Alternative medicine and Di Bella's treatment. A questionnaire directed to the Italian pediatrician oncologists

Oncology and haematology-oncology have consented a wide employment of alternative therapies. Lately, this phenomenon is emerging also in the paediatric setting. In particular, in Italy, in the last 2-3 years the so-called Di Bella therapy (TDB) has met with a large consensus. Nonetheless, it has roused conflicting outcries in Europe, and several Italian paediatric haematologists and oncologists had to deal with the problems thence ensued. We endeavoured to analyse this issue from a clinical point of view, through a 9-query questionnaire, sent to the 48 Centres (or Divisions) adhering to FONOP (National Paediatric Oncology Operating Force). Among the most significant aspects emerged from the study, it ís noteworthy that, very often, children experiencing single or multiole relapse (of solid neoplasms and leukaemia) are prone to be treated with TDB after having abandoned conventional anti-tumour treatment. However, also some children at the beginning of chemotherapy or early after diagnosis have moved to TDB, thus renouncing the possibilities of exploiting all chances offered by therapies validated by the scientific community. This questionnaire also provided some pedagogic evaluations concerning the attitude and opinions of paediatricians on this issue.