SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Asparagus officinalis supports potentially cancer care: systematic review of randomized and non-randomized clinical studies
Chen Shen 1
Xiao-Ti Wu 1
Xue-Feng Wang 1
Zhi-Jie Wang 2
Nicola Robinson 3
Jian-Ping Liu 1
1. Centre for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
2. Shanxi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanxi, China
3. London South Bank University, London, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate effectiveness and safety of Asparagus officinalis in cancer care. Methods: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus and four Chinese databases were searched up to January 9, 2025. Randomized and non-randomized clinical studies, cohort studies, or case-control studies were included for cancer patients using A. officinalis products alone or combined with conventional treatments. Primary outcomes were survival, response rates, and quality of life (QoL). GRADE approach was used to assess evidence certainty. Results: Ten studies (seven randomized trials, two non-randomized studies, one cohort study) with 8898 participants were included. Compared to chemotherapy alone, A. officinalis granules plus chemotherapy improved survival-based effective rate (two studies, risk ratios (RR) 1.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.24, 1.92], low certainty) and QoL-based effective rate (three studies, RR 1.76, 95% CI [1.47, 2.11], low certainty). The objective response rate (ORR) was improved when chemotherapy was combined with either A. officinalis granules or syrup (four studies, RR 1.88, 95% CI [1.43, 2.48], low certainty). A. officinalis products (syrup, granules or oral liquid) plus chemotherapy or radiotherapy, all found to have effects in improving immune function as CD4 and CD4/CD8. A. officinalis oral liquid combined with chemotherapy was associated with fewer adverse events, nausea and vomiting, and myelosuppression. 2 Conclusion: A. officinalis products may improve survival, ORR, QoL and immune function as a complementary add‑on therapy. Despite the limited number of studies and low certainty of evidence, the observed signals indicate a need for verification in well‑designed, cancer‑type–specific trials, particularly in lung cancer, using standardized, well‑characterized extracts to establish definitive clinical applications and dosing protocols.
Summary
Keywords
adjuvant therapy, Asparagaceae, bioactive compounds, cancer care, Integrative oncology, Quality of Life, Survival, vegetable
Received
01 May 2025
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Shen, Wu, Wang, Wang, Robinson and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Chen Shen; Jian-Ping Liu
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.