How integrative health approaches such as acupuncture and nutrition support quality of life and improve cancer outcomes

Gary Deng, MD, program director of integrative oncology at UCI Health and Samueli Endowed Chair in Integrative Oncology and the director of clinical affairs at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, discusses his vision for building a whole-person model of cancer care at UCI Health.

Drawing on more than two decades of experience at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and earlier work at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Deng explains how integrative oncology has evolved from a niche, often misunderstood field into an increasingly evidence-based component of modern cancer care. He describes how approaches such as acupuncture, nutrition, exercise, stress management, and lifestyle change can help address symptoms, support quality of life and give patients a greater sense of agency during treatment.

The conversation also explores the science behind integrative oncology, including randomized controlled trials, neuroimaging, National Cancer Institute-funded research, and emerging data suggesting that interventions once viewed as supportive may also affect treatment response and clinical outcomes. Deng outlines his long-term goal of establishing a model at UCI Health that integrates mind, body, and lifestyle into standard oncology care and generating the evidence to help disseminate that model more broadly.

Topics discussed: 

• Building the UCI Health integrative oncology program
• Why whole-person care matters in cancer treatment
• Treating symptoms, quality of life, and patient experience alongside the disease
• The evolution of acupuncture from skepticism to guideline-supported care
• National Cancer Institute-funded research in acupuncture and sepsis
• Functional MRI and neurobiological mechanisms behind acupuncture
• Lifestyle medicine in oncology, including diet, exercise, stress and sleep
• Emerging research on lifestyle change and treatment response
• Circadian rhythm, social environment, and cancer outcomes
• The opportunity to build a new integrative oncology care model at UCI Health

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Refer a patient at referralportal.ucihealth.org and learn more about ongoing clinical trials at ucihealth.org/clinical-trials.