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DR. KYLA STEWART
NATUROPATHIC DOCTOR
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Integrative Cancer Care
Navigating a cancer diagnosis can be one of life’s most challenging experiences, and no one should have to go through it alone.
Integrative oncology offers a supportive, whole-person approach to care—combining the best of conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, with evidence-informed natural therapies designed to nurture your strength, resilience, and overall well-being.
Complementary therapies are not intended to replace conventional care but to enhance it—helping manage side effects, improve quality of life, and support resilience during and after treatment.
Every person’s cancer journey is unique. Together, we create a personalized care plan that considers your diagnosis, treatment goals, lifestyle, and values. Integrative care does not replace medical treatment—it enhances it by helping you feel stronger, recover more easily, and maintain the quality of life that matters most to you.
Integrative Naturopathic Goals are to:
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Monitor for any potential drug-herb-food interactions, to ensure that no supplements/foods interact interact with their therapy (i.e chemotherapy, radiation, other).
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Decrease risk of side effects so that you can receive your full course of therapy on time.
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Provide evidence-based natural recommendations that are synergistic with the prescribed therapy
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Support performance and nutritional status during treatment
Strategies Used in Integrative Cancer Care
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Just as every person is unique, each cancer type comes with its own unique properties, therefore combining the appropriate nutrients along side conventional treatments in order to further sensitize the cancer to each treatment, support side effects and prevent resistance of cancer cells to treatments.
There are many nutritional compounds such as antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and botanicals that have been and are continually being studied due to their anti-cancer properties by way of minimizing inflammation and reducing oxidative stress.
Supportive Integrative Treatments
While there are many nutraceuticals that have shown anti-cancer properties (ie. Boswellic acid, curcumin, EGCG, melatonin, quercitin, turkey tail, reishi, maitakie), some nutrients may be better suited to some cancers than others.
It is very important that any supplements should be supervisor by a healthcare professional as higher quality and quantity of these nutrients are typically used and even if they are "natural" they are still very much "medicines" when used in cancer care.
Other Potential Therapies
High-Dose Vitamin C (IVC) Therapy
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Delivered intravenously, vitamin C reaches concentrations in the blood that are not possible through diet or oral supplements. IVC is used alongside conventional therapies to help reduce inflammation, support the immune system, and lessen treatment-related side effects.
Mistletoe Therapy
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Widely used in Europe since the early 1900s, mistletoe extract is studied for its ability to improve tolerance to chemotherapy and radiation, support energy levels, and enhance overall quality of life.
DCA (Dichloroacetate)
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An “off-label” metabolic therapy that may influence how cancer cells produce energy by inhibiting an enzyme called pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK). This process may help promote cancer cell death while supporting cellular metabolism.
While many of these compounds can be easily purchased online or in local health food stores, the effectiveness of these nutrients greatly depends on the dosage, delivery method, quality, and source.
A naturopathic doctor with a focus in integrative cancer care can help determine which complementary therapies may be most appropriate based on your diagnosis, treatment plan, and safety considerations. Personalized recommendations are essential to ensuring that these therapies are used effectively and safely alongside conventional treatments.
Safety
Many naturopathic cancer treatments can be safely integrated with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, though their appropriateness and timing depend on the type and phase of each treatment. While vitamins, minerals, and botanicals are “natural”, they are still considered forms of medicine and must be prescribed appropriately and carefully. The specific treatments and their timing must be tailored to each individual case to ensure they complement and not interfere with conventional therapies.
When used appropriately alongside conventional therapies, these natural cancer therapies have been scientifically and clinically shown to enhance the effectiveness of traditional treatments, improve overall quality of life, significantly reduce the frequency and severity of common side effects, increase survival rates, and lower the risk of recurrence.
