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Researching CAM interventions
Published in Geraldine Lee-Treweek, Tom Heller, Hilary MacQueen, Julie Stone, Sue Spurr, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Structures and Safeguards, 2020
Many thousands of CAM research studies have used orthodox research methods. In June 2003, the medical database MedLine listed 67,000 papers on CAM, about 3000 of which were RCTs. Many of these RCTs have provided useful information. For example, it is now ‘known’ that: hypnosis and relaxation techniques can help cancer patients (Anon., 1996); acupuncture is probably beneficial for headaches, but does not help people quit smoking (Linde et al., 2001); and chiropractic can be helpful for back pain (Meade et al., 1990). In addition, some of the non-RCTs have revealed potentially significant findings. For example, a cohort study found that cancer patients who have unusual alternative cancer treatments may have shorter survival times compared with patients who do not use such methods (Risberg et al., 2002). Surveys have reported how widespread CAM use is, and how most patients use CAM in addition to, rather than instead of, conventional medicine (Eisenberg et al., 1998). Animal studies have started to uncover some of the biological explanations for why acupuncture might be effective (Stux and Hammerschlag, 2000). Laboratory studies are also showing why some herbs might be active against cancer, leading to the development of new combinations of conventional and herbal treatments (Cheung et al., 2002). There seems to be a growing body of well designed and executed, rigorously analysed and realistically interpreted evidence of the efficacy of some CAM modalities for treating certain conditions. The case studies and associated activities in this chapter will guide you through the research maze.
Cancer
Published in Spyridon E. Kintzios, Maria G. Barberaki, Evangelia A. Flampouri, Plants That Fight Cancer, 2019
These include diverse, mostly controversial methods for treating cancer while avoiding the debilitating effects of conventional methods. The alternative treatment of cancer will probably gain in significance in the future, since it has been estimated that roughly half of all cancer patients currently turn to alternative medicine. The most prominent alternative cancer treatments include: The delivery of antineoplastons, peptides considered to inhibit tumor growth and first identified by Stanislaw Burzynski in blood and urine. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the drug can be applied only in experimental trials monitored by the agency and only on patients who have exhausted conventional therapies. However, the therapy has found a significant amount of political support, while attracting wide publicity.Hydrazine sulfate, a compound reversing cachexia of cancer patients, thus improving survival.Various herbal extracts, some of which are dealt with in this book.
The Anticancer Potential of the Bacterial Protein Azurin and Its Derived Peptide p28
Published in Ananda M. Chakrabarty, Arsénio M. Fialho, Microbial Infections and Cancer Therapy, 2019
Ana Rita Garizo, Nuno Bernardes, Ananda M. Chakrabarty, Arsénio M. Fialho
On the basis of World Health Organization projections, in 2030, the number of people expected to die of cancer will be around 11.4 million. This expectation is supported by the rapid increase of the population age and urges rapid responses from oncologists, public health professionals, policy makers, and researchers. Conventional cancer treatments, based on chemotherapy plus radiotherapy, often fail to achieve full cancer remission. To circumvent this problem, the implementation of alternative cancer treatments is urgently needed. Among those, the use of life microbes as anticancer agents has been studied in various modalities (solo or in combination with conventional treatments), showing promising results [1].
Co-delivery system of chemotherapy drugs and active ingredients from natural plants: a brief overview of preclinical research for cancer treatment
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2020
Pu Guo, Yingmeng He, Ting Xu, Chao Pi, Qingsheng Jiang, Yumeng Wei, Ling Zhao
Chemotherapy remains the primary means of treatment against various cancers with long-standing demonstrated clinical effects [1]. However, the poor selectivity and non-targeted distribution are common intrinsic disadvantages of the majority of commonly used chemo-drugs [2–4], which are major contributors to limited efficiency and treatment failure owing to induction of serious adverse reactions for some patients, including myelosuppression [5], cardiotoxicity [6], and hypersensitivity [7]. Moreover, cancer progression is modulated by multiple metabolic signaling pathways and effector molecules forming interconnected networks. If a certain pathway or node in this network is blocked by an individual chemo-drug over time, the tumor adapts by regulating or activating another pathway to bypass the mechanism of action of the chemo-drug [8–10]. Thus, the appearance of multidrug resistance (MDR) is strongly associated with the prolonged use of individual chemo-drugs [11]. In view of these problems, combination chemotherapy has emerged as an alternative cancer treatment choice [12].
Non-invasive microwave hyperthermia for bone cancer treatment using realistic bone models and flexible antenna arrays
Published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 2021
M. Dilruba Geyikoglu, Bulent Cavusoglu
Recently, a non-invasive method of microwave hyperthermia has been proposed as a promising alternative cancer treatment (Attar and Haghpanahi, 2016; Berg et al. 2010; Sahinbas et al. 2017; Sirav and Seyhan 2011). The benefit of this type of treatment compared to other thermal treatments is that it is a non-ionizing and non-invasive approach and are applicable to various types of cancer. For example, the potential of using microwave hyperthermia to treat malignancies in the head, neck, and chest (Merunka et al. 2014; Trefna et al. 2015; Yacoob and Hassan 2012) has been clinically tested(Togni et al. 2013). Hyperthermia, which is applied as thermal therapy, has started to be investigated and applied as a treatment method that does not affect healthy tissues by heating only the tumor tissue without affecting the patient’s lifestyle. There are hyperthermia applications for bone cancer in the literature. According to these studies, the application of hyperthermia treatment is performed during surgical intervention. Successful treatment results can only be obtained in this way. The fact that surgical operation causes important changes in the patient’s lifestyle raises the need for a hyperthermia applicator, which can be used locally in the treatment of bone cancer. Extremity bones in the regions where the tumor is densely seen do not have a uniform structure. Due to the fact that each extremity bone structure has different dimensions (lower arm and upper arm bones are not the same) and varies from person to person, rigid and fixed hyperthermia applicator designs will not yield successful results. For this reason, flexible hyperthermia applicator design is examined for its use in bone cancer treatment.