Background
Homeopathic medicines are used by patients with cancer, often alongside conventional treatment. Cancer treatments can cause considerable
morbidity and one of the reasons patients use homeopathic medicines is to help with adverse effects.
Objectives
Evaluate effectiveness and safety of homeopathic medicines used to prevent or treat adverse effects of cancer treatments.
Search strategy
The following were searched up to November 2008: Cochrane PaPaS Trials Register; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
(CENTRAL); MEDLINE; EMBASE; CINAHL; BNI; CancerLIT; AMED; CISCOM; Hom-Inform; SIGLE; National Research
Register; Zetoc; www.controlled-trials.com; http://clinicaltrials.gov; Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis (LMHI, Liga)
conference proceedings; reference lists of relevant studies were checked; and homeopathic manufacturers, leading researchers and
practitioners were contacted.
Selection criteria
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of homeopathic medicines in participants with a clinical or histological diagnosis of cancer where
the intervention was aimed at preventing or treating symptoms associated with cancer treatments. All age groups, and all stages of
disease were included.
Data collection and analysis
Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion and two review authors extracted data. Three review authors independently
assessed trial quality using the Delphi List and the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias. Disagreements were
resolved by consensus. Where available, data were extracted for analysis.
Main results
Eight controlled trials (seven placebo controlled and one trial against an active treatment) with a total of 664 participants met
the inclusion criteria. Three studied adverse effects of radiotherapy,
