Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences

Chemotherapy is nowadays the main treatment of human cancers. Chemotherapeutic agents target rapidly dividing cancer cells to suppress tumor progression, however, their non-specific cytotoxicity often leads to significant side effects that might be intolerable to cancer patients. Multi-component her...

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Main Authors: Bowen Fu, Ning Wang, Hor-Yue Tan, Sha Li, Fan Cheung, Yibin Feng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Pharmacology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2018.01394/full
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spelling doaj-ca85150b67a4440a87fee4eb283311db2020-11-25T02:15:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pharmacology1663-98122018-11-01910.3389/fphar.2018.01394411500Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical EvidencesBowen FuNing WangHor-Yue TanSha LiFan CheungYibin FengChemotherapy is nowadays the main treatment of human cancers. Chemotherapeutic agents target rapidly dividing cancer cells to suppress tumor progression, however, their non-specific cytotoxicity often leads to significant side effects that might be intolerable to cancer patients. Multi-component herbal products have been used for thousands of years for the treatment of multiple human diseases. This study aims to systematically summarize and evaluate the experimental and clinical evidences of the efficacy of multi-component herbal products in improving chemotherapy-induced side effect. Literature was retrieved from PubMed database and evaluated based on the side effects described. Multi-component herbal products were found to be effective in ameliorating the neurotoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, hematological toxicity, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Both experimental and clinical evidences were found, indicating the potential of applying multicomponent herbal products in the clinical treatment of chemotherapy-induced side effects. However, the lack of mechanistic and pharmacokinetic studies, inconsistency in product quality, as well as insufficient clinical evidence suggested that more investigations are urgently necessary. In all, our review shed light on the potential of using multi-component herbal products in the clinical management of chemotherapy-induced toxicity and side effects. We also discussed the potential threats of natural products for cancer treatment and compared the advantages of using herbs to conventional chemical drugs.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2018.01394/fullmulti-componentherbal productscancer chemotherapyside effectsexperimental studyclinical trials
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Bowen Fu
Ning Wang
Hor-Yue Tan
Sha Li
Fan Cheung
Yibin Feng
spellingShingle Bowen Fu
Ning Wang
Hor-Yue Tan
Sha Li
Fan Cheung
Yibin Feng
Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences
Frontiers in Pharmacology
multi-component
herbal products
cancer chemotherapy
side effects
experimental study
clinical trials
author_facet Bowen Fu
Ning Wang
Hor-Yue Tan
Sha Li
Fan Cheung
Yibin Feng
author_sort Bowen Fu
title Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences
title_short Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences
title_full Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences
title_fullStr Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences
title_full_unstemmed Multi-Component Herbal Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Associated Toxicity and Side Effects: A Review on Experimental and Clinical Evidences
title_sort multi-component herbal products in the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-associated toxicity and side effects: a review on experimental and clinical evidences
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Pharmacology
issn 1663-9812
publishDate 2018-11-01
description Chemotherapy is nowadays the main treatment of human cancers. Chemotherapeutic agents target rapidly dividing cancer cells to suppress tumor progression, however, their non-specific cytotoxicity often leads to significant side effects that might be intolerable to cancer patients. Multi-component herbal products have been used for thousands of years for the treatment of multiple human diseases. This study aims to systematically summarize and evaluate the experimental and clinical evidences of the efficacy of multi-component herbal products in improving chemotherapy-induced side effect. Literature was retrieved from PubMed database and evaluated based on the side effects described. Multi-component herbal products were found to be effective in ameliorating the neurotoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, hematological toxicity, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Both experimental and clinical evidences were found, indicating the potential of applying multicomponent herbal products in the clinical treatment of chemotherapy-induced side effects. However, the lack of mechanistic and pharmacokinetic studies, inconsistency in product quality, as well as insufficient clinical evidence suggested that more investigations are urgently necessary. In all, our review shed light on the potential of using multi-component herbal products in the clinical management of chemotherapy-induced toxicity and side effects. We also discussed the potential threats of natural products for cancer treatment and compared the advantages of using herbs to conventional chemical drugs.
topic multi-component
herbal products
cancer chemotherapy
side effects
experimental study
clinical trials
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2018.01394/full
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