Safety of Brucea javanica and cantharidin combined with chemotherapy for treatment of NSCLC patients

• Published in: Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP Vol. 15; no. 20; pp. 8603 - 8605
• Main Authors: Ji, Zhu-Qing, Huang, Xin-En, Wu, Xue-Yan, Liu, Jin, Wang, Lin, Tang, Jin-Hai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thailand 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - administration & dosage; Brucea; Cantharidin - administration & dosage; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - mortality; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - pathology; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; Cohort Studies; Combined Modality Therapy - methods; Disease-Free Survival; Etoposide - administration & dosage; Female; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Mitomycin - administration & dosage; Neoplasm Invasiveness - pathology; Neoplasm Staging; Patient Safety; Phytotherapy - methods; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Prognosis; Quality of Life; Retrospective Studies; Risk Assessment; Survival Analysis
• ISSN: 1513-7368; 2476-762X
• DOI: 10.7314/APJCP.2014.15.20.8603

To assess the safety of Brucea javanica and Cantharidin combined with chemotherapy in treating patients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma. A consecutive cohort of patients with NSCLC were divided into four groups: experimental group A treated with Brucea javanica injection combined with chemotherapy; experimental group B with Cantharidin injection combined with chemotherapy; experimental group C treated with Brucea javanica and Cantharidin injection combined with chemotherapy; and the control group receiving only chemotherapy. After more than two courses of treatment, safety, quality of life and side effects were evaluated. The incidences of myelosuppression in groups A, B and C were lower than that in Control group (p<0.05), but without significant differences among A, B and C. Adverse effects on the gastrointestinal tract also were lower than in controls (p<0.05) without variation amnog the combined treatment groups. Brucea javanica or Cantharidin combined with chemotherapy could in both cases improve quality of life in our cohort of NSCLC patients without any increase in toxicity. However, further clinical experiments should be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Brucea javanica and Cantharidin combined with chemotherapy for patients with NSCLC.