Herbal dietary supplement alters metabolism of chemoth...( D. and Stephen E. Straus M.D. of the...),Health

D., and Stephen E. Straus, M.D., of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, point out that cancer patients are among the most likely to seek complementary and alternative medical remedies to reduce the side effects of treatments. They say that, in addition to St. John's wort, a number of herbal remedies have been identified that affect synthetic drug metabolism and, potentially, drug efficacy.

The National Institutes of Health is funding studies of complementary and alternative medicine practices in cancer patients. While waiting for these results, "it would be prudent for patients and their oncologists to appreciate that, no matter how beneficial some approaches may appear to be, they are not all safe," the editorialists conclude.

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Contact: Linda Wang
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
20-Aug-2002

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