Herbs and other botanicals in cancer patient care Journal Article
| Authors: | Cassileth, B.; Yeung, K. S.; Gubili, J. |
| Article Title: | Herbs and other botanicals in cancer patient care |
| Abstract: | Non-prescription herbal remedies are commonly used by cancer patients in efforts to control their disease or to manage symptoms associated with cancer and cancer treatments. We address the issues surrounding the use of herbs, herbal compounds, and other botanical agents in the oncology context. Botanicals are biologically active agents that can be useful under appropriate circumstances, but they may be counterproductive when used by patients on chemotherapy or on other prescription medications. Herbs and other botanical agents, despite common public belief, are not benign. They should be understood as unrefined pharmaceuticals, with the capacity to produce physiologic change for better or worse. Indeed, many prescription drugs, chemotherapeutic agents among them, were derived from plants and other natural agents, and the search for additional constituents of plants, animals, and minerals for use as pharmaceutical agents remains an active effort on many fronts. Cautions, appropriate application, and potential utility of botanical agents are discussed below, and sources of reliable information are provided. © Current Medicine Group LLC 2008. |
| Keywords: | leukemia; clinical trial; drug tolerability; cancer recurrence; placebo; drug efficacy; drug safety; hypertension; liver cell carcinoma; monotherapy; antineoplastic agents; paclitaxel; cancer patient; cancer radiotherapy; antineoplastic agent; neoplasm; neoplasms; colorectal cancer; quality of life; liver toxicity; nephrotoxicity; breast cancer; combination chemotherapy; cyclophosphamide; kidney failure; antineoplastic activity; diet supplementation; irinotecan; prostate cancer; depression; isoflavone derivative; drug antagonism; medical oncology; tamoxifen; colorectal surgery; phytotherapy; plant preparations; herbaceous agent; antioxidant activity; lycopene; sabal extract; prostate hypertrophy; astragalus extract; drug metabolism; cancer control; immune deficiency; navelbine; tachycardia; herbal medicine; plants, medicinal; ephedrine; uft; vein occlusion; drug competition; aristolochic acid; kava; krestin; comfrey extract; ephedra extract; ephedra sinica extract; hypericum perforatum extract; schizophyllan; soybean oil; viscum album extract; xiao chai hu tang |
| Journal Title: | Current Treatment Options in Oncology |
| Volume: | 9 |
| Issue: | 2-3 |
| ISSN: | 1527-2729 |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Date Published: | 2008-01-01 |
| Start Page: | 109 |
| End Page: | 116 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11864-008-0061-5 |
| PUBMED: | 18612829 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | --- - "Cited By (since 1996): 6" - "Export Date: 17 November 2011" - "CODEN: CTOOB" - "Source: Scopus" |
Altmetric
Citation Impact
BMJ Impact Analytics
Related MSK Work