Complementary medicine down-regulates side-effects of hormone therapy in prostate cancer patients.

Aim: The present clinical investigation was performed to evaluate the benefits of complementary medicine in prostate cancer patients undergoing hormone therapy (HT).

Patients And Methods: Patients (N=93) were treated according to international guidelines. All patients suffered from side-effects induced by the HT. To reduce the side-effects, the patients were complementarily treated with a combination of sodium selenite, proteolytic plant enzymes and Lens culinaris (Lc) lectin. On case report formulas (CRFs), self assessment of defined side-effects of HT (arthralgia, mucosal dryness, bone pain and hot flushes) were documented before (T-0) and on days 25 (T-1) and 50 (T-2) after complementary treatment. Validation was carried-out by scoring from 1 (no side-effects/optimal tolerability) to 6 (extreme side-effects/extremely bad tolerability), however, only patients suffering from severe side-effects (symptom scores >3) were enrolled in this investigation.

Results: The severity of side-effects of HT was reduced by complementary treatment with sodium selenite, proteolytic plant enzymes and Lc-lectin. The mean scores of side-effects declined for arthralgia from 4.72 (T-0) to 3.66 (T-1) to 2.76 (T-2), for mucosal dryness from 4.45 (T-0) to 3.65 (T-1) to 2.90 (T-2), for bone pain from 4.74 (T-0) to 3.44 (T-1) to 2.82 (T-2), for hot flushes from 4.97 (T-0) to 3.70 (T-1) to 3.15 (T-2). The reduced severity of the side-effects was statistically significant (p<0.001) for T-1 and T-2, compared to T-0.

Conclusion: This investigation demonstrates benefits of indication-based complementary treatment with the combination of sodium selenite, proteolytic plant enzymes and Lc-lectin in prostate cancer patients, e.g. reduction of side-effects of HT.