Clinical trials of Chinese medicine for the treatment of cancer

Despite the rapid improvement in cancer diagnosis and treatment, conventional anti-cancer therapies still have significant limitations. Complementary medicine, including Chinese medicine (CM), has been used for cancer treatments for centuries and may offer safe and effective therapeutic options. Indeed, there is increasing recognition of the use of CMin cancer treatment.We have reviewed clinical studies of CM for cancer and found that there has been a substantial increase in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the past two decades. The most common forms of CM interventions for cancer care are Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture. The majority of studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of CM on the survival rates/time, quality of life and immune function of cancer patients when used alone or in conjunction with conventional therapies. Chinese medicine has also been shown to increase tumour responsiveness to conventional therapies and to alleviate chemotherapy-induced leucopoenia, nausea and vomiting, and radiation-induced xerostomia. Some studies have demonstrated that CM is beneficial for relieving cancer-related symptoms such as pain, and may offer an alternative approach to standard care for advanced cancer. There is also evidence to suggest that CM may be therapeutically useful for cancer prevention. However serious methodological deficiencies exist in many of these clinical trials. Further research on CM using robust RCT design is needed, to determine the efficacy, safety, cost effectiveness and mechanisms of action of the CM interventions used in cancer treatment.