GINSENG EN KANKER. EEN SYSTEMATISCH OVERZICHT VAN DE MENS- EN DIERSTUDIES IN-VIVO.
Bron:
Ginseng and cancer. A systematic review of human and animal in-vivo studies.
Ik heb een systematisch overzicht gemaakt van alle in-vivo mens- en dierstudies die ik op de Pubmed-database heb gevonden.
Conclusie mensstudies: Een redelijk consistente beschermende werking is gevonden van ginseng tegen het risico op- en overlijden aan kanker. Een verbetering van het immuunsysteem kan mogelijk zijn indien ginseng wordt gebruikt tijdens chemotherapie. Een beschermend effect lijkt al mogelijk bij minimale consumptie van ginseng (1-3 x per jaar). LET OP: Er zitten een aantal beperkingen aan dit systematische overzicht: Ik heb de referentielijsten van de studies niet afgezocht op mogelijke data van andere studies. Verder heb ik totaal geen informatie kunnen krijgen van 3 studies, had ik beperkte toegang tot complete studies en waren enkele complete studies in het Chinees gepubliceerd.
Conclusie dierstudies: Dierstudies vonden een consistent-beschermende werking van ginseng tegen:
-Het ontwikkelen van kanker.
-De groei van kanker.
-Kanker metastasen.
-Overlijden aan kanker.
OBJECTIVE: To review human in vivo studies which published information about ginseng in relation to cancer.
DATA SOURCE: I searched the Pubmed database (January 1966 to November 11, 2007) for relevant studies using the following keywords: cancer ginseng. No filter was applied.
Studies published in the English language were included.
RESULTS: 13 studies were available of which 6 were excluded for various reasons:
A)3 studies were excluded, because they did not have an abstract (4, 12, 13). I was not able to get the full text studies, but will contact the authors where possible.
B)1 study (7) was excluded, because it was not clear if ginseng was the only examined variable in both randomized groups: The author randomized patients to radiotherapy + ginseng vs "conventional therapy". (Though the study found positive effects for various variables of radiotherapy + ginseng.)
C)2 studies were excluded, because they only provided information about quality of life in cancer patients (10) or information about biomarkers of cancer as an end point (6) (Though both studies found positive effects for these variables.).
Results of the remaining 7 studies:
-2 Chinese studies found positive effects of ginseng combined with chemotherapy: One (2) examined 176 digestive tract cancer cases and found reduced toxic effects. And one (3) was a randomized trial of 63 stomach cancer cases. Both studies found improved immune function.
-5 studies examined ginseng in relation to cancer (mortality) as an end point. two were case-control studies (1, 11), two were prospective studies (5, 9), and one was a randomized trial (8):
A)One of the case-control studies (11) found no significant association between breast cancer risk and ginseng: OR = 0.74 (0.53-1.06; No P-value). But the other one (1) found a significant protective effect against total cancer risk: OR = 0.50 (0.44-0.58). Even among subjects who consumed ginseng only 1-3 times/year, a protective effect was found: OR = 0.60 (0.51-0.71). The protective effect was found among a variety of cancer types:
Ginseng in relationship with cancer. A systematic review of case-control studies..
B)Both prospective studies found a significant protective effect. One cohort (5) examined total cancer risk and found a RR of 0.40 (0.28-0.56). Even among subjects who consumed ginseng only 1-3 times/year, a protective effect was found: RR = 0.46 (0.30-0.69). The other cohort (9) examined breast cancer mortality and found a HR of 0.71 (0.52-0.98; No P-value):
Ginseng in relationship with cancer. A systematic review of prospective studies..
C)The randomized study (8) found a significant longer survival time among stage III gastric cancer risk during postoperative chemotherapy and some modulation of the immune system:
Ginseng in relationship with cancer. A systematic review of randomized studies.
CONCLUSION: A fairly consistent protective effect of ginseng was found against cancer risk, and cancer mortality. Also an improved immune function may be possible when ginseng is administered during chemotherapy. A protective effect might allready be possible with minimal consumption of ginseng (1-3 times/year).
LIMITATIONS: Several limitations must be taken into account: I did not check the reference lists for possible additional studies. Furthermore, I was unable to get any information from 3 studies, had limited access to full text studies and some full text studies were published in Chinese.
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ADDITIONAL DATA FROM ANIMAL STUDIES: Because of the limited amount of data found, an additional search was done looking for studies relating ginseng to cancer in animal studies in-vivo. Studies were included when an examined in-vivo effect was apparent from reading the abstract. Studies examining ginseng administered as a single agent in relation to cancer incidence, growth, metastasis, and mortality as end point were included, whereas studies examining biomarkers as end point, were not. Studies without an abstract were excluded and reference lists were not searched for additional data.
RESULTS: 39 animal studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies examined mice or rats. Only one study found no protective effect (a7). An overview of the remaining 38 studies:
-23 studies examined ginseng in relation to cancer incidence. 21 studies (a1-a6, a9, a12, a13, a17, a20, a23-a28, a35-a37, a39) found a protective effect. Additionally, one (a15) found a protective effect of red ginseng extract, but not fresh ginseng, and one (a32) found a protective effect of white ginseng, but not red ginseng.
-16 studies examined ginseng in relation to cancer growth. 14 studies (a1, a6, a9-a11, a14, a17, a21, a26, a30, a33, a36-a38) found a protective effect. Additionally, one (a8) found a protective effect against solid tumor growth, but no effect on an ascites tumor, and one (a22) found no effect on tumor growth.
-6 studies examined ginseng in relation to tumor metastasis (a14, a16, a19, a22, a30, a34). All found a protective effect.
6 studies examined ginseng in relation to tumor metastasis (a14, a16, a19, a22, a30, a34). All found a protective effect.
-11 studies examined ginseng in relation to cancer survival (a5, a6, a10, a11, a18, a21, a22, a24, a26, a31, a38). All found increased survival time.
CONCLUSION: Animal studies in-vivo found a consistent protective effect of ginseng against cancer development, growth, metastisis and mortality.
