Preclinical evaluation of Ayurveda and Siddha Herbo-mineral formulations in cancer: A scoping review protocol

BACKGROUND: Cancer poses a major global health challenge, with rising incidence and mortality rates straining healthcare systems worldwide. Despite remarkable advances in cancer management modalities, the current approaches still fall short in overcoming drug resistance, tumour heterogeneity, toxicity and side effects. Traditional systems such as Ayurveda and Siddha may help overcome these limitations of conventional medicine; however, robust evidence supporting the anticancer efficacy of Herbo mineral formulations (HMFs) remains limited and fragmented. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review is planned to map the existing pre-clinical evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies for the anticancer activities of Ayurveda and Siddha HMFs. METHODS: The scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley and the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute for conducting scoping reviews. A systematic search will be conducted by two independent reviewers across selected databases for relevant literature, and studies will be selected on the basis of predefined eligibility criteria. Data from the included studies will be presented in tabular and narrative formats to align with the review objectives. The review will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. DISCUSSION: This review will contribute to integrating traditional medicine with modern oncology, guiding researchers and clinicians in prioritizing promising anticancer drugs for further investigation and potential therapeutic use. The review protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF) and is available at: osf.io/rdhpv/.