Carctol

Carctol is an ineffective cancer treatment made by mixing eight Indian herbs.<ref name="cruk">

About Cancer(link). Cancer Research UK.

30 August 2017.

Accessed 8 August 2018.

</ref> First promoted in 1968 by Nandlal Tiwari,<ref name="cruk" /> it gained widespread popularity in United Kingdom.<ref name="ernst" />

Carctol has been aggressively marketed as being able to treat cancer and reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy. However, there is no medical evidence that it has any benefits whatsoever for people with cancer.<ref name=cruk/>

Background

Carctol is a herbal dietary supplement marketed with claims it is based on traditional ayurvedic medicine.<ref name=cruk/> Its ingredients include Hemidesmus indicus, Tribulus terrestris, Piper cubeba, Ammani vesicatoria, Lepidium sativum, Blepharis edulis, Smilax china, and Rheum australe (syn. R. emodi).<ref name=cruk/>

It was In 2009, Edzard Ernst wrote that it was still promoted in the United Kingdom; public relations companies hired by its sellers had garnered it wide coverage on the web and,<ref name=ernst/> according to the British Medical Journal, in the media generally.<ref>,

 PR coup for herbal cancer drug, 
 BMJ, 
 2004,
 Vol. 329(Issue: 7469),
 pp. 804,
 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.329.7469.804,
 
 PMC: 521016,</ref>

Criticism

Edzard Ernst has noted a complete absence of any form of scientific evidence to assert that Carctol is any beneficial to cancer patients.<ref name=ernst>,

 Carctol: Profit before Patients?, 
 Breast Care, 
 2009,
 Vol. 4(Issue: 1),
 pp. 31–33,
 DOI: 10.1159/000193025,
 PMID: 20877681,
 PMC: 2942009,</ref> A few studies about the chemical composition of Carctol along with inconclusive surveys of patients who used it were noted to be published in non-peer reviewed journals.<ref name="ernst" />

Cancer Research UK say of Carctol, "available scientific evidence does not support its use for the treatment of cancer in humans".<ref name="cruk" />

Harriet A. Hall includes Carctol among the biologically-based remedies promoted by naturopaths. Hall laments that frauds and quacks persistently try to take advantage of the vulnerability of cancer patients.<ref name=hall>,

 CAM for cancer: Preying on desperate people?, 
 Progress in Palliative Care, 
 2012,
 Vol. 20(Issue: 5),
 pp. 295–299,
 DOI: 10.1179/1743291X12Y.0000000009,</ref>

See also

• List of ineffective cancer treatments
• Naturopathy

References

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