Written by Edzard Ernst and the CAM-Cancer Consortium.
Updated November 1, 2011

Homeopathy in cancer

Does it work?

Systematic reviews

A systematic review of systematic reviews of homeopathy conducted in 2002 concluded that there is no evidence from systematic reviews that homeopathy is effective beyond placebo for any condition.9 A 2009 Cochrane review was aimed at evaluating “the effectiveness and safety of homeopathic medicines used to prevent or treat adverse effects of cancer treatments”.10 The authors found 8 controlled clinical trials: three studied adverse effects of radiotherapy, three studied the adverse effects of chemotherapy and two investigated menopausal symptoms due to breast cancer therapy. One rigorous study of Calendula extract ointment (n=254) suggested benefit for the prevention of radiotherapy-induced dermatitis compared to controls treated with trolamine.11 Another small (n=32) yet rigorous study found that Traumeel S mouthwash (a complex homeopathic remedy) was better than placebo for chemotherapy-induced stomatitis.12 The other trials were either methodologically weak or had negative results. Neither of the two positive studies employed high dilutions; thus their effects might be explicable through the pharmacological properties of their ingredients.

Narrative reviews

An overview of the literature concluded that “specific anti-tumour effects [of homeopathic remedies] have not been shown in any controlled clinical research to date…”.13

Clinical trials

A recent prospective cohort study compared cancer patients who had opted for homeopathic treatments as an adjunct to conventional cancer therapies to patients who had chosen to have conventional care only.14 Matched pairs were formed of patients with the same cancer type and prognosis. Encouraging effects in terms of fatigue and quality of life were noted after three months. It is unclear, however, whether the outcome was caused by the treatment or by selection bias.

Citation Edzard Ernst, CAM-Cancer Consortium. Homeopathy in cancer [online document]. http://www.cam-cancer.org/CAM-Summaries/Alternative-Medical-Systems/Homeopathy-in-cancer. November 1, 2011.

References

  1. Swayne J. International dictionary of homeopathy. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh. 2000.
  2. Ernst E. The heresy of homoeopathy. Br Homeopath J 1998; 87:28-32.
  3. Spence DS, Thompson EA, Barron SJ. Homeopathic treatment for chronic disease: a 6-year, university-hospital outpatient observational study. J Altern Complement Med 2005; 11:793-798.
  4. Witt CM, Bluth M, Albreacht H, Weisshuhn TE, Baumgartner S, Willich SN. The in vitro evidence for an effect of high homeopathic potencies. A systematic review of the literature. Compl Ther Med 2007; 15(2):128-138.
  5. Baumgartner S, Wolf M, Skrabal P, Bangerter F, Heusser P, Thurneysen A et al. High-field 1HT1 and T2 NMR relaxation time measurements of H2O in homeopathic preparations of quartz, sulfur, and copper sulfate. Naturwissenschaften 2009; 96:1079-1089.
  6. Thomas-Schoemann A, Alexandre J, Mongaret C, Azibi S, Dauphin A, Goldwasser F et al. [Use of antioxidant and other complementary medicine by patients treated by antitumor chemotherapy: a prospective study]. [French]. Bulletin du Cancer 2011; 98(6):645-653.
  7. Clerici CA, Veneroni L, Giacon B, Mariani L, Fossati-Bellani F, Clerici CA et al. Complementary and alternative medical therapies used by children with cancer treated at an Italian pediatric oncology unit. Pediatric Blood & Cancer 2009; 53(4):599-604.
  8. Langler A, Spix C, Edelhauser F, Kameda G, Kaatsch P, Seifert G et al. Use of homeopathy in pediatric oncology in Germany. Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine: eCAM 2011; 2011:867151.
  9. Ernst E. A systematic review of systematic reviews of homeopathy. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2002; 54:577-582.
  10. Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, Van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Syst Rev 2009; 2: CD004845.
  11. Pommier P, Gomez F, Sunyach MP, D'Hombres A, Carrie C, Montbarbon X. Phase III randomized trial of Calendula officinalis compared with trolamine for the prevention of acute dermatitis during irradiation for breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2004; 22:1447-1453.
  12. Oberbaum M, Yaniv I, Ben-Gal Y, Stein J, Ben-Zvi N, Freedman LS et al. A randomized, controlled clinical trial of the homeopathic medication TRAUMEEL S® in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced stomatitis in children undergoing stem cell transplantation. Cancer 2001; 92:684-690.
  13. Frenkel M. Homeopathy in cancer care. Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine 2010; 16(3):12-16.
  14. Rostock M, Naumann J, Guethlin C, Guenther L, Bartsch HH, Walach H et al. Classical homeopathy in the treatment of cancer patients--a prospective observational study of two independent cohorts. BMC Cancer 2011; 11:19.
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