Department of Psychosomatic Internal Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima City 890-8520, Japan.
Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(31):4819-26. doi: 10.2174/138161212803216979.
Cancer-related cachexia, a condition in which the body is consumed by deranged carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism that is induced by inflammatory cytokines. Cachexia is associated with poor treatment outcome, fatigue and poor quality of life. Pharmacological intervention in the treatment and/or prevention of cachexia has been mainly aimed at the use of appetite enhancers to increase oral nutritional intake so far. Herbal remedies are part of traditional and folk healing methods with long histories of use. In this report, we have assessed which herbal approaches have had associated cancer cachexia case reports. Commonly used herbal medicines in western countries include essiac, iscador, pau d'arco tea, cannabinoids and so on. Some Kampo herbs and formulations are commonly used by cancer patients reduce the side effects and complications during the antitumor therapy. The relevant herbal medicines include ginseng, C. rhizome and radix astragali, and the related herbal remedies, such as TJ-48, TJ-41, PHY906 and Rikkunshito. However, there still have some adverse effects caused or amplified by herb and drug interactions that are difficult to separate. However, randomized effectiveness of herbal medicines shall be further identified in controlled clinical trials involving cancer patients with cachexia.
癌症相关性恶病质是一种由炎症细胞因子引起的碳水化合物、脂质和蛋白质代谢紊乱导致机体消耗的疾病。恶病质与治疗效果差、乏力和生活质量差有关。迄今为止，癌症恶病质的治疗和/或预防的药物干预主要集中在使用食欲增强剂来增加口服营养摄入上。草药疗法是具有悠久使用历史的传统和民间治疗方法的一部分。在本报告中，我们评估了哪些草药方法与癌症恶病质病例报告有关。在西方国家，常用的草药包括 essiac、iscador、pau d'arco 茶、大麻素等。一些汉方药和方剂被癌症患者广泛使用，以减轻抗肿瘤治疗过程中的副作用和并发症。相关的草药包括人参、黄连和黄芪，以及相关的草药制剂，如 TJ-48、TJ-41、PHY906 和 Rikkunshito。然而，仍然存在一些由于草药和药物相互作用引起或放大的不良反应，这些反应很难分开。然而，在涉及恶病质癌症患者的对照临床试验中，还需要进一步确定草药的随机有效性。
