• Paolo Bossi, Diego Cortinovis, Maria Cossu Rocca, Fausto Roila, Patrizia Seminara, Alessandra Fabi, Stefania Canova, Elena Verri, Sonia Fatigoni, Alessandro Iannace, Fabio Macchi, and Carla Ripamonti.
• 1 Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori , Milano, Italy .
• J Altern Complement Med. 2016 Jun 1; 22 (6): 486-8.

AbstractPatients with cancer frequently use dietary supplementation and herbal therapies to control symptoms of disease and adverse effects of cancer therapy. Despite the widespread use of dietary supplementation and herbal therapies in oncology, robust scientific evidence in this area is lacking. Not only do these products need to be tested in large and well-designed observational or randomized studies, but their manufacturing process must be improved to achieve higher levels of standardization in product quality. Ginger is frequently used to counteract chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), and some suggestions that it might be effective against CINV come from randomized and/or crossover clinical trials. However, several limitations in the methods of these studies limit their power and generalizability. The authors are conducting a randomized, double-blind study with a large sample size and homogeneous inclusion criteria in order to evaluate the efficacy of a well-standardized ginger extract in reducing nausea in patients with cancer. The widespread use of standardized herbal therapies and natural components among patients requires that scientific and rigorous research strategies are applied in this field to guide the physicians and the patients in safer use.

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