Impact of Jollab on Blood Parameters in Patients with Breast Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: In cancer patients, a prominent side effect of chemotherapy drugs is bone marrow suppression, which leads to decreased blood cell production. Herbal remedies and natural sub-stances such as honey may fulfill a role in relieving this complication. The present study aimed to determine the efficiency of Jollab (a honey-based syrup) in the prevention of pancytopenia in female patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: In a pilot double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 70 patients were examined in terms of leukocyte count, platelet count, and hemoglobin level at the Shohaday-e Tajrish Cancer Clinic (Tehran, Iran) in 2020. The intervention group consumed 10 ml of Jollab syrup three times a day for four weeks, while the control group took a placebo with the same prescrip-tion. The independent sample t-test and chi-squared test were used for data analysis in this trial. Results: Our data revealed that the total number of leukocytes, hemoglobin levels, and platelet counts have no significant differences between the two groups at the end of the study, but signif-icant changes were discovered for hemoglobin and platelet levels in intragroup analysis for both intervention and placebo groups. Conclusion: Although the use of Jollab was not found to be effective in augmenting the levels of blood cell parameters in women with breast cancer under-going chemotherapy, future studies of higher quality may demonstrate its supportive role pro-vided the present limitations are addressed.