Exploring the Potential of Aromatherapy as an Adjuvant Therapy in Cancer and its Complications: A Comprehensive Update

Abstract

Background: Aromatherapy is a traditional practice of employing essential oils for therapeutic purposes, which is currently headed under the category of complementary and adjuvant medicine.

Objective: The aim of this review is to summarize the potential health benefits of aromatic essential oil from old times till the present. Moreover, some mechanisms which can be utilized as a basis for aromatherapy in cancer and cancer-linked complications have been proposed.

Methods: To find out the relevant and authentic data, several search engines like Science direct, Pubmed, research gate, etc. were thoroughly checked by inserting keywords like aromatherapy, complementary, and adjuvant therapy in the context of the review.

Results: The results depicted the anti-cancer potential of chemical constituents of essential oil against different types of cancer. Moreover, the essential oils showed the promising anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-mutagenic properties in several studies, which collectively can form the basis for initiation of its anti-cancer use.

Conclusion: Aromatherapy can serve as an adjuvant economic therapy in cancer after the standardization of protocol.

Keywords: Aromatherapy; adjuvant therapy; anxiety; cancer; essential oil; inhalation.