Adjunctive Chinese herbal medicine therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Clinical evidence and experimental validation
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Ying-Chyi Song1,2,3, Kuo-Feng Hung4, Kai-Li Liang5,6,7
1Research Center for Chinese Herbal Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Background:
To investigate the benefits of adjunctive Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
Methods:
We included all patients diagnosed with NPC during 1997-2009 and followed until 2011 in Taiwan. We used 1:1 frequency matching by age, sex, comorbidity, conventional treatment, and index year to compare the CHM users and non-CHM users (n = 2542 each). The prescribed CHM was further investigated with regard to its cytotoxicity.
Results:
Compared with non-CHM users, adjunctive CHM users had a lower hazard ratio of mortality risk, and a better survival probability. Gan-Lu-Yin (GLY) was the most commonly prescribed CHM, and it reduced cell viability, inhibited tumor proliferation, and induced apoptosis through the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspase-3-dependent pathway in human NPC TW01 cells. Oral administration of GLY retarded NPC-TW01 tumor growth in the xenograft nude mouse model.
Conclusion:
Real-world data and laboratory experiments implied that adjunctive CHM might be beneficial for NPC patients.
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