NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The families of most children with cancer have given the kids at least one non-traditional therapy, such as use of nutritional supplements or herbs, according to a survey conducted by New York researchers.

Dr. Kara M. Kelly, of Columbia University, and colleagues interviewed children with cancer and their parents about their use of unconventional therapies.

Of the 75 respondents, all were receiving or had received conventional childhood cancer treatment. More than 80% had also used one or more other therapies.

Among the most common therapies involved were dietary changes, nutritional supplements and herbal remedies. Also popular were mind/body therapies and touch therapies. The report appears in the September/October issue of the Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

When the researchers adopted a stricter definition of ''unconventional'' to allow for some dietary changes, 65% of respondents were still ``using at least one form of unconventional therapy.''

Furthermore, 50% of the alternative medicines were not reported to the childrens' doctors and 85% of respondents using unconventional therapies were ``concurrently enrolled in clinical trials for primary treatment of their cancer.''

Given the high prevalence of unconventional treatment use and the possibility of interaction with conventional treatment, the researchers stress ``the need for more information about the use of such therapies among all patients.''

(From Reuters)