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Adjuvant effects of fermented red ginseng extract on advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy

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Abstract

Objective

To investigate the adjuvant therapeutic effects of fermented red ginseng (FRG) extract on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with chemotherapy.

Methods

A total of 60 patients with advanced NSCLC were divided into two groups using a random number table, i.e., the gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) chemotherapy alone group (26 patients) and the FRG + GP chemotherapy group (34 patients), for 60-day treatment. Patients were then assessed according to the Fatigue Symptom Inventory, Chinese medicine symptoms score, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Karnofsky Performance Status Scale, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung. In addition, chemotherapy toxicity and tumor biomarkers were measured.

Results

For NSCLC patients after chemotherapy, FRG extract significantly improved the FSI score, CM symptoms score, psychological status, physical conditions, and quality of life and reduced chemotherapy toxicity, but the expression levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, cytokeratin-19 fragments, and neuron-specific enolase were not significantly different between the chemotherapy alone and the FRG + chemotherapy groups or between pre- and post-treatments.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that FRG extract had an adjuvant effect on advanced NSCLC patients treated with chemotherapy. Further studies with a larger sample size will verify the current findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China

    Shu-long Jiang  (蒋树龙), Rui Liu  (刘 瑞) & Bao-jin Hua  (花宝金)

  2. Department of Oncology, Jining First People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong Province, 272000, China

    Shu-long Jiang  (蒋树龙) & Ning Liu  (刘 宁)

  3. School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Hong-jie Liu  (刘红杰)

  4. Institute of International Education, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250000, China

    Zhao-chun Liu  (刘昭纯)

  5. Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (IACF), Joongbu University, Daejeon, 999007, Republic of Korea

    Young-Reep Kang

  6. Department of Oriental Health Care, Joongbu University, Daejeon, 999007, Republic of Korea

    Joong-Gu Ji

  7. Department of Stomatology, Jining First People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong Province, 272000, China

    Chao Zhang  (张 超)

  8. Department of Herbal Pharmaceutical Science, Joongbu University, Daejeon, 999007, Republic of Korea

    Shin-Jyung Kang

Authors
  1. Shu-long Jiang  (蒋树龙)
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  2. Hong-jie Liu  (刘红杰)
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  3. Zhao-chun Liu  (刘昭纯)
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  4. Ning Liu  (刘 宁)
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  5. Rui Liu  (刘 瑞)
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  6. Young-Reep Kang
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  7. Joong-Gu Ji
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  8. Chao Zhang  (张 超)
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  9. Bao-jin Hua  (花宝金)
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  10. Shin-Jyung Kang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bao-jin Hua  (花宝金) or Shin-Jyung Kang.

Additional information

Supported in part by a grant from the Major Projects for “Creation of Major New Drugs” of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2010ZX09102-216) and the Korea Joongbu University Research Fund

These two authors contributed equally to this work

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Jiang, Sl., Liu, Hj., Liu, Zc. et al. Adjuvant effects of fermented red ginseng extract on advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 23, 331–337 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-015-2146-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-015-2146-x

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