St. John’s wort and drug interactions
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Cancer patients, oncologists should cooperate to "develop a plan regarding which CAM practices to pursue and which to put aside altogether," NCCAM Director Stephen Straus, MD, and staff clinician Patrick Mansky, MD, advise in Aug. 21 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "No matter how beneficial some approaches may appear to be, they are not all safe," NIH officials stress in editorial accompanying study on use of St. John's wort by cancer patients. Conducted by a Dutch research group, randomized, cross-over study of five cancer patients found anti-tumor activity of cancer drug irinotecan is negatively affected by concurrent use of St. John's wort. Findings were released at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in April (1"The Tan Sheet" April 15, 2002, p. 13)...