Herbal Product Use by the Cancer Patients in Both the Pre and Post Surgery Periods and During Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background:The aim of this study was to evaluate of the use of herbal products in patients in both pre- and post- surgery periods and during chemotherapy, and to determine the factors behind it.Materials and Methods:This study was conducted as a descriptive study with 281 patients in 4 centers. The data of the study were collected by using a survey form prepared by the researcher, depending on literature and interview with the participants face-to-face.Results:While the average age of the patients involved in the study is 49.1±12.8, 51.6% of them were females, 34.6% graduate of elementary school, and 34.5% were housewives. While the prevelance of the use of herbal product prior to surgical treatment is 38.9%, it was observed that this rate increased to 54.1% during chemotherapy. It was observed that the most frequently used product was garlic prior to surgical treatment (19.2%), that it was urtica dioica (13.8%) during chemotherapy. Before the surgical treatment, 94.3% of the patients, and during chemotherapy treatment, 81.7% of the patients, stated that the use of herbal product had not been questioned by the physician or nurse.Conclusion:Analysis of the results indicates that health professionals need to obtain information regarding the use of herbal products by cancer patients during both pre- and post- surgery periods, as well as during chemotherapy. Patients should be provided with information and guidance about the advantages and disadvantages of using herbal products.

Prevalence of the Use of Herbal Medicines among Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Overall, 130 studies (that met the eligibility criteria) were incorporated in the meta-analysis of the prevalence of herbal medicine usage by adult patients with cancer [ 3 – 12 , 14 – 29 , 31 – 36 , 38 , 39 , 55 – 59 , 61 , 62 , 64 – 81 , 83 – 101 , 103 – 105 , 107 , 109 – 117 , 120 , 122 – 125 , 127 – 131 , 134 , 136 , 138 – 142 , 144 , 145 , 147 – 150 , 152 – 156 , 158 – 164 , 166 – 168 ]. The lowest crude prevalence was 1% (95% CI: 0%–1%) and the highest was 86% (95% CI: 78%–92%).…”

Therapeutic Perspectives of Molecules from Urtica dioica Extracts for Cancer Treatment

“…Cancer chemoprevention [57,58] has become an important therapeutic option through which the battle against cancer could be possible, using natural, synthetic or biological agents able to reverse, suppress or prevent either carcinogenesis or the progression of premalignant cells towards invasive tumors. For this purpose, plants and herbs may be a promising source for adjuvant, complementary or alternative anti-cancer therapy [59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68], since some of them contain bioactive natural products and anti-cancer compounds, including polyphenols [32,33,69,70] as flavonoids, tannin etc. Today, many phytochemical compounds, normally biosynthesized and accumulated in the plants, have shown chemopreventive actions and several anti-cancer drugs, including podophilotoxins, camptotoxins, taxans, arise from herbal compounds and are successfully used for anti-cancer therapy [63,71].…”

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“…The extract shows significant reduction in LNCaP cell viability in a dose dependent manner, thus shows cytotoxic effect using MTT Assay 57 . The extract has been used as complementary and alternative therapies during and after the chemotherapic treatment of cancer patients 59 .…”