care. We urge you to work with your medical care providers for answers to your personal health questions.

If you have a medical question, please visit the Health Information section of the NCI web site. You should also visit MEDLINEplus. A large percentage of the questions asked about NIH on-line resources can be answered by browsing the NIH index pages or by using the NIH Search Engine.

If you have questions that relate to specific foods, or prescription, or over-the-counter drugs, you should visit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) web site.

What is the difference between OCCAM and NCCAM?

The Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) is one of many offices and divisions within the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI is one of over twenty Institutes and Centers (IC's) comprising the NIH. The OCCAM was established in October 1998 to coordinate and enhance the activities of the NCI in the field of CAM. The OCCAM is administratively under the Office of the Deputy Director of Extramural Science at the NCI and its responsibilities are to coordinate the NCI's CAM research and information initiatives and to serve as the NCI's liaison to other organizations involved in CAM and cancer, including the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).

The NCCAM is another of the Institutes and Centers (IC's) comprising the NIH. The NIH is one of eight health agencies within the Public Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In 1998, the Congress established the NCCAM to replace the Office of Alternative Medicine. While the NCI's OCCAM is focused exclusively on CAM as it relates to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer, the NCCAM's mission is to stimulate, develop, and support research on CAM across several diseases and conditions for the benefit of the public. The NCCAM's overriding mission is to give the American public reliable information about the safety and effectiveness of CAM practices.

Where can I find information about a specific type of cancer?

The Cancer Topics area of NCI's Web site provides comprehensive information about cancer. The Cancer Information Service (CIS) provides the latest, most accurate cancer information. In the U.S., you can call the CIS between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

The Clinical Trials area of NCI's Web site provides access to NCI's clinical trials database, news about cancer research, and resources for patients and health professionals about participating in clinical trials.

The NIH Health Information Index provides a list of diseases currently under investigation by NIH or NIH-supported scientists and major NIH research areas with links to the appropriate institute(s), center(s), or other component(s) to call for information, along with the appropriate phone numbers.

Where can I go for information about cancer clinical trials?

NCI's online Physician Data Query (PDQ®) comprehensive cancer database contains peer-reviewed summaries on cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, and supportive care, and complementary and alternative medicine and a registry of approximately 2,000 open and 13,000 closed cancer clinical trials from around the world.

Research Questions

Are there specific research topics of interest to the NCI?

The NCI supports a wide range of cancer CAM research. Occasionally, there may be specific topics that we wish to develop and increase within the NCI research portfolio. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact program staff (see Applying for Cancer CAM Research Grants section).

Some funding announcements are only for CAM topics. How do I know whether my research topic is considered CAM?

Again, it is important to contact program staff to confirm whether or not your topic would be considered "responsive" and accepted for submission under that announcement. Typically announcements list topics that are that are eligible as well as the contact name of staff.

The NCI Best Case Series Program

Will my experience help in the evaluation of complementary and alternative medical therapies?

Many people write to the OCCAM with their own testimony about a successful treatment or a particular healer or healthcare practitioner. To have this information reviewed, people may ask their practitioners whether he/she is collecting information on the success of their treatments. A practitioner can collect, organize and submit the information on a single case or a group of patients for consideration in the NCI Best Case Series program. Please visit the NCI Best Case Series page.

Will the OCCAM evaluate my invention or treatment?

The NCI Best Case Series program that is designed to review documentation of the results of unconventional cancer therapies. The OCCAM does not perform research, however, it and other components of the NCI provide programs to support outside researchers.

What is POMES?

POMES is an acronym for practice outcomes monitoring and evaluation system which is a process for monitoring the outcomes in a small population of patients (usually less than 50) treated with an unconventional intervention as it ordinarily is administered, without altering the regimen's delivery or outcome. The goal of a POMES project is to determine whether a phenomena observed in a retrospective case review is reproducible in a larger population. Results from a POMES project may be used to justify an NCI-initiated clinical trial.