Ayurvedic supportive therapy in the management of breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. Initial signs of cancer start in the lymph nodes located under the arm, within the breast, and near the collarbone. Many promising remedies for breast cancer are included in Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine. Nowadays, multi-targeted herbal drugs are used as an adjuvant therapy alongside conventional medicine in the management of this type of cancer. The present review concentrates on the available literature found in Ayurveda regarding plants and breast cancer. Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar were searched, resulting in 115 articles, as per the authors study criteria, by using keywords, breast cancer, and medicinal plants, then were able to aggregate 64 therapeutic targets from 35 different plant species in this review article. Result: Seven treatment areas were identified: Anti-inflammatory, Immunomodulatory, Endocrine suppressor, Tumour suppressor, Glut-1 inhibitor, Aromatase inhibitor, and Lectin-containing plants. Among the molecular targets, 51 % (33/64) caused apoptosis and 37 % (24/64) demonstrated cell proliferation activity. The review provides evidence of data suggesting that 17 % therapeutic targets have carcinogen inactivation activity, 10 % have precancerous growth prevention activity, 9% have mutagenesis and gene expression activity, and 4 % regulate toxic metabolism. Conclusion: Ayurvedic herbs that suppress multiple pathways must be chosen for prevention as well as treatment of the disease. It may not only be beneficial in reducing the harms of chemotherapeutic agents but also enhances their efficacy as supportive care.