Alexandre Chan: The HERBAL Trial and Its Impact on Integrative Oncology
Alexandre Chan, President-Elect of MASCC, posted the following on LinkedIn:
“Hot off the press – The HERBAL trial is one RCT that I personally have learned a lot from. Putting Integrative Oncology into practice truly requires a village – the HERBAL trial gives us a taste of what integrative oncology is going to look like integrated into daily practice at a comprehensive cancer center.
In this trial, we evaluated the efficacy of a 15-herb concoction ‘Xiang Bei Yang Rong Tang’ (XBYRT) on symptoms and QOL in cancer survivors. Prior to the clinical trial, we have established the in-vitro safety of this concoction. We found:
- Survivors receiving XBYRT had improved emotional fatigue and perceived cognition at 10 weeks post-treatment.
- Higher plasma BDNF observed in the XBYRT arm.
- XBYRT was well tolerated.
Funded by the Ministry of Health (Singapore) and this study would not be possible without the close collaboration between National Cancer Centre Singapore and Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution.
The trial wouldn’t be possible without all the tremendous support from everyone… Ding (Quinton) Ng, BSPharm, Tira Tan, Lita Chew, Han Kiat Ho, Yu Ke, Yi Long Toh, Chia Jie Tan, Quan Ming, Ning Yi Yap, HuangFang Zheng – your perseverance over all these years have truly amazed me.
We need to evaluate its efficacy in a larger clinical trial. And continue to push the boundaries to study other integrative oncology interventions that can help with supportive care and survivorship. Onwards!!”
Authors: Alexandre Chan, PharmD, Daniella Chan, BS, Ding Quan Ng, BSPharm, Huang Fang Zheng, MD, Quan Ming Tan, MCM, Chia Jie Tan, PhD, Jolene Hui Min Toh, BS, Ning Yi Yap, PhD, Yi Long Toh, PhD, Yu Ke, PhD, Edmund Chun Ann Wang, BS, Queenie Pei Ni Lim, BSocSc, Han Kiat Ho, PhD, Lita Chew, MMS, and Tira J. Tan, MBBS
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