Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of a coix seed oil injection on cancer pain relief

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Supportive Care in Cancer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Pain is one of the most commonly reported symptoms in patients with advanced cancer, but is still less than optimally treated. The effect of traditional Chinese medicine in cancer pain treatment is nowadays getting more and more attention.

Objective

To investigate the effect of a coix seed oil injection on cancer pain relief in a cancer center in a tertiary hospital in China.

Methods

Patients in the treatment group received a coix seed oil injection for 2 weeks, while patients in the control group received equivalent 0.9% saline. The numeric rating scale was used to assess the pain level. The Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 was used to assess life quality. The adverse drug reactions during the treatment process were observed.

Results

Patients in the coix seed treatment group had significantly superior efficacy on pain control over those in the control group. Coix seed therapy significantly improved patients’ scores reflecting by the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) scale. In addition, the occurrence of adverse reactions such as constipation and nausea in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group.

Conclusion

The coix seed oil injection effectively reduced the pain level of cancer patients, significantly improved their life quality, and had no obvious adverse effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bastos LC, Tonussi CR (2010) PGE(2)-induced lasting nociception to heat: evidences for a selective involvement of A-delta fibres in the hyperpathic component of hyperalgesia. Eur J Pain 14(2):113–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpain.2009.04.002

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Chen HJ, Lo YC, Chiang W (2012) Inhibitory effects of adlay bran (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) on chemical mediator release and cytokine production in rat basophilic leukemia cells. J Ethnopharmacol 141(1):119–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.02.009

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Eaton LH, Meins AR, Mitchell PH, Voss J, Doorenbos AZ (2015) Evidence-based practice beliefs and behaviors of nurses providing cancer pain management: a mixed-methods approach. Oncol Nurs Forum 42(2):165–173. https://doi.org/10.1188/15.ONF.165-173

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Fielding F, Sanford TM, Davis MP (2013) Achieving effective control in cancer pain: a review of current guidelines. Int J Palliat Nurs 19(12):584–591. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2013.19.12.584

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Goswami SK, Inceoglu B, Yang J, Wan D, Kodani SD, da Silva CA, … Hammock BD (2015) Omeprazole increases the efficacy of a soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitor in a PGE(2) induced pain model. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 289(3):419–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2015.10.018

  6. Huang HC, Hsieh WY, Niu YL, Chang TM (2014) Inhibitory effects of adlay extract on melanin production and cellular oxygen stress in B16F10 melanoma cells. Int J Mol Sci 15(9):16665–16679. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms150916665

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Hung WC, Chang HC (2003) Methanolic extract of adlay seed suppresses COX-2 expression of human lung cancer cells via inhibition of gene transcription. J Agric Food Chem 51(25):7333–7337. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf0340512

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lu X, Liu W, Wu J, Li M, Wang J, Wu J, Luo C (2013) A polysaccharide fraction of adlay seed (Coixlachryma-jobi L.) induces apoptosis in human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 430(2):846–851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2012.11.058

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ma K, Zhou QH, Chen J, Du DP, Ji Y, Jiang W (2008) TTX-R Na+ current-reduction by celecoxib correlates with changes in PGE(2) and CGRP within rat DRG neurons during acute incisional pain. Brain Res 1209:57–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2008.02.096

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Palos GR (2008) Opioids and cancer survivors: issues in side-effect management. Oncol Nurs Forum 35(Suppl):13–19. https://doi.org/10.1188/08.ONF.S1.13-19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Phillips JL, Lovell M, Luckett T, Agar M, Green A, Davidson P (2015) Australian survey of current practice and guideline use in adult cancer pain assessment and management: the community nurse perspective. Collegian 22(1):33–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Portenoy RK (2011) Treatment of cancer pain. Lancet 377(9784):2236–2247. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60236-5

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Qiu X, Li X, Zhang D (2009) Investigation and nursing strategies for barriers in cancer pain control. Chin Nurs Res 23(10):867–869

    Google Scholar 

  14. Qu D, He J, Liu C, Zhou J, Chen Y (2014) Triterpene-loaded microemulsion using Coix lacryma-jobi seed extract as oil phase for enhanced antitumor efficacy: preparation and in vivo evaluation. Int J Nanomedicine 9:109–119. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S54796

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Schreiber JA (2014) Understanding the cancer pain experience. Curr Pain Headache Rep 18(8):440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0440-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Smith ME, Bauer-Wu S (2012) Traditional Chinese medicine for cancer-related symptoms. Semin Oncol Nurs 28(1):64–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soncn.2011.11.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Snyder CF, Blackford AL, Okuyama T, Akechi T, Yamashita H, Toyama T, … Wu AW (2013) Using the EORTC-QLQ-C30 in clinical practice for patient management: identifying scores requiring a clinician's attention. Qual Life Res 22(10):2685–2691. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-013-0387-8

  18. Thompson J (2014) Pain management in cancer nursing. Br J Nurs 23(10):S17. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2014.23.Sup10.S17

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Wang L, Chen J, Xie H, Ju X, Liu RH (2013) Phytochemical profiles and antioxidant activity of adlay varieties. J Agric Food Chem 61(21):5103–5113. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf400556s

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Wang L, Sun J, Yi Q, Wang X, Ju X (2012) Protective effect of polyphenols extract of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) on hypercholesterolemia-induced oxidative stress in rats. Molecules 17(8):8886–8897. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17088886

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Woo JH, Li D, Wilsbach K, Orita H, Coulter J, Tully E, … Gabrielson E (2007) Coix seed extract, a commonly used treatment for cancer in China, inhibits NFkappaB and protein kinase C signaling. Cancer Biol Ther 6(12):2005–2011

  22. Yost KJ, Hahn EA, Zaslavsky AM, Ayanian JZ, West DW (2008) Predictors of health-related quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. Health Qual Life Outcomes 6:66. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-6-66

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Zhan YP, Huang XE, Cao J, Lu YY, Wu XY, Liu J, … Ye LH (2012) Clinical safety and efficacy of Kanglaite(R) (Coix seed oil) injection combined with chemotherapy in treating patients with gastric cancer. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 13(10):5319–5321

  24. Zhao M, Zhu D, Sun-Waterhouse D, Su G, Lin L, Wang X, Dong Y (2014) In vitro and in vivo studies on adlay-derived seed extracts: phenolic profiles, antioxidant activities, serum uric acid suppression, and xanthine oxidase inhibitory effects. J Agric Food Chem 62(31):7771–7778. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf501952e

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Peking University International Hospital, No. 1, Life Science Park Road, Beijing, 102206, China

    Peirong Zhang, Xiaoyan Meng, Xiaohua Tang, Li Ren & Jun Liang

Authors
  1. Peirong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiaoyan Meng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaohua Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Li Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jun Liang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Liang.

Ethics declarations

This study is ethically approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Hospital and the Health Science Center. All participants have signed the written informed consent.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, P., Meng, X., Tang, X. et al. The effect of a coix seed oil injection on cancer pain relief. Support Care Cancer 27, 461–465 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4313-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4313-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation