Probiotic Supplements on Oncology Patients' Treatment-Related Side Effects: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Cancer affects more than 19.3 million people and has become the second leading cause of death worldwide. Chemo- and radiotherapy, the most common procedures in these patients, often produce unpleasant treatment-related side effects that have a direct impact on the quality of life of these patients....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-04, Vol.18 (8), p.4265
Main Authors: Rodriguez-Arrastia, Miguel, Martinez-Ortigosa, Adrian, Rueda-Ruzafa, Lola, Folch Ayora, Ana, Ropero-Padilla, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer therapies
Cell division
Chemotherapy
Clinical trials
Complications
Constipation
Diarrhea
Disease
Intestinal microflora
Medical innovations
Microbiota
Mucositis
Oncology
Patients
Probiotics
Quality of life
Radiation therapy
Review
Side effects
Systematic review
Tumor necrosis factor-TNF
Womens health
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Summary:Cancer affects more than 19.3 million people and has become the second leading cause of death worldwide. Chemo- and radiotherapy, the most common procedures in these patients, often produce unpleasant treatment-related side effects that have a direct impact on the quality of life of these patients. However, innovative therapeutic strategies such as probiotics are being implemented to manage these complications. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of probiotics supplements as a therapeutic strategy in adult oncology treatment-related side effects. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials was conducted in PubMed, Scielo, ProQuest and OVID databases up to and including January 2021, following the PRISMA guidelines. The quality of the included studies was assessed by the Jadad Scale. Twenty clinical trials published between 1988 and 2020 were included in this review. Seventeen studies (85%) revealed predominantly positive results when using probiotics to reduce the incidence of treatment-related side effects in oncology patients, while three studies (15%) reported no impact in their findings. This study sheds some light on the significance of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in altering the composition of gut microbiota, where probiotic strains may play an important role in preventing or mitigating treatment-related side effects.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18084265