Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer – Siddha Perspective

Background: Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and the burden is increasing day by day. This dreadful disease existed in our society from time immemorial and the way of management including therapeutic aspects has been widely described in classical siddha texts. The rationale of this paper is to highlight the clinical features, pathology, diagnosis and therapeutic management of various types of Cancers mentioned in siddha literature. Methods: The literature review on the aetiology, pathology, clinical features and therapeutic aspects of ‘Cancer like illnesses’ mentioned in Siddha system in the form of condensed poems is expressed in this Manuscript. The descriptive aspects of Cancer have resemblance with the clinical entities of Vippuruthinoipadalam (Carcinoma like illness), Mega Katti, Kandamaalai Rogapadalam (Lymphoma like illness), Kiranthinoigal, Pilavaiand Putrunoi(tumour)revealed in Siddha Literatures. This paper explicates the review of literature on herbal drugs indicated for cancer related ailments and the pre-clinical study review of Siddha formulations. Results: The formulations in Siddha system are deemed to work on multiple biochemical pathways and are capable of influencing several organ systems simultaneously; most of the Siddha medicines provide nutrition and reduce the side effects of conventional cancer therapy due to effective antioxidant activity. Conclusion: This review manuscript strongly emphasize that the ancient literatures are scientifically driven one and not simply unconventional.