A Survey of Chinese Medicinal Herbal Treatment for Chemotherapy-Induced Oral Mucositis

Oral mucositis is one of the common side effects of chemotherapy treatment with potentially severe implications. Despite several treatment approaches by conventional and complementary western medicine, the therapeutic outcome is often not satisfactory. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers empir...

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Published inEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine Vol. 2013; no. 2013; pp. 1 - 16
Main Authors Beckmann, Kathrin, Efferth, Thomas, Meyer-Hamme, Gesa, Schroeder, Sven, Rostock, Matthias, Greten, Henry Johannes, Radtke, Janine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Puplishing Corporation 01.01.2013
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Hindawi Limited
Subjects
Alternative medicine
Apoptosis
Cancer therapies
Chemotherapy
Chinese medicine
Clinical trials
Cryotherapy
Cytokines
DNA methylation
Drug dosages
Granulocytes
Growth factors
Herbal medicine
Herbs
Infections
Lung cancer
Medicinal herbs
Medicinal plants
Molecular modelling
Mucositis
Nutrition research
Prevention
R&D
Research & development
Review
Side effects
Systematic review
Traditional Chinese medicine
Tumor necrosis factor-TNF
Ulcers
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Summary:Oral mucositis is one of the common side effects of chemotherapy treatment with potentially severe implications. Despite several treatment approaches by conventional and complementary western medicine, the therapeutic outcome is often not satisfactory. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers empirical herbal formulas for the treatment of oral ulceration which are used in adaptation to chemotherapy-induced mucositis. While standard concepts for TCM treatment do not exist and acceptance by conventional oncologists is still low, we conducted a review to examine the evidence of Chinese herbal treatment in oral mucositis. Eighteen relevant studies on 4 single herbs, 2 combinations of 2 herbs, and 11 multiherbal prescriptions involving 3 or more compounds were included. Corresponding molecular mechanisms were investigated. The knowledge about detailed herbal mechanisms, especially in multi-herbal prescriptions is still limited. The quality of clinical trials needs further improvement. Meta-analysis on the existent database is not possible but molecular findings on Chinese medicinal herbs indicate that further research is still promising for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
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ObjectType-Review-1
Academic Editor: Sookyung Lee
ISSN:1741-427X
1741-4288
DOI:10.1155/2013/284959