Written by Jianping Liu, Xun Li and the CAM-Cancer Consortium.
Updated May 8, 2012

Chinese herbal medicine for pancreatic cancer

Abstract and key points

  • Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is part of the holistic system of traditional Chinese medicine, which has its own concepts of diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
  • CHM is claimed to be beneficial for a range of indications.
  • Potential benefits of CHM for pancreatic cancer are reported in 24 controlled studies but all trials suffer from methodological flaws.
  • Adverse events such as liver damage and kidney damage, and interactions between herbs and drugs are on record.

Chinese herbal medicine has been used for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, especially for advanced cases. It is claimed to inhibit tumour growth and metastasis, improve pain and other symptoms, reduce the adverse effects of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, enhance immunity, prevent relapse, increase survival, and improve quality of life.

Twenty-four clinical trials (including 20 randomised clinical trials and 4 non-randomised studies) comparing Chinese herbal medicine alone or in combination with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic cancer patients suggested beneficial effects on survival, quality of life, relief of chemo/radiotherapy side effects and improvement of symptoms. There is, however, a lack of methodological rigour in these studies, possible publication bias, and the potential benefit reported in the studies is not strong enough to support their use in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

No adverse events of Chinese herbal medicines have been reported in the included clinical trials but reports of adverse events such as liver damage and kidney damage, and interactions between herbs and drugs are on record.

Citation

Jianping Liu, Xun Li, CAM-Cancer Consortium. Chinese herbal medicine for pancreatic cancer [online document]. http://www.cam-cancer.org/layout/set/print/CAM-Summaries/Herbal-products/Chinese-herbal-medicine-for-pancreatic-cancer. May 8, 2012.

Document history

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