Tibetan medicine is based principally on Ayurveda, the primary medical tradition of India, which dates back at least 2,500 years, and also draws from Chinese and Greco-Arabic medicine. The Tibetan Medicine Project will assess the efficacy of Tibetan herbs in treating advanced breast cancer. Yeshi Dhonden, a renowned Tibetan physician who has treated thousands of women with breast cancer worldwide, will collaborate with Debasish Tripathy throughout this trial. Dhonden has created seven different formulas with which to treat outpatients. In the US, most women are diagnosed with breast cancer at an early stage.
Adjuvant chemotherapy is recommended to an increasing proportion of patients.
Chemotherapy, however, is often accompanied by side effects including fatigue, nausea, vomiting, lowered white blood cell counts, hair loss, psychological distress and a decrease in quality of life. Dr. Tripathy is collaborating with TCM practitioners in the East Bay and San Francisco to develop a Chinese herbal formula to reduce the side effects from chemotherapy. The study will assess the toxicities and efficacy associated with this Chinese herbal therapy. This is a crucial first step to integrating TCM, where effective, into the standard care for breast cancer patients. High-Dose Chemotherapy Debasish Tripathy, MD, Principal Investigator Collaborative project with the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, part of UCSF Stanford Health Care Nausea and vomiting are the most severe and distressing side effects of chemotherapy.