The Use of Herbal Medicines by Cancer Patients in Contemporary African Settings: A Scoping Review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients in Africa frequently utilize medicinal herbs at large. Nonetheless, to date, there is a lack of data on concurrent use of herbs with conventional cancer therapies. This scoping review aimed to describe the use of medicinal herbs and their derived products by cancer patients in contemporary African settings. METHODS: We identified relevant articles to date using a manual library search (PubMed), Embase Medline, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) for articles with information on medicinal plants with potential anti-cancer therapeutic properties in Central, Eastern, and Western Africa. We assessed 122 articles based on titles and abstracts, and 28 articles based on full text. Fourteen research articles fulfilled preset eligibility criteria. RESULTS: The median prevalence of herbal and complementary medicine (H&CM) use in our contemporary Africa settings was 60.0% (range: 13–80%). Median percent disclosure of H&CM use to attending healthcare professionals was low at 26% (range: 10.3– 78.8%). H&CM used by cancer patients included herbs, healing prayers, and massage. Reported reasons for the use of H&CMs include i) the strong desire to get rid of cancer symptoms, especially pain, and the need to improve physical and psychological well-being. There were limited data on safety and risk profiles of H&CM among cancer patients in our African settings. CONCLUSION: Herbal and complementary medicines are frequently in use among cancer patients undergoing conventional cancer treatments. Healthcare professionals caring for cancer patients ought to inquire and communicate effectively regarding the use of H&CM to minimize the risks of side effects from concurrent use of H&CM and biomedicines. H&CMs could give enormous opportunities for cancer and non-communicable disease therapies, especially now that Africa’s cancer burden is overwhelming. From the preceding, therefore, the benefit of H&CM is fundamental in the preservation of threatens species and traditional knowledge. Consequently, a balanced approach and a mutually beneficial partnership between traditional medicine and Bio-medicine must be found by local and global health politics.