THE CURRENT EVIDENCE AND THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL KOREAN MEDICINE IN INTEGRATIVE ONCOLOGY
K. Eun Hye, J. Hayun, P. Su Bin, Y. Seong Woo
Vol.1 issue1 (2024), pag. 9 - 17
| Received | 27/10/2023 |
| Accepted | 28/12/2023 |
| Published | 5/02/2024 |
| Review by | Double-blind |
| doi | https://doi.org/10.69068/IJIO03 |
ABSTRACT
Background
Traditional Korean medicine (TKM) has been used as supportive cancer care based on an integrative oncology medical system for managing cancer-related symptoms as well as for anti-cancer therapy and cancer prevention. This review aims to identify the current evidence and the role of TKM in integrative oncology.
Materials and Methods
The relevant literatures from the databases including PubMed, KMbase, and KoreaMed which can be considered as the current evidence of the effectiveness of TKM in cancer patients were collected and reviewed.
Results
TKM including herbal medicine, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, and moxibustion has shown improvements in cancer-related symptoms such as cancer-related fatigue, cancer pain, anorexia, insomnia, nausea/vomiting, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, xerostomia, oral mucositis, postoperative ileus, and radiation- induced dermatitis. Based on the evidences the Korean medicine clinical practice guideline for cancer-related symptom has been recently published. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that Rhus verniciflua Stokes, HangAmDan-B1, and Korean ginseng have demonstrated anti-cancer effects and survival benefits for cancer patients.
Conclusions
TKM can manage cancer-related symptoms and have survival benefit in patients with cancer. More rigorous researches are needed to confirm the effectiveness in the integrative oncology setting.