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What Herbal Supplements During Cancer Therapy?

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Last Modified: July 22, 2011

What herbal supplements are good to take during chemotherapy?

Karen Wagner, MS, RD, LDN, Registered Dietician at Penn Medicine, responds:

The current research does not support taking any particular herbal supplement during chemotherapy. Some herbal supplements may be helpful for particular issues that can arise with chemotherapy, for instance, ginger may be helpful for chemotherapy related nausea, B-6 may help with some types of neuropathy and glutamine may be helpful for mucositis. Research is underway to see if some supplements may be beneficial to take with some types of chemotherapy, but at this time, no herbal supplements are reliably shown to enhance treatment. However it is always important to speak with your doctor about any vitamins or herbal supplements that you are taking as some herbs may interfere or interact with your treatments.

This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series. See full archive of IntegrativeTherapies in Cancer Care.