Integrative oncology in clinical practice, research, and education: Middle-Eastern and global perspectives

This study aimed to explore integrative oncology (IO) across the Middle East, examine how international IO leaders promote IO in the Middle East, and assess how the Middle East contributes to the development of IO globally. This narrative review employed a structured literature search and descriptive analytic approach, using multiple databases, predefined keywords, varied study designs, and multilingual sources. It was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians, researchers, and medical educators from ten Middle Eastern countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates) and global IO/palliative leaders from South America, India, China, Europe, and the USA, providing a real-life implementation perspective. The collaborative IO model of care ensures safe and effective traditional and herbal medicine practices, with a culturally-sensitive approach respecting health beliefs. Middle Eastern and international IO participants discuss how they can benefit from each other, drawing from Middle-East Research Group in Integrative Oncology (MERGIO) activities in clinical practice, research, and medical education. Important themes derived from the review include the potential for IO to advance patient-centered care, effectively improve quality of life-related concerns, ensure a safe therapeutic environment, and overcome accessibility- and disparity-related barriers. IO treatments should be provided by trained multi-disciplinary teams of integrative physicians and practitioners, within culturally-adapted multi-modal programs and a receptive national and regional healthcare policy. Research utilizing pragmatic methodologies reflects real-world IO practice, with IO prioritized in medical education providing students and healthcare professionals with high-quality clinical and research training across the Middle East.

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Publication Details

Journal
Supportive Care in Cancer
Published
2026-04-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-026-10647-5
Primary Topic
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Integrative oncology in clinical practice, research, and education: Middle-Eastern and global perspectives

Massimo Bonucci, Nahla Gafer, Mohamed Hablas, Rammanohar Puthiyedath et al.
Supportive Care in Cancer
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
article

Integrative oncology in clinical practice, research, and education: Middle-Eastern and global perspectives

Massimo Bonucci, Nahla Gafer, Mohamed Hablas, Rammanohar Puthiyedath, Noah Samuels, Maryam Rassouli, Ricardo Ghelman, Georg Seifert, Konstantina Stylianou, Nina Fuller-Shavel, Lorenzo Cohen, Suha Omran, Neil Arun Nijhawan, Jianping Liu, Eran Ben-Arye, Malak Rita Hajji, Alain Toledano, Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Gülbeyaz Can, Ibtisam Ghrayeb
article en

Abstract

This study aimed to explore integrative oncology (IO) across the Middle East, examine how international IO leaders promote IO in the Middle East, and assess how the Middle East contributes to the development of IO globally. This narrative review employed a structured literature search and descriptive analytic approach, using multiple databases, predefined keywords, varied study designs, and multilingual sources. It was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians, researchers, and medical educators from ten Middle Eastern countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates) and global IO/palliative leaders from South America, India, China, Europe, and the USA, providing a real-life implementation perspective. The collaborative IO model of care ensures safe and effective traditional and herbal medicine practices, with a culturally-sensitive approach respecting health beliefs. Middle Eastern and international IO participants discuss how they can benefit from each other, drawing from Middle-East Research Group in Integrative Oncology (MERGIO) activities in clinical practice, research, and medical education. Important themes derived from the review include the potential for IO to advance patient-centered care, effectively improve quality of life-related concerns, ensure a safe therapeutic environment, and overcome accessibility- and disparity-related barriers. IO treatments should be provided by trained multi-disciplinary teams of integrative physicians and practitioners, within culturally-adapted multi-modal programs and a receptive national and regional healthcare policy. Research utilizing pragmatic methodologies reflects real-world IO practice, with IO prioritized in medical education providing students and healthcare professionals with high-quality clinical and research training across the Middle East.

Supportive Care in CancerVol. 34(5)
University of Geneva (CH), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BR), Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (FR), Middle East Institute (US), Arthritis Foundation (US), Humanitas University (IT), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US), University of Khartoum (SD), Jordan University of Science and Technology (JO), Gulf Medical University (AE), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL), Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (CN), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), University of Nizwa (OM), Tanta University (EG), BCS — The Chartered Institute for IT (GB), Shaare Zedek Medical Center (IL), Brazilian Academy of Sciences (BR), American Anthropological Association (US), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital (TR), Limassol General Hospital (CY), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (GB), Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa (TR), CTO Andrea Alesini (IT), Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences (IL), Khartoum International Institute for Arabic Languague (SD), Integrative Medicine Institute (US), Laboratoire d’immunologie intégrative du cancer (FR), OCP Group (Morocco) (MA), Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE), Clinique Hartmann (FR), Makassed General Hospital (LB), Haifa Medical Center (IL), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (IR), Geneva College (US), Istanbul University (TR), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (IN), Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (BR)
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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