Do you take Chinese herbal remedies? Beware, you may be at risk of liver cancer

Researchers have uncovered widespread evidence of a link between traditional Chinese herbal remedies and liver cancer across Asia, says a study.

The findings of a new study suggest stronger measures are needed to prevent people from consuming chemicals called aristolochic acids (AA), which are derived from the woody vines of the Aristolochia plant family, said the report in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The acids can be found in some traditional Chinese medicines that are given during childbirth, to prevent parasites and promote healing.

Researchers tested 98 liver tumours that were stored at hospitals in Taiwan, and found that 78% contained mutation patterns that indicated the cancers “were likely due to contact with the chemicals”, said the study. Since these acids cause “a well-defined mutational signature”, researchers also looked at 89 samples of liver cancer in China, and found that 47% showed a link to this traditional medicine component.

In Vietnam, five out of 26 tumors studied were a match (19%), along with five out of nine from other countries in Southeast Asia (56%). The link to traditional Chinese medicine was far less common in North America (five percent of 209 liver cancers studied) and 1.7% of the 230 looked at from Europe. Taiwan banned in 2003 some herbal preparations using the plants after it was discovered that aristolochic acids could cause kidney failure and urinary tract cancers.

This could be because it would take more time for a drop in cancers to be noticeable in the data, as was the case with tobacco-related cancers after smoking was revealed to cause lung tumours. Or it could be that people continue to be exposed to these acids through other products and herbal mixtures that still contain them.

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