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Review
. 2025 Apr 25;17(9):1437.
doi: 10.3390/cancers17091437.

Unconventional Treatments for Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review

Roberta Vella  1   2 , Alessandro Giardino  1 , Erica Pizzocaro  1   3 , Isabella Frigerio  1   4 , Elisa Bannone  1 , Salvatore Vieni  2 , Giovanni Butturini  1
Affiliations
Review

Unconventional Treatments for Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review

Roberta Vella et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to review the existing literature on the efficacy and safety of unconventional treatments among pancreatic cancer patients, including the use of natural products, dietary supplements, probiotics, whole medical systems, and body-based therapies.

Methods: An electronic, systematic, and comprehensive literature review was conducted searching for studies up to November 2024 following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Randomized controlled trials and prospective and retrospective studies assessing the efficacy and safety of unconventional treatments for pancreatic cancer were considered eligible. Data on overall survival, quality of life, and treatment tolerability were extracted.

Results: A total of 21 studies, providing data from 3095 patients, met the inclusion criteria. Various types of unconventional treatments are used in pancreatic cancer patients, including Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), mistletoe extract (ME), curcumin, and electroacupuncture. Among these, the use of CHM and curcumin concomitant with standard therapy was associated with survival and quality-of-life benefits. Electroacupuncture reduced pancreatic cancer pain intensity in a cost-effective manner. The data on ME are mixed and of insufficient quality for drawing definitive conclusions.

Conclusions: Some unconventional treatments showed potential benefits in improving overall survival and quality of life in pancreatic cancer patients within an integrative oncology setting. Further high-quality studies are needed to provide robust, rigorous, and ethical evidence to support their integration into future guidelines, ensuring a holistic approach to cancer treatment.

Keywords: complementary medicine; pancreatic cancer; precision oncology; systematic review; unconventional treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the study selection process according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Source: [7].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias assessment for the five included RCTs, evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool 2 (Cochrane collaboration, 2019) for RCTs and tabulated using the ROBVIS tool. The assessment considered five domains: D1 (sequence generation), D2 (allocation concealment and blinding), D3 (incomplete outcome data), and D4 (selective outcome reporting). The risk of bias of each study was judged as low risk, high risk, or with some concerns [10,18,19,25,26].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Summary of findings regarding the effects of unconventional treatments on overall survival and symptom relief.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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