US Natl Cancer Institute Videocast - Traditional Chinese Medicine in Cancer

This is not woo - this is a symposium sponsored by the complementary and alternative medicine branch of the US National Cancer Institute with the goal of interrogating the scientific basis of the best of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the Western treatment of cancer.

The NCI's Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) is sponsoring a conference titled Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Cancer Research: Fostering Collaborations; Advancing the Science from April 10-12, 2006. This conference is by invitation only. However; you are invited to watch the conference via live videocast on April 10th and 12th beginning at 8:30 am (EDT; 1330 GMT). Several researchers from the United States and China will be presenting at this conference. Information about the videocast can be found on the OCCAM website. For further inquires please contact Tai Baker on +1 (301) 451 6009.

It sounds as though RealPlayer is required to view the videocast so if you depend on some other video viewer, fire up RP before the symposium.

I will follow later with a post making the very important distinction between NCI's reputable OCCAM branch and the much-maligned NCCAM. This is a crucial distinction in that NCI has responded to criticisms made of NCCAM to focus on the special needs of cancer patients and evaluating other therapies that may complement conventional surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. OCCAM is led by a board-certified medical oncologist from the NCI intramural program and his staff has focused on culling the best of alternative cancer treatments to evaluate their scientific validity.

There are also US companies boasting highly-regarded scientists and clinicians who have some TCM compounds and plant extracts in clinical trials. The application of the scientific method and collaboration of Chinese and English-speaking researchers stands to maximize the application of ethnobotany from Asian cultures to the worldwide treatment of cancer.

Stay tuned...