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Laetrile treatment for cancer
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|April 21, 2006
Summary
Laetrile (an unconventional cancer therapy) lacks scientific evidence for effectiveness. This review found no controlled trials to support its anti-cancer claims or assess potential harms.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Background:
- Laetrile, often conflated with amygdalin, is an unconventional therapy.
- It has been promoted for decades as an anti-cancer treatment by some patients and alternative therapists.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the scientific literature for evidence of Laetrile's anti-cancer effects.
- To assess potential harms associated with Laetrile when used as a sole or adjunctive cancer therapy.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases, including CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, and others.
- Inclusion criteria focused on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled clinical trials (non-RCTs).
- Two independent reviewers assessed study quality and extracted data.
Main Results:
- No randomized or non-randomized controlled clinical trials evaluating Laetrile or amygdalin for cancer treatment were identified.
- Consequently, no outcome data could be abstracted for this systematic review.
Conclusions:
- The purported anti-cancer benefits of Laetrile are not substantiated by data from controlled clinical trials.
- There is a clear need for rigorous, randomized or controlled clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Laetrile/amygdalin in cancer treatment.
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