Abstract
Purpose
Vitamin A and its derivatives positively influence the differentiation of epithelia and other tissues and prevent the proliferation of preneoplastic and neoplastic cells. Vitamin A is therefore taken into account as a potential supporting factor in cancer therapy.
Methods
In November 2020, a systematic search was conducted searching five electronic databases (EMBASE, Cochrane, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Medline) to find studies looking at the effects of using vitamin A as a complementary therapy for cancer patients. From all 12,823 search results, 9 publications referring to 9 studies with 4296 patients were included in this systematic review.
Results
The patients treated with vitamin A were diagnosed with various cancers and stages. Outcome variables were overall survival of cancer, progression-free survival, occurrence of second primary tumours and recurrences, improvement of chronic radiation-induced proctopathy and side effects of vitamin A. For the most part, the studies had a limited methodological quality. In summary, it can be said that due to the methodological deficiencies of the studies, no concrete statement can be made regarding the prolongation of overall survival and progression-free survival. There is also no evidence of the benefit of vitamin A in the treatment of chronic radiation-induced proctopathy, which can be attributed to methodological deficiencies in the study, as well. In the studies that report on side effects, it becomes clear that side effects, such as mucocutaneous symptoms, temporary increase in liver enzymes and gastrointestinal side effects occur more frequently in the group with vitamin A intervention.
Conclusion
The limited interpretability of the results due to the methodological deficiencies of the included studies does not allow a final statement on the benefits of vitamin A as a complementary treatment for cancer patients.
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Funding
The work of JD, SK and MF was funded in parts (search of the literature, title-abstract screening) by the German Guideline “S3 Leitlinie Komplementärmedizin in der Behandlung von onkologischen PatientInnen (Registernummer 032–055OL)” funded by the German Cancer Aid (Fördernummer 11583) within the German Guideline Program in Oncology.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by TR, JD, SK, MF and JH. The first draft of the manuscript was written by TR and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Retzlaff, T., Dörfler, J., Kutschan, S. et al. The benefits of vitamin A as a complementary treatment for oncology patients: a systematic review. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 149, 2157–2177 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-022-04224-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-022-04224-6