Anticancer potential of homeopathic medicines: an updated review

Abstract

Globally, cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death. Conventional and advanced treatments currently used for cancer are known for adverse effects and are expensive. Therefore, the search for alternative medicines is necessary. Homeopathy is one of the common complementary and alternative medicine used worldwide for treating and managing various cancers, as it has negligible side effects. However, only a few homeopathic drugs have been validated using various cancer cell lines and animal models. Over the last two decades, an increasing number of validated and reported homeopathic remedies have been developed. Despite the diluted remedies of homeopathic medicine making it controversial clinically, it was found to be more significant as an adjunct therapy for cancer treatment. Hence we aimed to review and summarize the research studies carried out on homeopathic remedies to explore the possible molecular mechanism behind its mode of action against cancer and its effectiveness.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Homeopathy
• alternative and complementary medicine
• molecular mechanism
• cancer

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, SIMATS, Chennai

Author contributions

Conceptualization, A.P. F.; writing-original draft preparation, H.P.M.; writing-review and editing, V.V.P., R.M., A.P.F.; Guidance, A.P.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the review manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.