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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Apr 24:7:46524.
doi: 10.1038/srep46524.

Effects of Chinese Medicine as Adjunct Medication for Adjuvant Chemotherapy Treatments of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Lijing Jiao  1   2 , Changsheng Dong  1   2 , Jiaxiang Liu  1   2 , Zhiwei Chen  3 , Lei Zhang  4 , Jianfang Xu  5 , Xiaoyong Shen  6 , Jiaming Che  7 , Yi Yang  8 , Hai Huang  9 , Hegen Li  1 , Jianli Sun  1 , Yi Jiang  1 , Zhujun Mao  1 , Peiqi Chen  2 , Yabin Gong  2 , Xiaolin Jin  2 , Ling Xu  1   2   10
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of Chinese Medicine as Adjunct Medication for Adjuvant Chemotherapy Treatments of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Lijing Jiao et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The aim was to evaluate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a combination medication with adjuvant chemotherapy on postoperative early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The 314 patients with completely resected stage IB, II or IIIA cancers were assigned into vinorelbine plus cisplatin/carboplatin (NP/NC) (control, n = 158) and NP/NC with additional TCM (intervention, n = 156) groups. The primary endpoint was QOL scores; secondary endpoints were the toxicity and safety of the regimens. The NP/NC regimen caused mild (grade 1 or 2) non-hematologic toxic effects in the patients comprising vomiting (43.6%), fatigue (36.9%), pain (23%), dry mouth (27.6%) and diarrhea (7.9%). The incidence of adverse events was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (0.57% vs 4.02%, P = 0.037). Transient severe (grade 3 or 4) hematological toxic effects occurred less often (hemoglobin reduction (11.9 vs 22.5 percent) and total bilirubin increased (to 42.1 vs 46.2%) in the intervention compared to the control group during the 2nd chemotherapy cycle. When combined with adjuvant chemotherapy, TCM led to partial relief of symptoms in addition to a reduction of side-effects and adverse events caused by the NP/NC regimens.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow chart of compliance with quality of life (QOL) questionnaire completion.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Baseline QOL scores in the two groups.
(A) Functioning scores, (B) Symptom scores, (C) Symptom scores.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Proportion of patients with improved, stable and worsened quality of life, in several domains and symptoms during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th cycle of chemotherapy.
*Indicates P < 0.05; **Indicates P  < 0.005.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Summary of the changes of QOL before and after treatment.
(A) Functioning scores, (B) Symptom scores, (C) Symptom scores.
Figure 5
Figure 5
NCI-CTC graded adverse reactions of (A) leukocytes (%), (B) blood platelets (%) and (C) γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (%). *Indicates P < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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