Current Characteristics of Herbal Medicine Interventions for Cancer on Clinical Databases: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The utilization of herbal medicine has been noteworthy for treating cancer; however, there is not enough information regarding the characteristics of clinical trials of herbal medicine interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristic of registered trials using herbal medicine interventions for cancer. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed via the website ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN registry, Chinese clinical trial registry, and international clinical trials registry platform to gather associated registered clinical trials using an advanced search with the developed keyword strategy as of March 26, 2023. All obtainable information from the trials was collected without any restrictions to conduct a comprehensive review. RESULTS: A total of 169 registered trials were included for evaluation. Of all trials, 102 trials were eligible for this study. Countries from Asia registered the most trials (62.75%), and hospitals sponsored most of the trials (42.16%). Randomized, Phase 2, interventional trials were dominant, and approximately 64.71% of the trials anticipated recruiting less than 100 participants. More than half of the trials were from 2016 to 2023 (53.92%). While 45 trials were completed, only 16 trials had results for further analysis. According to the completed results, the types of herbal medicines from the trials mainly focused on lung, breast, and colorectal cancer. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to explore the characteristics of clinical trials of herbal medicine for cancer registered in large clinical databases. The acquired trials had relatively informative data; however, better-designed trials may be needed for health professionals to consider herbal medicine as an option when treating cancer patients.

Perception, attitudes, knowledge of using complementary and alternative medicine for cancer patients among healthcare professionals: A mixed-methods systematic review.

BACKGROUND: With the rapid increase in the prevalence of cancer worldwide, the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased among cancer patients. This review aimed to understand the perception, attitudes, and knowledge of healthcare professionals toward using CAM for cancer patients. METHODS: A mixed-methods systematic review was undertaken in four databases. Inclusion criteria were primary studies reporting perception, attitudes, and knowledge of healthcare professionals for using CAM for cancer patients were eligible. A mixed-methods convergent synthesis was carried out, and the findings were subjected to a GRADE-CERQual assessment of confidence. RESULTS: Forty-two studies were chosen. The majority of the studies were quantitative and had less than 100 participants. Most publications were from European countries, and oncology was the highest among the specialties. The review found the following themes: feasibility of having negative adverse effects, low expectations of using CAM among HCPs, potential positive effects of using CAM, specific CAM training may be helpful, no concrete regulations to promote CAM practice, and poor physician-patient communication. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses had more positive views than other professions; oncologists were concerned regarding herb-drug interactions; integration of CAM into the healthcare system was favorable; HCPs felt the need to participate in specific CAM training; and HCPs agreed that CAM education should be provided more regularly. Future studies should explore the studies views of cancer patients and details of in-depth evidence of CAM in oncology settings.

Global Trends of Nutrition in Cancer Research: A Bibliometric and Visualized Analysis Study over the Past 10 Years.

The increasing application of nutrition in cancer management has attracted a great deal of research interest in recent decades. Nutritional therapies, interventions, and assessments were known to have positive effects on reducing side effects from cancer therapy. In order to identify the global research output for nutrition in cancer research, a bibliometric analysis during the past 10 years was conducted to evaluate the current status of trends, gaps, and research directions as no bibliometric studies have been conducted regarding nutrition and cancer. After the data collection, a total of 1521 articles were chosen for this bibliometric study. The visualization analysis was performed with VOSviewer. The number of publications has grown continuously since a substantial spark was identified in 2019. The majority of the authors' affiliations were in European countries. Four cancer types were recognized among the top 10 author keywords; they were breast cancer, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, and gastric cancer. The Nutrients journal was the most popular among the authors as the journal published 195 articles related to the topic. In conclusion, providing evidence-based nutritional solutions for various types of cancer is essential to nutrition and cancer research. Since it is presumed to have a growing number of cancer patients worldwide with the aging population, it is vital to continuously generate research finding effective nutrition therapies for cancer patients.

State of the Art and Future Implications of SH003: Acting as a Therapeutic Anticancer Agent.

Cancer ranks as the first leading cause of death globally. Despite the various types of cancer treatments, negative aspects of the treatments, such as side effects and drug resistance, have been a continuous dilemma for patients. Thus, natural compounds and herbal medicines have earned profound interest as chemopreventive agents for reducing burden for patients. SH003, a novel herbal medicine containing Astragalus membranaceus, Angelica gigas, and Trichosanthes kirilowii, showed the potential to act as an anticancer agent in previous research studies. A narrative review was conducted to present the significant highlights of the total 15 SH003 studies from the past nine years. SH003 has shown positive results in both in vivo and vitro studies against various types of cancer cells; furthermore, the first clinical trial was performed to identify the maximum tolerated dose among solid cancer patients. So far, the potential of SH003 as a chemotherapeutic agent has been well-documented in research studies; continuous work on SH003's efficacy and safety is required to facilitate better cancer patient care but is part of the knowledge needed to understand whether SH003 has the potential to become a pharmaceutical.