Nutraceuticals: Curative Integrative Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Statement of Purpose: Although 75% of breast cancer patients may use integrative medicine, only 11.5% earlystage breast cancer patients believe integrative medicine has anticancer activity. The gap in users of and firm believers in integrative medicine indicates a need to increase awareness of integrative medicine’s applicability to curative cancer treatment. As diet, nutraceuticals, and traditional Chinese medicine are used by up to 82% of cancer patients who use integrative medicine, this paper focuses on nutraceuticals. As female cancer patients are most likely to use integrative medicine, nutraceuticals specific to breast, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer are reviewed. Methods: PubMed searches in September 2016 and January 2017, and accompanying hand searches were performed for English language, free full text articles published from 2012 onwards. Search terms were combinations of the key words: Homeopathy, phytochemicals, breast cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, cancer, prevention, treatment. Curative nutraceutical treatments were taken from these searches. Supplemental hand searches were performed as needed. Findings: Integrative nutraceutical therapies are based on biologic plausibility. Individual nutraceuticals are frequently comprised of numerous phytochemical types, and have multiple mechanisms of action. Agonistantagonist mechanisms are not exclusive to phytoestrogens, complicating which derivative or whole nutraceutical to use. Research on breast and cervical cancer inhibitors has seemingly outpaced that for endometrial and ovarian cancer. Breast cancer inhibitors include terpenes, isoflavones, organosulphurs, organoselenium compounds, and withanolides. Conclusion and Significance: Potential nutraceutical candidates for curative cancer treatment abound. Discerning which constituents, which extraction method, and which delivery method to use for an efficacious treatment is an essential, lengthy process. If nutraceuticals such as limonene and Kahalalide F move forward to Phase III trials a nutraceutical cancer treatment pipeline may be established. Withaferin-A and derivatives for breast and ovarian cancer appear to be the leading gynecologic cancer nutraceutical drug candidates.