ArticleAvicenna journal of phytomedicine
Effects of a polyherbal formulation on the quality of life and survival of patients with common upper gastrointestinal cancers: A randomized placebo-controlled trial.
Article in Avicenna journal of phytomedicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Public knowledge, safety perceptions, and use patterns of ashwagandha (Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Complementary Chinese Herbal Medicine Use and Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Scoping Review of Usage Patterns and Survival Outcomes in Taiwanese Population-Based Studies.Current oncology reports · 2025Article
- Anti-proliferative effects of a polyherbal formulation on HL-60, HCT-116, and HeLa cell lines: a docking simulation and response surface design-aided study.Frontiers in chemistry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivePrevious clinical trials have suggested that herbal medicines can improve the quality of life (QOL) and survival of cancer patients. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of a polyherbal compound (PHC, formulated as syrup) consisting of MATERIALS AND
methodsA randomized placebo-controlled trial was carried out on patients with esophageal or gastric cancer who had finished their oncological treatments. The patients were randomly assigned to PHC (n=20) or placebo (n=20) group. The PHC group was treated with the PHC for 12 weeks, while the placebo group received 70% sucrose syrup. The QOL was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks. The patients were followed for up to 24 months to determine overall survival.
resultsPHC significantly improved cancer-related symptoms, physical performance, and psychological and social functions of the patients (p<0.05 for all cases). Death occurred in 33 and 22% of cases in the placebo and PHC group, respectively. The mean survival time was 16.8 months (95% CI: 12.8-20.9) in the placebo group and 21.4 months (95% CI: 19.1-23.6) in the PHC group but the difference was not statistically significant.
conclusionThe PHC improved cancer-related symptoms, physical performance, and psychological and social functions in patients with gastrointestinal cancers. It seems that this herbal compound has the potential to be used as a supplement in the management of cancer.
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