In Evaluating Alternative Cancer Therapies, David Hess has interviewed the major opinion leaders in the alternative cancer therapy field - clinicians, researchers, patient advocacy leaders, and journalists - who explain their philosophy of evaluation, their therapeutic preferences, and the political and economic hurdles to getting the necessary research done. Both a guide to the guides and a survey of the field, this innovative book provides a framework for evaluation problems that clinicians and patients face - from patient needs and the quality of potential clinical care givers to research methods, proposed policy reforms, and the therapies themselves.

David Hess is a cultural/medical anthropologist and professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the author of nine other books on science and the public, including Science and Technology in a Multicultural World and Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction. His current research includes a book on the controversial research tradition on bacteria as possible agents in cancer causation, Can Bacteria Cause Cancer? and Women Confront Cancer, coauthored with Margaret Wooddell.