| | |

Herbal Medicine for Mesothelioma Treatment: A Case Report

ByAlex Strauss
herbal medicine for mesothelioma

A group of South Korean doctors have published an account of a patient who is keeping his cancer at bay with herbal medicine for mesothelioma. 

The man elected not to undergo the radical surgery known as extrapleural pneumonectomy. He tried Korean herbal medicine for mesothelioma with the understanding that he would switch to chemotherapy if his condition got worse.

After nearly two years on the herbal combination alone, doctors say his cancer has not progressed. The case is significant because mesothelioma often claims the lives of patients within a year of diagnosis. 

What is Korean Herbal Medicine for Mesothelioma?

Traditional Korean herbal medicine dates back more than 3000 years. This alternative health practice has a strong mind-body component. It also includes influences from Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese medicine.

A number of herbs are used in Korean traditional medicine as well as edibles like garlic and wormwood. These herbal combinations are the subject of numerous cancer studies. 

The latest case report of herbal medicine for mesothelioma focuses on a 49-year-old man with Stage 3 cancer. The man has pleural mesothelioma which grows on the membrane around the lungs. It is caused by asbestos exposure and it is often fatal within 12 to 18 months. 

Fighting Mesothelioma with Herbs

Mesothelioma treatment usually includes a combination of therapies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy. Patients who are healthy enough may undergo surgery. 

The patient in the Korean herbal medicine case study was recommended for EPP surgery. During EPP (extrapleural pneumonectomy), surgeons remove the affected lung and the pleural membrane. They also remove other tissues where mesothelioma could spread. 

EPP is a radical and risky approach. Study results are mixed on whether it extends survival. The patient decided not to have EPP. He tried Korean herbal medicine for mesothelioma instead. 

“A KHMT regimen, consisting of twice-daily Gunchil-dan and thrice-daily Bangam-tang, was initiated in December 2017,” writes Dr. Sung Soo Yoon from the Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong. “Since commencement of KHMT, computed tomography and X-ray imaging scans have shown no significant interval changes and progression.”

Slowed Mesothelioma Progression with No Complications

The herbs used in the new Korean case study have been the subject of other cancer studies. A 2018 meta-analysis of 48 studies of Korean herbal medicine for lung cancer concluded that the practice improves survival without adverse effects.

The new case study draws the same conclusion about herbal medicine for mesothelioma. By September 2019, the patient had been on the regimen for 21 months. For mesothelioma, this counts as prolonged survival. 

“This case, therefore, suggests that KHMT is a potential treatment option for MPM patients,” the report concludes. 

Although this patient did not appear to have any bad effects from the treatment, not everyone trusts Korean herbal medicine. In South Korea, Oriental medicine practitioners do not have to disclose their ingredients or conduct clinical trials. Mesothelioma patients should always discuss proposed alternative therapies with their physician.

Sources:

Han, G, et al, “Systematic Review of Case Reports about Korean Medicine for Lung Cancer”, December 2018, Journal of Korean Medicine, https://www.jkom.org/journal/view.php?number=4918

Yoon, SS, et al, “Prolonged Progression-Free Survival in a Patient With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Following Korean Herbal Medicine Treatment Alone: A Case Report”, Jan. 2020, Integrative Cancer Therapies, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1534735420908345

“The Utilization of Traditional Herbal Medicine for Treatment in Traditional Korean Medicine Clinics”, August 2019, https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/the-utilization-of-traditional-herbal-medicine-for-treatment-in-traditional-korean-medicine-clinics

Similar Posts

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland
|

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

ByAlex Strauss

A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma
|

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia
| | |

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia

ByAlex Strauss

Australia is bracing for an expected new wave of mesothelioma cases in the next decade and the Lung Foundation of Australia is taking action now to get ready. The Foundation has paid for ten nurses from around the country to receive specialized training in helping patients and families cope with mesothelioma. The nurses, who have recently completed the training, are now equipped to lead treatment planning for these complex cancer patients and to help other nurses do the same. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in the lining around the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, a toxin that was once alarmingly prevalent in Australia where it was mined and heavily used in construction. Because…

Chemical in Wine May Improve Mesothelioma Treatment
|

Chemical in Wine May Improve Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

There’s new evidence that a compound found in red wine may help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Last year, a team of Korean researchers released the world’s first study on the mesothelioma-fighting power of resveratrol, a natural phenol derived from the skin of red grapes and found in red wine and grape juice. Now, the same team says resveratrol also appears to enhance the chemosensitivity of malignant mesothelioma cells. Study author Yoon-Jin Lee and colleagues discovered  a synergistic cancer-fighting effect in mesothelioma cells treated with both resveratrol and clofarabine, a prescription drug often used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Together, resveratrol and clofarabine “induced a strong cytotoxic effect” by influencing levels of the tumor suppressor,…

Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades
| |

Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades

ByAlex Strauss

New research in Spain suggests that mesothelioma deaths will continue in the country until the “last surviving member” of the group of people exposed to occupational asbestos succumbs to the disease. Like many countries, Spain used asbestos heavily in the first half of the 20th century, especially in construction, where the mineral was prized for its durability, low cost, and resistance to fire and corrosion.  Asbestos was banned in Spain in 2002. Observing that more than 2.5 million metric tons of asbestos were imported into Spain from 1906 to 2002, researchers say deaths from mesothelioma have risen steadily. Between 1976 and 1980, a total of 491 Spanish people died of mesothelioma. By the 5-year period from 2006 to 2010, that…

Human Trials Planned for Promising New Mesothelioma Drug
| | |

Human Trials Planned for Promising New Mesothelioma Drug

ByAlex Strauss

The Australian Asbestos Diseases Research Institute says it is ready to begin human trials on what its lead researcher calls the first significant advance in mesothelioma treatment in a decade. More than three years in development, TargomiRs utilizes a unique ‘minicell’ delivery system to insert a synthetic form of missing genetic material into mesothelioma cells. Like a number of other types of cancer, mesothelioma cells are missing a family of microRNAs critical to regulating the cellular life cycle. TargomiRs restores these microRNAs. In mice with human-derived mesothelioma, TargomiRs produced a “remarkable inhibition of tumour growth”, according to the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute. “The last significant development in the treatment of mesothelioma occurred ten years ago,” ADRI director Nico van Zandwijk…