Amygdalin Dilemma: Poison or Treatment?

Background: Studies of phytochemicals, antioxidant vitamins and minerals in foods have shown that the chemical compounds in foods are effective in the prevention or treatment of cancer and other diseases. Alternative cancer treatments have also been tried by many cancer patients treated with conventional therapies. Amygdalin therapy is used in many alternative treatments and has been claimed to be effective. The aim of this review is to evaluate the studies that examine the reliability and the efficacy of amygdalin use in the protocol for cancer patients. Methods: All the studies related to amygdalin found by a search with the keywords, amygdalin, leatrile and cancer. in databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, ScienceDirect and BioMed between 1975-2017 were examined. Results: Two epidemiological studies, two case reports, three animal studies and five in vitro studies were obtained by the search. In epidemiological studies and case reports, amygdalin was not determined to have positive effects on cancer treatment. While one of the animal studies found a positive effect, no positive effects were detected by the other two. In vitro studies have shown that amygdalin has protective effects in the treatment of cancer. Conclusion: This review concluded that there is no convincing evidence that amygdalin has positive effects on cancer patients.