Prospective Cohort Study: Integration of Ayurvedic Principles in Oncology - Herbal Formulations and Adjunct Therapies for Cancer Management

Abstract

The proposed study design is a randomized control trial that involves recruiting 200 cancer patients to assess the difference between the control group of 100 patients who receive conventional therapy as well as the intervention group of 100 patients who receive the experimental treatment in addition to the conventional treatment. The demographic characteristics of the patients in both random sets were similar, and cancer types were also similar at the beginning of the study. This was reflected in the improved retention rate at the 12 month follow up being 75% as compared to the control group’s 65% (p=0.034), 18 monthly follow-up of 63% against 50% (p=0.012) and 24-month follow-up of 55% relative to the 35% of the control group (p=0.001). Immunization cover rates were also considerably higher in the intervention arm at 12 months (baseline 82% vs control 70%, p = 0.045), 18 months (70% vs 55%, p = 0.019) and 24 months (60% vs 40%, p = 0.003). Compared with the control group, the quality of life scores of the children in the intervention group were raised and these increases were statistically significant at each time point (p<0.05). The rates of tumor response were also significantly higher in the intervention group as compared to the control group (p < 0.05); however, the rates of adverse events of the intervention were not significantly different from the control group (p> 0.05). Significantly differences were observed in the level of inflammatory biomarkers such as CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α in the subjects of the intervention arm which was =0.003. We held the survival probability steady in the intervention group but found evidence of a decreasing survival probability in the control group. All in all, they have brought some enhanced clinical results