Effects of combined Chinese drugs and chemotherapy in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and side effects of combined Chinese drugs and chemotherapy in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Sixty-three patients with stage III B and IV NSCLC hospitalized from October 2001 to October 2008 were enrolled and assigned to two groups using a randomizing digital table, with 33 patients in the treatment group and 30 in the control group. They were all treated with the Navelbine and Cisplatin (NP) chemotherapy, but to the treatment group the Chinese drugs Shengmai Injection (生脉注射液) by intravenous dripping and Gujin Granule (固金颗粒冲剂) by oral intake were given additionally. The main observation indexes were response rate (RR), median survival time, 1-year survival rate and median time to progression (TTP); secondary observation indexes were side effects and cycles of chemotherapy. Results Altogether, 61 patients (33 from the treatment group and 28 from the control group) completed the observation and were assessable. RR was 48.5% (16/33) in the treatment group and 32.2% (9/28) in the control group, and the median survival time were 13 months and 9 months, respectively; the difference between the two groups was significant ( P =0.0373 and P =0.014 respectively). However, the differences between groups were insignificant in terms of 1-year survival rate [51.5% (17/33) vs 46.4% (13/28), P =0.4042], median TTP (5.95 months vs 4.64 months, P =0.3242), grade III or IV bone marrow inhibition occurrence rate [33.3% (11/33) vs 39.3% (11/28), P =0.3500], and mean cycles of chemotherapy applied (2.94±0.94 cycles vs 2.75±0.75 cycles, P =0.4100). Conclusion Combined Chinese drugs and chemotherapy can enhance the short-term therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of NSCLC and prolong patients’ median survival time, but show no evident impact on TTP.