Expectations and unmet needs of cancer patients seeking Ayurved Rasayana therapy: A cross-sectional study from India.

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Background: The objective of this study was to assess the expectations and objectives of cancer patients opting for Indian system of medicine-Ayurveda, and to find out their unmet medical needs so as to facilitate better patient education and evidence-based integration. Methods: This study was done at our super speciality Ayurveda cancer clinic in India. In this cross-sectional study done between 2020 to 2025 a total of 3351 cancer patients with diagnosis of solid tumours and who have not yet initiated Ayurveda therapy, completed a baseline survey indicating their primary expectations from the Ayurveda Rasayana Therapy. Results: The cohort was balanced for gender (1685 males,1666 females) with a mean age of 61.2 (±14.3) years. The most common cancers were breast (17.87%), colon (10.50%) and oral (10.08%) cancers with 60.6% of patients were of stage IV (advanced stage) and rest were of stage I-III. While 75.38% of patients (n = 2536) were of the opinion that cure is practically not possible in majority of cancers and long-term remission is better achievable option, 22% (n = 760) expected a cure, a proportion which does not differ between early and advanced stage (p > 0.05). Key objectives for seeking Ayurveda were, improvement in Quality of life (51% n = 1728), to get rid of adverse reactions of conventional anticancer therapies (31% n = 1050), dissatisfaction with prior medical treatment (27.24% n = 916) and to get maximum disease-free survival in the remission period /post-surgery (7.5% n = 678). Notably, 31% of the patients were incorrect when asked about their current stage of disease. Conclusions: Indian cancer patients approach ayurveda primarily to improve quality of life, manage treatment toxicity and enhance the disease-free survival highlighting critical unmet needs. However, a significant proportion of patients harbours unrealistic expectations and lack correct knowledge about their stage of disease, which can have an impact on their expectations. These findings underscore the urgent need for structured patient education and intensive research in the identified area of unmet medical needs so as to enhance a more efficient evidence-based model of integration. Also, patient education can ensure that patients expectations are aligned with evidence-based outcomes, ultimately leading to efficient and comprehensive cancer care.