Journal article

Investigation of herb-drug interactions with ginkgo biloba in women receiving hormonal treatment for early breast cancer

J Vardy, HM Dhillon, SJ Clarke, I Olesen, F Leslie, A Warby, J Beith, A Sullivan, A Hamilton, P Beale, A Rittau, AJ McLachlan

Springerplus | SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG | Published : 2013

Abstract

Women receiving treatment for breast cancer commonly ingest herbal medicines. Little is known about the potential for herb-drug interactions in this population. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ginkgo biloba co-administration on the pharmacokinetics of tamoxifen, anastrozole and letrozole. This was a prospective open-label cross-over study in 60 women with early stage breast cancer taking either tamoxifen, anastrozole or letrozole (n=20/group). Participants received ginkgo biloba (EGb 761) for 3 weeks (120 mg twice daily). Trough concentrations of drugs were measured before and after ginkgo biloba treatment using LC-MS/MS. Toxicities were graded according to National Can..

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Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Career Development Award awarded to A/Prof. Vardy and a National Institute of Complementary Medicine project grant. A/Prof. Vardy is supported by a Cancer Institute NSW Clinical Research Fellowship and Dr Olesen was supported by an National Health and Medical Research Council PhD Scholarship.