According to a report published in the December 14 online edition of Cancer, the American Cancer Society journal, chemotherapy-resulting liver inflammation in cancer patients can be reduced by using a medicinal herb - milk thistle.

As per the findings of the researchers led by Dr. Kara Kelly, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City, due to lack of any other treatment for liver toxicity, milk thistle - a herb that has been in use for combating a number of ailments for nearly 2,000 years - is often recommended to treat liver damage.

The researchers randomly assigned 50 children undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia - and having liver inflammation as a result - to milk thistle treatment or a placebo for 28 days.

It was found that the children who were given milk thistle showed an improvement in liver enzymes - aspartate amino transferase (AST) and amino alanine transferase (ALT) - vis-à-vis their counterparts who received a placebo. Furthermore, milk thistle treatment apparently helped patients to endure higher doses of chemotherapy.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Kelly said: "We found that milk thistle, compared to placebo, was more effective in reducing inflammation. If these results are confirmed, milk thistle may allow us to treat liver inflammation or prevent it from occurring, which will allow better delivery of chemotherapy drugs."