Cancers: Cervical., lung, non-Hodgkin”s lymphoma, stomach
Action: Anti-proliferative, chemotherapy support, immunomodulary, radio-sensitizer
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
The influence of Kangai injection on blood serum vascular endothelial growth factor of non-Hodgkin”s lymphoma patients, and its synergistic effect, attenuation and improvement of quality of life was evaluated.
Eighty-five non-Hodgkin”s lymphoma patients were randomized into a treatment group or control group. The patients in the treatment group were treated by Kangai injection and cyclophosphamide / doxorubicin / vincristine / prednisolone (CHOP) combined chemotherapy, while those in the control group were treated by CHOP chemotherapy only.
The concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor in blood serum of the patients of the treatment group decreased after therapy (P < 0.05), acute curative effect gradually increased, quality of life was raised significantly (P < 0.05), and adverse reactions of the combined chemotherapy decreased markedly (P < 0.05).
Kangai injection, with CHOP chemotherapy, has a synergistic effect. It can attenuate progression of non-Hodgkin”s lymphoma, and improve quality of life. Additionally, it can decrease the concentration of serum vascular endothelial growth (Tang, 2006).
Stomach Cancer; Chemotherapy
Eighty patients with advanced stomach cancer were randomly divided into treatment group (chemotherapy+ GAMA injection) and control group (chemotherapy only). Observation was conducted on cellular immunization, short-termeffect, quality of life improvement, and toxic side-effects in both groups.
In the treatment group, both NK cellular activity and CD4/CD8 ratios were higher after the treatment (P < 0.01). CD3 and CD4 were both increased (P < 0.05). In the control group, the NK cellular activity, CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8 ratio were all lower after the treatment (P < 0.05). The short-term efficacy rate was 45% in the treatment group and 40% in the control group. The difference was not significant. The treatment group was apparently lower than the control group in leukopenia, nausea and/or vomiting, and peripheral nerve toxicity (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, less fatigue, better appetite, and Karnofsky score increases were observed in the treatment group (P < 0.01). The treatment group was also more effective in relieving pain and promoting weight gain than the control group (P < 0.05).
Treating advanced stomach cancer, with the combination of Kangai injection and chemotherapy, may decrease the adverse effects of chemotherapy on patients′cellular immune functions and other side effects, and thereby, improve the quality of life of patients (Wu & Yang, 2007).
NSCLC; Chemotherapy
Seventy eight patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were randomly divided into two groups: treatment group (n=40) received GAMA injection and chemotherapy, and control group (n=38) only received chemotherapy.
The short-termeffect, Karnofsky scores of life quality, and the incidence of pancytopenia in treatment group were superior to those in the control group (72.5% vs 47.4%, P<0.05; 87.5% vs 55.3%, P < 0.01; P < 0.01).
Kangai injection can improve the short-term effect, quality of life, and pancytopenia prevalence in patients with intermediate and advanced-stage NSCLC (Wen, Xie, Xie & Feng, 2006).
Radiotherapy side-effects
One hundred ten cases of patients with malignant tumors wasrandomly divided into the treatment group or the control group. The treatment group was given Kangai injection for 40 days after radiotherapy, while the control group was treated by radiotherapy only.
Tumor growth in the treatment group and the control group were 66.7% and 43.4%, respectively. Karnofsky score improvements were 52.6% and 32.1%, respectively. The incidence of leukopenia was 22.8% and 42.5%, respectively. All differences were significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in levels of lymphocytres between the treatment group before and after therapy (P > 0.05). However, there was significant difference in the control group before and after therapy (P< 0.05).
Kangai injection can improve the curative effect and alleviate the side-effects of radiotherapy on treating malignant tumors (Cao et al., 2005).
Leukemia
Kangai injection combination of fludarabine (Flud), cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C), and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (FLAG) in refractory/relapsed acute leukemia (AL) patients was investigated. The remission rate of treatment and total effective rate treatment group were 57.1% (16/28) and 71.4% (21/28), the control group were 52.3% (11/21) and 61.9% (13/21); there were no significant differences in the two groups. Duration of neutrophils less than 0.5 x 10(9)/L in treatment group was (14 +/- 6) day, control group was (23 +/- 3) day, Duration of platelet less than 25 x 10(9)/L in treatment group was (17 +/- 6) day, control group was (31 +/- 2) day, treatment group of III-IV degree of infection was 6.9% (1/28) and control group was 23.8% (5/21) between the two groups were significantly different (P < 0.05). treatment group of III- IV degree of gastrointestinal; toxicity was 10.7% (3/28) and control group was 28. 5% (6/ 21).
Kangai injection plus FLAG regimen could increase the remission rate, shorten the period of bone marrow suppression, significantly reduced the incidence and degree of infection, play an important role in attenuated efficiency (Wan et al., 2011).
References
Cao, H. (2005). Treating 57 cases of malignant tumor by Kangai injection and radiotherapy. Zhejiang Journal of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, 2005(12), R730.5. doi: cnki:sun:zjzh.0.2005-12-005.
Tang, Q. (2006). Influence of Kangai injection on blood serum vascular endothelial growth factor of non-Hodgkin lymphoma patient. Journal of Leukemia & Lymphoma, 15(1).
Wan, Q., Xi, A., Zhang, C., Liu X.(2011) Clinical study of kangai injection plus FLAG regimen for refractory/relapsed acute leukemia. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi, 36(22):3207-9.
Wen, J.Y., Xie, Z., Xie, J.R., & Feng, L.P. (2006). Kangai injection mixed with chemotherapy in intermediate and advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer. Journal of Guandong Medical College, 24(1), 1005-4057.
Wu, L., & Yang, Y. (2007). A clinical study of treating advanced gastric cancer with the combination of Kangai injection and chemotherapy. Proceeding of Clinical Medicine, 18(7), 1671-8631.