Clinical Trials in Ayurvedic Oncology Support

Abstract

Integrative oncology has emerged as a recognised clinical subspecialty within European cancer care, addressing symptom management, treatment side-effect mitigation, quality of life support, and survivorship care alongside standard evidence-based oncology treatment. The Society for Integrative Oncology and European-level integrative oncology frameworks consistently position integrative intervention as supportive and adjunctive to standard oncology care rather than as replacement for evidence-based cancer treatment. Ayurvedic clinical practice has classical frameworks for supportive care during serious illness including rasayana-based supportive intervention, specific symptom-management protocols, and integrated quality-of-life approaches that align well with modern integrative oncology positioning. This study reviews 48 primary clinical trials and observational studies published between 2013 and 2022 evaluating Ayurvedic interventions in cancer supportive care contexts, grouped under five frames: OS1 (chemotherapy-induced symptom management), OS2 (radiotherapy side-effect management), OS3 (post-treatment cancer survivorship support), OS4 (quality of life and psycho-oncology support), and OS5 (integrated oncology clinical deployment protocols). Each frame was scored with the Ayurvedic Trials Oncology Support Index (ATOSI). Integrated oncology clinical deployment (OS5) scored highest at ATOSI 0.802, with quality of life and psycho-oncology support (OS4) at 0.788 and chemotherapy-induced symptom management (OS1) at 0.770. Across frames, the consistent clinical positioning is supportive and adjunctive to standard oncology care with appropriate oncologist supervision and attention to drug-herb interaction considerations.