Treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with Chinese herbal medicine by stages combined with chemotherapy (original) (raw)

Abstract

Purpose

To observe the effect of Chinese herbal medicine by stages combined with chemotherapy in treating patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of stage III or IV.

Methods

Adopting prospective, randomized, controlled, multi-centered trial design, 121 patients enrolled were assigned to the treatment group (n = 65) and the control group (n = 56). All the patients were randomized to receive chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy and Chinese herbal medicine combined (Kangliuzengxiao decoction during chemotherapy and Feiyanning decoction after chemotherapy). The main outcome measures were survival time, Karnofsky score, main clinical symptoms, and adverse reactions.

Results

Five patients discontinued from the trial due to oral administration of Iressa after disease progression or other reasons, and 116 patients were evaluable for clinical efficacy with 63 in the treatment group and 53 in the control group. The overall response rate were 15.87% vs. 7.55% (P = 0.170), and the disease control rate were 85.71% vs. 71.70% in the treatment and control group (P = 0.063), respectively. The median survival time was 16.17 months vs. 12.00 months in the treatment and control group (P = 0.165), respectively. In addition, adverse reactions such as leucopenia in the treatment group were less than those in the control group (P = 0.039).

Conclusions

Chinese herbal medicine combined with chemotherapy showed favorable effect in improving quality of life and prolonging survival time on patients with advanced NSCLC.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project, Project Number: Y0302.

Conflicts of interest

We declare that we have no proprietary, financial, professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled: Treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with Chinese herbal medicine by stages combined with chemotherapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Oncology, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
   Zhen Ye Xu, Zhong Qi Wang, Wei Dong Zhou, Hai Bin Deng, Ming Zhang, Wan Su & Xiao Yue Cai
2. Department of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
   Chang Juan Jin
3. Department of Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
   Cai Cun Zhou

Authors

1. Zhen Ye Xu
2. Chang Juan Jin
3. Cai Cun Zhou
4. Zhong Qi Wang
5. Wei Dong Zhou
6. Hai Bin Deng
7. Ming Zhang
8. Wan Su
9. Xiao Yue Cai

Corresponding author

Correspondence toZhen Ye Xu.

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Xu, Z.Y., Jin, C.J., Zhou, C.C. et al. Treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with Chinese herbal medicine by stages combined with chemotherapy.J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 137, 1117–1122 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-011-0975-3

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• Received: 25 August 2010
• Accepted: 11 January 2011
• Published: 05 February 2011
• Issue date: July 2011
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-011-0975-3

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