Self-medication with herbal medicine and breast cancer survival: a prospective monocentric study

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common among breast cancer patients, but less is known about whether CAM influences breast cancer survival. The primary aim of this study was to determine the impact of self-use of herbs on the overall survival.

This was a prospective study including 110 patients with breast cancer. All patients were questioned about the concept of taking herbs. We analyzed the demographic data and the overall survival.

The average age was 51 years (30-80 years old). 37 had metastatic disease (33.6%). 48 patients had taken plants (43.6%). 19 patients consumed Graviola (39.6%) and 29 Alenda (60.4%). Overall survival at 3 years and at 5 years were, respectively, 96.2% and 82.4% in the absence of plant consumption versus 78.5% and 78.5% in case of plant consumption (p = 0.015).

This study concluded that self-medication with Graviola or Alenda may be associated with an increase of death risk in patients with breast cancer. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.