Department of Internal Medicine II, Haematology and Internal Oncology, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany;
Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, University Hospital Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Anticancer Res. 2024 Oct;44(10):4155-4164. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.17246.
BACKGROUND/AIM: The interest in phytotherapy in patients with cancer is immensely high. When using herbal medicine, knowledge of potential side-effects is essential as part of counselling the patient. The aim of this study was therefore to collect information on the side-effects of popular medicinal plants and to compare different official and the most popular sources of information reporting the side-effects of phytotherapeutics.
Four different databases were reviewed from 09 February 2021 to 01 March 2022. These were the German monographs of the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, the European monographs of the European Medicines Agency, the website About Herbs (https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/symptom-management/integrative-medicine/herbs) and the German Red List. A total of 171 medicinal plants were chosen from the German monographs. These plants were relevant for supportive cancer treatment, targeting symptoms e.g. pain, nausea, vomiting, mucositis or fatigue.
Out of the 171 selected plants, only 20 were found in all four sources. The compilation of the data showed there to be a huge disparity in the number of plants listed by each database and the type and frequency of the side-effects described. The reasons for this are manifold: Lack of interest, different interest groups, different origins (Europe versus America) and no standardized terminology.
Physicians should not rely exclusively on one source to inform themselves about potential side-effects of phytotherapeutics but should use several sources to ensure the best possible safety of the patient. Since there seems to be too few data on certain medicinal plants for which no side-effects have been documented, more clinical studies are needed.
背景/目的：癌症患者对植物疗法的兴趣非常高。在使用草药时，了解潜在的副作用是咨询患者的重要组成部分。因此，本研究的目的是收集有关常用药用植物副作用的信息，并比较报告植物疗法副作用的不同官方和最受欢迎的信息来源。
从 2021 年 2 月 9 日至 2022 年 3 月 1 日，审查了四个不同的数据库。这些是德国联邦药物和医疗器械研究所的德国专论、欧洲药品管理局的欧洲专论、网站 About Herbs（https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/symptom-management/integrative-medicine/herbs）和德国红色名录。从德国专论中选择了总共 171 种药用植物。这些植物对支持癌症治疗有重要意义，针对症状，如疼痛、恶心、呕吐、粘膜炎或疲劳。
在所选择的 171 种植物中，只有 20 种在所有四个来源中都有发现。数据的编制表明，每个数据库列出的植物数量以及描述的副作用类型和频率存在巨大差异。造成这种情况的原因有很多：缺乏兴趣、不同的利益集团、不同的来源（欧洲与美国）以及没有标准化的术语。
医生不应仅依赖一个来源来了解植物疗法的潜在副作用，而应使用多个来源，以确保患者尽可能安全。由于某些药用植物的副作用数据似乎太少，没有记录，因此需要更多的临床研究。
