TCM for pancreatic cancer
""Current evidence is not sufficient to establish efficacy and safety of Chinese herbs for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer"
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Traditional Chinese Medicine, including herbal medicine and acupuncture, has been used for the treatment of pancreatic cancer especially for inoperable cases. Some clinical studies were identified from Chinese literature. One randomised controlled trial compared a Chinese herbal preparation with cytokine or chemotherapy in pancreatic and liver cancer patients. It showed a beneficial effect on survival and improvement of symptoms. Another 12 uncontrolled case series or case studies have reported benefits of using Chinese herbs in increasing survival, improving symptoms, or relieving pain in patients with advanced and inoperable pancreatic cancer. However, there is lack of methodological rigour in these studies, possible publication bias, and the potential benefit from the studies is not strong enough to support their use in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. One in vitro study encourages further in vivo and clinical studies on two Chinese herbal formulations. Current evidence is not sufficient to establish efficacy and safety of Chinese herbs for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
