Many patients with blood cancers use vitamins, herbs, and other supplements to feel better, but these products can sometimes cause problems when mixed with cancer medicines. Doctors at a hospital in Israel created a new service where a natural medicine expert and a pharmacist work together to check if supplements are safe for each patient. They studied 42 patients over three years and found that this team approach helped patients understand which supplements were safe and which ones could cause problems. The service caught potential dangerous interactions and helped patients feel more confident about what they were taking.

The Quick Take

  • What they studied: Whether having a special team of experts check supplements for safety helps patients with blood cancers use them more safely
  • Who participated: 42 patients with blood cancers at a hospital in Israel between 2021 and 2024. About two-thirds of them were already using supplements when they joined the study. People who had jobs were more likely to use supplements.
  • Key finding: The safety check service found 176 possible problems between supplements and cancer medicines in 30 patients. Most of these problems were theoretical (meaning they might happen but hadn’t happened yet). The service also helped patients feel less worried about their supplement use.
  • What it means for you: If you have a blood cancer and take supplements, talking to both a natural medicine expert and a pharmacist together may help you use supplements more safely. However, this is a small study, so more research is needed before this becomes standard care everywhere.

The Research Details

This study looked at what happened when a hospital created a new service combining two types of experts: a naturopath (someone trained in natural medicine) and a clinical pharmacist (a medicine expert). When patients with blood cancers came to the hospital, doctors could send them to this special team. The naturopath would listen to what symptoms the patient had and suggest supplements that might help. Then the pharmacist would carefully check if those supplements could cause problems when mixed with the patient’s cancer medicines. The team checked on patients multiple times to make sure the supplements weren’t causing any bad side effects.

Between 2021 and 2024, 42 patients went through this service. The researchers looked at what supplements people were using, what problems they found, and whether patients felt better about their supplement choices after meeting with the team.

This type of study is called a descriptive study because it describes what happened when the service was used, rather than comparing it to a group that didn’t get the service.

People with blood cancers often want to use supplements to help with their symptoms or feel more in control of their health. But supplements can be risky because they might interfere with cancer medicines or cause their own side effects. Having experts check supplements before patients use them could prevent serious problems. This study shows that a team approach—combining natural medicine knowledge with pharmacy knowledge—might be a good way to keep patients safe.

This study has some strengths and some limitations. The strength is that it looked at real patients in a real hospital setting. However, the study is small (only 42 patients), and it didn’t compare the new service to the old way of doing things. The researchers also only followed patients for a short time. Because of these limitations, the results are interesting but not definitive proof that this service works better than other approaches.

What the Results Show

Before the safety consultation, 28 out of 42 patients (67%) were already using supplements. The team found 176 possible interactions between supplements and medicines in 30 patients. This sounds like a lot, but most of these interactions (45%) were theoretical, meaning they were possible but hadn’t actually caused problems yet.

The most common type of interaction was when a supplement and a medicine had similar effects that could add together (59% of interactions). Herbs caused most of the interactions (82%), especially when combined with blood pressure medicines (26%) or blood thinners (23%).

One patient did have a real problem: after taking a mushroom supplement called Hericium, they developed leg swelling and worsening nerve pain. The doctors determined this was probably caused by the supplement.

After meeting with the safety team, patients reported feeling less worried about their supplements. Also, doctors started writing down which supplements patients were using in their medical records more often, which is important for safety.

An interesting finding was that patients who had jobs were more likely to use supplements than patients who didn’t work. Only 21% of the supplements patients were using were actually written down in their medical charts before the consultation, and these were mostly vitamins and minerals. This suggests that doctors might not always know what supplements their patients are taking, which could be a safety problem.

Previous research has shown that about 30% of patients with blood cancers use supplements, which matches what this study found. Other studies have also found that supplements can interact with cancer medicines, but this is one of the first studies to look at whether having a special team check supplements can help. The finding that doctors often don’t know about supplements their patients are taking matches what other research has shown.

This study is small with only 42 patients, so the results might not apply to all patients with blood cancers. The study didn’t have a comparison group (patients who didn’t get the safety consultation), so we can’t be sure the service actually helped more than just talking to a regular doctor. The study only followed patients for a short time, so we don’t know if the benefits lasted. Also, most of the interactions found were theoretical rather than real problems, so we don’t know how many actual harms the service prevented.

The Bottom Line

If you have a blood cancer and want to use supplements, ask your doctor if they can connect you with both a natural medicine expert and a pharmacist who can check if your supplements are safe. This combined approach appears to help catch potential problems. However, this is still a new idea, so not all hospitals offer it yet. At minimum, always tell your cancer doctor about every supplement you take, including vitamins, herbs, and other products.

This research is most relevant for people with blood cancers (like leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma) who want to use supplements. It’s also important for their doctors and pharmacists. People with other types of cancer might benefit from similar safety checks, but this study only looked at blood cancers. If you’re healthy and just taking a multivitamin, this probably doesn’t apply to you.

Patients in this study reported feeling less worried about their supplements after their first consultation with the team. However, this is a short-term benefit. To know if supplements actually help with symptoms or if the safety approach prevents long-term problems, longer studies would be needed.

Want to Apply This Research?

  • Create a supplement inventory tracker where users list every supplement they take (including vitamins, herbs, and other products), the dose, how often they take it, and why they’re taking it. Update this list before each doctor’s appointment.
  • Set a reminder to discuss all supplements with your doctor at your next visit. Take a photo of all supplement bottles to show your healthcare team, or use the app to create a list to bring to appointments.
  • Track any new symptoms or side effects after starting a supplement, noting the date and what you were taking. Share this log with your doctor and pharmacist to help them spot potential problems early.

This research describes a new service for checking supplement safety in patients with blood cancers. The study is small and preliminary. If you have a blood cancer or any serious health condition and want to use supplements, you must discuss this with your doctor or oncologist before starting anything new. Never stop taking prescribed cancer medicines or replace them with supplements without medical supervision. Some supplements can interfere with cancer treatment or cause serious side effects. This information is educational and not a substitute for professional medical advice.