Wheat, J., Currie, G., & Coulter, K. (2007). Management of acute radiation skin toxicity with wheatgrass extract in breast radiation therapy: pilot study. Australian Journal of Medical Herbalism, 19, 77–80.
To examine the potential benefits of wheatgrass extract in reducing severity and delaying the onset of acute radiation skin toxicity in breast irradiation.
Patients were undergoing the active treatment phase of care.
The study was a prospective, pilot, single-blind (patients), randomized, controlled clinical trial with two arms: wheatgrass extract (experimental) and sorbolene cream (control).
No statistically significant difference existed between the wheatgrass group and the sorbolene group with regard to onset and peak radiodermatitis development. There was a significant difference in QOL between the wheatgrass (M = 9.5) and sorbolene (M = 9.8; p = 0.014) groups when all time periods were measured, with better QOL in the wheatgrass group.
The study design and results were not strong enough to include as evidence for or against wheatgrass as a deterrent to the development of radiodermatitis.
This potential intervention needs further study in a larger group. The findings are not valid for use as evidence at this stage of investigation.