Integrative Medicine Program

Focusing on General Health and Wellness to Reduce the Risk of Cancer

Synergy - it's a phenomenon in which the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It’s also an important concept for Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, head of the Integrative Medicine Department at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and author of Anticancer Living.

Changing your lifestyle in a number of areas, including diet, exercise, sleep, stress, environment and love/support, makes each change more effective than it would be on its own. These same lifestyle factors interact with and reinforce each other in both positive and negative ways.

Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent in the last fifty years on cancer research, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. But research shows that 50 to 70 percent of cancer deaths can be prevented, and cancer survivors can live longer and better lives. People are waiting for a cure to cancer, when the most promising antidote is already here, and it doesn’t come in a syringe or a pill.

By making six fundamental changes in your lifestyle—focusing on social and emotional support, stress management, sleep, exercise, diet, and minimizing exposure to environmental toxins—you can radically reduce your risk of getting cancer and improve your chances of surviving a cancer diagnosis.

Contribute to the Mission - Join the Program

Dr. Cohen is currently recruiting participants for a study that evaluates how well comprehensive lifestyle changes work in preventing breast cancer in patients.

The study is designed to test his theory that a program including dietary recommendations, physical activity, stress management, mindfulness training, good sleep, behavioral counseling, and social support may help patients reduce the risk for breast cancer. Click here to learn more about the study and to sign up.

If you are not able to participate but would like to support our efforts financially, donors are welcome to click here to make a tax-deductible donation.

Program Head

Photo by Rob Howard

Lorenzo Cohen, PhD

Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, is the Richard E. Haynes Distinguished Professor in Clinical Cancer Prevention and Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is also Distinguished Clinical Professor, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China. Dr. Cohen received his undergraduate degree from Reed College, Portland, Oregon and his Master’s and PhD from The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. Lorenzo is a founding member and past president of the Society for Integrative Oncology and the Vice-Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.

Dr. Cohen and his wife, Allison, are co-authors of the book “Anticancer Living”. Allison Jeffries has a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology, and has worked in museums and as a classroom teacher in England, Canada and the United States.

Read more about their book here.

Anticancer Living

The evidence is in: you can reduce cancer risk and support treatment by focusing on six key areas of health and wellness.

The scientific data on the link between lifestyle, environmental factors, and cancer risk has been accumulating at an accelerated rate over the past decade: Every week we learn something more that we can do as individuals to decrease the risk of can­cer and improve the likelihood of long-term survival. Many of us—patients and doctors included—do not realize that changes in our daily choices and habits can improve quality of life, increase the chances of survival, and aid in the healing process for those with a diagnosis. These ideas were pioneered in David Servan-Schreiber’s Anticancer: A New Way of Life, and became the basis for a research study developed by Lorenzo Cohen and Servan-Schreiber at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Introducing the concept of the “Mix of Six,” Cohen and Alison Jefferies make an informed case that building social and emotional support; manag­ing stress; improving sleep, exercise, and diet; and minimizing exposure to environmental toxins work together to promote an optimal environment for health and well-being. While each plays an inde­pendent role, the synergy created by all six factors can radically transform health; delay or prevent many cancers; support conventional treatments; and significantly improve quality of life—as many testi­monies and stories of those in the anticancer com­munity eloquently show.