Homoeopathy: It’s role in palliative and curative care of cancer

Abstract

An attempt has been made to briefly describe the origin of Homoeopathy, its advent in India, global acceptance, safety, limitations and evolution of Banerji Protocols. The major focus of the present review is on the role of homoeopathy in palliative and curative care of cancer. The findings from several laboratories and clinical studies suggest that homeopathy might have some beneficial effect in cancer care. In animal models, several homeopathic remedies showed an inhibitory effect on certain tumor development. Some clinical studies of homeopathic remedies combined with conventional care have shown that homeopathic remedies reduce the burden of side effects after conventional surgery, chemo and radiation therapies and thus improve quality of life and in some cases improve survival of cancer patients. However, further comprehensive clinical studies are warranted to confirm these beneficial effects. Considering the low cost, minimal risks, and the potential beneficial effects, the use of homoeopathy might be considered as an additional tool to integrate as complementary alternate medicine (CAM) with allopathic science for cancer care.