Evidence-based Chinese medicine for cancer therapy

Autoren

V Badireenath Konkimalla
Thomas Efferth

DOI

10.1016/j.jep.2007.12.009

ISSN

0378-8741

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

2

Zeitschrift

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Sprache

en

Paginierung

207 - 210

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2008

Status

Published

Herausgeber

Elsevier BV

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2007.12.009

Datum der Datenerfassung

2019

Titel

Evidence-based Chinese medicine for cancer therapy

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

116

Data source: Crossref

Abstract

In contrast to western medicine (WM), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) does not focus on a single target but on multiple targets involved in a particular disease condition by applying diverse modalities, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, etc. There is no pre-determined treatment procedure in TCM, and every patient condition is handled individually. Such patient-tailored treatments have a millennia-old tradition in TCM. Illustrative examples of the power of TCM have been documented in cancer research, i.e., camptothecin, homoharringtonine, or arsenic trioxide. On the other hand, one major reason for reluctance of western academia towards TCM is due to the lack of clinical studies of TCM receipts. This situation is changing very recently, and a number of clinical studies were conducted on TCM providing convincing evidence for the first time to gain credibility and reputation outside China. Clinical trials with TCM remedies focus on three major fields in cancer research: (1) improvement of poor treatment response rates towards standard chemo- and radiotherapy, (2) reduction of severe adverse effects of standard cancer therapy, and (3) unwanted interactions of standard therapy with herbal medicines. Efficacy and safety of TCM treatments depend on the quality of TCM products. Appropriate quality assurance and control of TCM products as well as sustainable production methods are pre-conditions for the implementation of TCM in cancer therapy at an international level. In conclusion, the most important question for recognition and implementation of TCM into WM concerns the clinical evidence for the efficacy of TCM and international quality standards for TCM products.

Addresses

German Cancer Research Centre, Pharmaceutical Biology (C015), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

Autoren

V Badireenath Konkimalla
Thomas Efferth
Thomas Efferth

DOI

10.1016/j.jep.2007.12.009

eISSN

1872-7573

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 18243610

Open access

false

ISSN

0378-8741

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

2

Zeitschrift

Journal of ethnopharmacology

Schlüsselwörter

Humans
Neoplasms
Medicine, Chinese Traditional
Evidence-Based Medicine
Quality Control
Herbal Medicine

Sprache

eng

Medium

Print-Electronic

Online publication date

2007

Paginierung

207 - 210

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2008

Status

Published

Datum der Datenerfassung

2008

Titel

Evidence-based Chinese medicine for cancer therapy.

Sub types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

116

Data source: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

In contrast to western medicine (WM), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) does not focus on a single target but on multiple targets involved in a particular disease condition by applying diverse modalities, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, etc. There is no pre-determined treatment procedure in TCM, and every patient condition is handled individually. Such patient-tailored treatments have a millennia-old tradition in TCM. Illustrative examples of the power of TCM have been documented in cancer research, i.e., camptothecin, homoharringtonine, or arsenic trioxide. On the other hand, one major reason for reluctance of western academia towards TCM is due to the lack of clinical studies of TCM receipts. This situation is changing very recently, and a number of clinical studies were conducted on TCM providing convincing evidence for the first time to gain credibility and reputation outside China. Clinical trials with TCM remedies focus on three major fields in cancer research: (1) improvement of poor treatment response rates towards standard chemo- and radiotherapy, (2) reduction of severe adverse effects of standard cancer therapy, and (3) unwanted interactions of standard therapy with herbal medicines. Efficacy and safety of TCM treatments depend on the quality of TCM products. Appropriate quality assurance and control of TCM products as well as sustainable production methods are pre-conditions for the implementation of TCM in cancer therapy at an international level. In conclusion, the most important question for recognition and implementation of TCM into WM concerns the clinical evidence for the efficacy of TCM and international quality standards for TCM products.

Date of acceptance

2007

Autoren

V Badireenath Konkimalla
Thomas Efferth

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18243610

DOI

10.1016/j.jep.2007.12.009

ISSN

0378-8741

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

2

Zeitschrift

J Ethnopharmacol

Schlüsselwörter

Evidence-Based Medicine
Herbal Medicine
Humans
Medicine, Chinese Traditional
Neoplasms
Quality Control

Sprache

eng

Country

Ireland

Paginierung

207 - 210

PII

S0378-8741(07)00690-3

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2008

Status

Published

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2008

Titel

Evidence-based Chinese medicine for cancer therapy.

Sub types

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

116

Data source: PubMed

Evidence-based Chinese medicine for cancer therapy

Tools