LONDON (Reuters Health) - More than half of all cancer patients are using complementary or alternative therapies to cope with the difficult side effects of hospital-based treatment, according to a report released on Sunday.

The market consultancy, Datamonitor, said as many as 60% of cancer patients in certain European countries, and 80% in the United States, use special diets, vitamin supplements, herbal remedies or acupuncture.

It said use of complementary and alternative medicines appeared highest in Germany, where products such as mistletoe had become established folk remedies.

Datamonitor estimated the global market for both complementary and alternative medicines used by cancer patients could be as high as $18 billion annually, rivaling the sales of many traditional pharmaceutical approaches.

The report warned that information published on Web sites about herbal remedies was not always accurate and advised patients to tell doctors before using them.

"Some herbal products or diets can affect how prescription cancer drugs are absorbed, or can increase certain side effects of mainstream cancer therapies.

"Patients taking complementary medicines need to share their use of these products with their oncologist, for the patients' safety and for the patients' best chance of fighting cancer."

The report forecast that increased scientific studies of alternative medicines could potentially lead to the identification of new therapeutic compounds.

It said that the complementary medicines field and pharmaceutical development could move closer to each other, perhaps resulting in a number of novel therapies, new manufacturing companies and commercially successful partnerships.

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