Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Herbal use among cancer patients during palliative or curative chemotherapy treatment in Norway

  • Supportive Care International
  • Published:
Supportive Care in Cancer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Goals of work

This survey aims to explore the differences between cancer patients undergoing chemotherapeutic treatment with palliative or curative intention with respect to concurrent herbal use, experiences of adverse effects, motives of herbal intake, and communication about herbal use with health care providers.

Materials and methods

One hundred and twelve adult cancer patients from the west coast of Central Norway, currently undergoing chemotherapeutic treatment, were recruited to a cross-sectional descriptive survey.

Main results

Palliative and curative patients used herbal remedies concurrent with chemotherapy equally frequent (37% and 38%). One palliative patient reported adverse effects when doubling the dose of injected mistletoe used. Garlic was only used by palliative patients (p = 0.009) who also tended to have a more frequent everyday herbal use (78% vs 67%, respectively) than curative patients (p = 0.075). Curative patients, however, used herbal remedies more often to counteract adverse reactions (31% vs 3%, respectively; p = 0.026). A bivariate logistic regression, which was adjusted for age, showed that palliative patients used herbal remedies more frequently to improve their immune system (adjusted OR = 7.5, 95% CI = 1.1–49.7).

Conclusions

This is the first survey comparing concurrent herbal use between cancer patients undergoing palliative or curative chemotherapy. Both groups frequently use herbal remedies concurrent with chemotherapy, but with a slightly different intent. The frequent concurrent use emphasizes the need for clinicians to include questions on complementary and alternative medicine in routine history taking and for further studies on possible herb–drug interactions among the cancer patient.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Boon HS, Olatunde F, Zick SM (2007) Trends in complementary/alternative medicine use by breast cancer survivors: comparing survey data from 1998 and 2005. BMC Womens Health 7:4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, Appel S, Wilkey S, Van RM, Kessler RC (1998) Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990–1997: results of a follow-up national survey. JAMA 280:1569–1575

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ernst E, Cassileth BR (1998) The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine in cancer: a systematic review. Cancer 83:777–782

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Giveon SM, Liberman N, Klang S, Kahan E (2003) A survey of primary care physicians’ perceptions of their patients’ use of complementary medicine. Complement Ther Med 11:254–260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Giveon SM, Liberman N, Klang S, Kahan E (2004) Are people who use “natural drugs” aware of their potentially harmful side effects and reporting to family physician. Patient Educ Couns 53:5–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hall SD, Wang Z, Huang SM, Hamman MA, Vasavada N, Adigun AQ, Hilligoss JK, Miller M, Gorski JC (2003) The interaction between St John’s wort and an oral contraceptive. Clin Pharmacol Ther 74:525–535

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Howat A, Veitch C, Cairns W (2006) A descriptive study comparing health attitudes of urban and rural oncology patients. Rural Remote Health 6:563

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Humpel N, Jones SC (2006) Gaining insight into the what, why and where of complementary and alternative medicine use by cancer patients and survivors. Eur J Cancer Care 15:362–368

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hyodo I, Amano N, Eguchi K, Narabayashi M, Imanishi J, Hirai M, Nakano T, Takashima S (2005) Nationwide survey on complementary and alternative medicine in cancer patients in Japan. J Clin Oncol 23:2645–2654

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Lee MM, Lin SS, Wrensch MR, Adler SR, Eisenberg D (2000) Alternative therapies used by women with breast cancer in four ethnic populations. J Natl Cancer Inst 92:42–47

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Maher EJ, Mackenzie C, Young T, Marks D (1996) The use of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaires to screen for treatable unmet needs in patients attending routinely for radiotherapy. Cancer Treat Rev 22(Suppl A):123–129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. McCune JS, Hatfield AJ, Blackburn AAR, Leith PO, Livingston RB, Ellis GK (2004) Potential of chemotherapy–herb interactions in adult cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 12:454–462

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Molassiotis A, Fernadez-Ortega P, Pud D, Ozden G, Scott JA, Panteli V, Margulies A, Browall M, Magri M, Selvekerova S, Madsen E, Milovics L, Bruyns I, Gudmundsdottir G, Hummerston S, Ahmad AM, Platin N, Kearney N, Patiraki E (2005) Use of complementary and alternative medicine in cancer patients: a European survey. Ann Oncol 16:655–663

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Ohlen J, Balneaves LG, Bottorff JL, Brazier ASA (2006) The influence of significant others in complementary and alternative medicine decisions by cancer patients. Soc Sci Med 63:1625–1636

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Richardson MA, Sanders T, Palmer JL, Greisinger A, Singletary SE (2000) Complementary/alternative medicine use in a comprehensive cancer center and the implications for oncology. J Clin Oncol 18:2505–2514

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Risberg T, Kolstad A, Bremnes Y, Holte H, Wist EA, Mella O, Klepp O, Wilsgaard T, Cassileth BR (2004) Knowledge of and attitudes toward complementary and alternative therapies: a national multicentre study of oncology professionals in Norway. Eur J Cancer 40:529–535

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Timmermans LM, van der Maazen RW, Leer JW, Kraaimaat FW (2006) Palliative or curative treatment intent affects communication in radiation therapy consultations. Psycho-oncology 15:713–725

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Wilkinson S, Aldridge J, Salmon I, Cain E, Wilson B (1999) An evaluation of aromatherapy massage in palliative care. Palliat Med 13:409–417

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. World Health Organization (2005) National policy on traditional medicine and regulation of herbal medicines—report of a WHO global survey. World Health Organization, Geneva, p 1

    Google Scholar 

  20. Yates JS, Mustian KM, Morrow GR, Gillies LJ, Padmanaban D, Atkins JN, Issell B, Kirshner JJ, Colman LK (2005) Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use in cancer patients during treatment. Support Care Cancer 13:806–811

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the nurses and patients at the Department of Oncology at Sunnmøre Public Hospital Enterprise, Ålesund Ward and Volda Ward. This research was founded by the Norwegian Cancer Society.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silje Engdal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Engdal, S., Steinsbekk, A., Klepp, O. et al. Herbal use among cancer patients during palliative or curative chemotherapy treatment in Norway. Support Care Cancer 16, 763–769 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0371-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0371-3

Keywords

Navigation