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In discussing the role of CAM therapies for the management of cancer, it is important to differentiate between CAM therapies that purport to "cure" cancer as opposed to those therapies that are used in palliative cancer care to provide relief from cancer-related symptoms and improve the patient's quality of life. Unlike some conventional cancer treatments that have been demonstrated to cure patients with certain types of cancers, currently there is a lack of sufficient scientific evidence to support the conclusion that any specific type of CAM modality can cure cancer. Patients who fail to draw a distinction between the "care vs. cure" aspects of CAM therapies may delay seeking or may completely abandon potentially curative mainstream cancer treatments in hope that a particular CAM therapy may be a "magic bullet" for curing their cancer. On the other hand, complementary therapies have become an important aspect of palliative cancer care by helping cancer patients better cope with cancer-related symptoms and side-effects and, thereby, improving quality of life. In fact, many cancer centers in the United States and other Western countries have integrated complementary therapies into their mainstream treatment strategies for palliative cancer care in an emerging field of cancer practice known as integrative oncology.