Effects of Fresh Yellow Onion Consumption on CEA, CA125 and Hepatic Enzymes in Breast Cancer Patients: A Double- Blind Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2015;16(17):7517-22. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2015.16.17.7517.

Abstract

Onion (Allium cepa) consumption has been remarked in folk medicine which has not been noted to be administered so far as an adjunct to conventional doxorubicin-based chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study aimed to investigate the effects of consuming fresh yellow onions on hepatic enzymes and cancer specific antigens compared with a low-onion containing diet among breast cancer (BC) participants treated with doxorubicin. This parallel design randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 56 BC patients whose malignancy was confirmed with histopathological examination. Subjects were assigned in a stratified-random allocation into either group received body mass index dependent 100-160 g/d of onion as high onion group (HO; n=28) or 30-40 g/d small onion in low onion group (LO; n=28) for eight weeks intervention. Participants, care givers and laboratory assessor were blinded to the assignments (IRCT registry no: IRCT2012103111335N1). The compliance of participants in the analysis was appropriate (87.9%). Comparing changes throughout pre- and post-dose treatments indicated significant controls on carcinoembryonic antigen, cancer antigen-125 and alkaline phosphatase levels in the HO group (P<0.05). Our findings for the first time showed that regular onion administration could be effective for hepatic enzyme conveying adjuvant chemotherapy relevant toxicity and reducing the tumor markers in BC during doxorubicin-based chemotherapy.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alkaline Phosphatase / blood*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Body Mass Index
  • Breast Neoplasms / blood*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • CA-125 Antigen / blood*
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen / blood*
  • Cyclophosphamide / therapeutic use
  • Diet
  • Docetaxel
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Doxorubicin / therapeutic use
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Female
  • Fluorouracil / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Membrane Proteins / blood*
  • Methotrexate / therapeutic use
  • Middle Aged
  • Onions / metabolism*
  • Placebos / therapeutic use
  • Plant Preparations / therapeutic use*
  • Taxoids / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • CA-125 Antigen
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen
  • MUC16 protein, human
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Placebos
  • Plant Preparations
  • Taxoids
  • Docetaxel
  • Doxorubicin
  • Cyclophosphamide
  • Alkaline Phosphatase
  • Fluorouracil
  • Methotrexate

Associated data

  • IRCT/IRCT2012103111335N1