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Laetrile treatment for cancerMilazzo S, Ernst E, Lejeune S, Boehm K
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SummaryLaetrile treatment for cancerLaetrile is the name given to purified amygdalin, a chemical found in the nuts of many fruits such as peaches, bitter almonds and apricots. Laetrile has been widely used among cancer patients since the 1970s in the hope that it might stop or slow the process of the disease. As there is uncertainty about whether Laetrile treatments work and there is also a risk of side effects from cyanide poisoning, the Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) in the US and European Commission have banned its use. However, it is still possible for anyone to buy Laetrile products illegally on the Internet. As there is no government control on these preparations they may come from questionable sources and be contaminated. The most informative way to understand whether Laetrile is of any use in in the treatment of cancer, is to review clinical trials and scientific publications. Unfortunately no studies were found that met the inclusion criteria for this review. The authors suggest that controlled clinical trials should be considered in the future in order to assess whether Laetrile is effective in cancer care.
This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010 Issue 1, Copyright © 2010 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
This version first published online:
April 19. 2006 AbstractBackgroundLaetrile is an unconventional therapy which has been used illegally for decades by cancer patients who together with some alternative therapists claim its effectiveness as an anti-cancer treatment. It has been often referred to as amygdalin, although the two are not the same. ObjectivesThe aim of this review was to assess the alleged anti-cancer effect and the possible harms of Laetrile as a sole or adjunctive therapy in cancer treatment. Search strategyWe searched The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Issue 4, 2005; MEDLINE (from 1951); EMBASE (from 1980); Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), Scirus, CancerLit, CINAHL (all from 1982); CAMbase (from 1998); the MetaRegister; the National Research Register and our own files. No language restrictions were imposed. Selection criteriaRandomized clinical trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs. Data collection and analysisTwo review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion in the review, assessed study quality and extracted data. Main resultsNo RCTs or non-RCTs were found, so no abstraction of outcome data could be performed in this systematic review Authors' conclusionsThe claim that Laetrile has beneficial effects for cancer patients is not supported by data from controlled clinical trials. This systematic review has clearly identified the need for randomised or controlled clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of Laetrile or amygdalin for cancer treatment. |