title: Herb-related aneuploidy in breast fibroadenoma.
abstract: There is consensus that attitudes toward seeking complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are different between oriental and western patients. A 16-year-old girl who presented with enlarged breast tumours also had a 3-year history of "Si-Wu-Tang" (SWT) intake. Pathology of the resected breast tumour disclosed a giant fibroadenoma with aneuploid status. A cohort study was conducted between two groups of patients with fibroadenomas: SWT intake (+) group and SWT intake (-) group. Patients were told to discontinue SWT intake for 3 months, and this was followed by breast ultrasonographic examination in both groups. The tumour sizes before and after discontinued SWT intake were 2.3±0.11 cm and 1.5±0.12 cm in the SWT (+) group, and 1.7±0.15 cm and 1.6±0.14 cm in SWT (-) group, respectively (p<0.05). It is concluded that this report provides important information for patients with breast tissue diseases and that continuous intake of medicinal herbs is recommended only under the guidance of trained CAM providers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No. 155, Section II, Li-Nong Street, Pei-tou, Taipei, 112, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chun-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jen-Hwey
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Chew-Wun
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wing-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Lui