Active Ingredient Essiacā®

essiac contains a combination of herbs, including burdock root ( arctium lappa ), sheep sorrel ( rumex acetosella ), slippery elm inner bark ( ulmus fulva ), and turkish rhubarb ( rheum palmatum ). the original formula was developed by the canadian nurse rene caisse (1888-1978) in the 1920s ("essiac" is caisse spelled backwards). the recipe is said to be based on a traditional ojibwa (native american) remedy, and caisse administered the formula by mouth and injection to numerous cancer

Source:

medlineplus herbs and supplements: essiacā®

Medical Condition	Uses based on scientific evidence	Grade*
neoplasms	there is a lack of properly conducted published human studies using essiac for cancer. currently, there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against the use of this herbal mixture as a therapy for any type of cancer.	c

*Key to grades
A: Strong scientific evidence for this use;
B: Good scientific evidence for this use;
C: Unclear scientific evidence for this use;
D: Fair scientific evidence against this use;
F: Strong scientific evidence against this use.