Letter: Cancer treatment

Cancer treatment

WE are assessing the impact of receiving aromatherapy massage or relaxation therapy, used alongside conventional anti-cancer treatments, on patients' quality of life. We are not attempting to see if these therapies provide an alternative to conventional anti-cancer treatments. So we are keen to redress any misunderstanding conveyed by the headline "Natural therapies to be tested as cancer cure" (23 January), describing our planned trial. In fact, all the patients being studied will have advanced cancer, i.e. their cancer cannot be cured.

Dr SUSIE WILKINSON

Director of Studies, Liverpool Marie Curie Centre

Professor AMANDA J RAMIREZ

Professor of Liaison Psychiatry, Guy's & St Thomas's Medical & Dental School

Dr JANE MAHER

Senior Lecturer in Clinical Oncology, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre