Yoon Hang Kim

A cancer diagnosis changes everything - not just the treatment plan, but the way you think about your body, your choices, and your future. In the overwhelming flood of information that follows, patients are left navigating a confusing landscape of conventional protocols, alternative claims, and well-meaning but often contradictory advice from friends, family, and the internet. What's missing is a trustworthy bridge between the oncology clinic and the wider world of evidence-based supportive care - a guide written by a physician who works in both worlds every day.
Integrative Oncology: Evidence-Based Strategies to Support Cancer Treatment is that bridge. Written by Yoon Hang Kim MD, a board-certified preventive medicine physician practicing integrative oncology in San Antonio, Texas, this book translates two decades of clinical experience and peer-reviewed research into practical, accessible guidance for cancer patients and their families. The core message is clear and unwavering: integrative care should augment conventional treatment, never replace it.
Drawing on landmark research from Yale and other institutions, Dr. Kim addresses the real and documented harm that occurs when patients abandon proven therapies in favor of unproven alternatives - and then shows how the right complementary strategies can meaningfully support treatment outcomes, manage side effects, and improve quality of life. Across twenty-one chapters organized into six parts, readers will discover how nutrition, physical activity, mind-body practices, dietary supplements, and social connection can each play a role in a comprehensive cancer care plan.
Every recommendation is grounded in clinical evidence, from the metabolic science behind dietary approaches to the research supporting acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced nausea, exercise for cancer-related fatigue, and mindfulness for the anxiety and uncertainty that accompany every stage of the cancer journey. Dr. Kim brings a unique perspective shaped by his own published research - including studies on curcumin supplementation and Chinese herbal medicine in oncology settings - as well as his daily work with patients navigating real treatment decisions.
He writes not as a detached academic but as a clinician who has sat across from thousands of patients and helped them build personalized integrative plans that work alongside their oncologists, surgeons, and radiation teams. What sets this book apart is its honesty. It doesn't promise miracles or peddle false hope. It doesn't demonize conventional medicine or romanticize alternative therapies. Instead, it equips patients with the knowledge to ask better questions, critically evaluate evidence, and make informed decisions in partnership with their care teams.
It acknowledges the emotional weight of cancer - the fear, the loss of control, the desperate search for agency - and channels that energy toward strategies that are safe, supported by science, and genuinely helpful. Whether you are newly diagnosed, currently in treatment, in survivorship, or supporting a loved one through their cancer journey, this book provides a clear, compassionate, and evidence-based roadmap for becoming an active, informed participant in your own care.
It is not a substitute for your oncologist. It is the conversation you wish you could have with a physician who has the time to sit down, explain the evidence, and help you build a plan that honors both the science and the whole person.