Palliative Treatment of Advanced Cervical Cancer withRadiotherapy and Thai Herbal Medicine as SupportiveRemedy - Analysis of Survival

Abstract

<strong>Background:</strong> To evaluate outcomes using a Thai herbal medicine, Vilac Plus (G716/45) with standardradiotherapy in comparison with historic controls from literature reports of the results of treatment in stageIIIB cervical cancer. Materials and <br /><strong>Methods</strong>: Between March 2003 and June 2005, thirty patients with advancedcervical cancer stage IIIB-IV who had a poor performance status were treated by palliative radiotherapy alongwith an adjuvant daily dose of 15-30 ml of Thai herbal tonic solution (Vilac Plus G716/45) administered orallythree times after meals as an additional supportive therapy. The results were analyzed from the aspect of theoverall survival rates with curves estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. <br /><strong>Results</strong>:.The median follow -up timefor stage IIIB was 4.2 years with a range of 7.9 months – 6.1 years. The overall 1, 3, and 5 year survival ratesfor stage IIIB were 88%, 60% and 52%. <br /><strong>Conclusions</strong>: The overall 5 year survival rate for stage IIIB with a poorperformance status was 52% when compared with 34-54.8% for historic controls. The combined complementarypalliative radiotherapy (CCPR) had low rates of radiation morbidity. It was a simple technique and feasible fordeveloping countries. The pilot study was limited by the small number of patients and further research will benecessary to assess interrelated and confounding factors in treatment of cervical cancer patients.