Gordon Howarth, PhD of The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia discusses complementary therapies for patients with mucositis. The role of researchers is to move towards a more robust characterisation of complementary medicines. A whole range of plant extracts, animal extracts, and Chinese traditional medicines have been tried clinically. A starting material and results of these studies have been variable, so another approach is required. Dr Howarth suggests looking at clinical efficacy in animal models and in vitro systems first, followed by human studies for selected medicines, which meet rigorous criteria. Recorded at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and International Society of Ocular Oncology (ISOO) 2016 Annual Meeting on Supportive Care in Cancer held in Adelaide, Australia.
