Safety of Brucea javanica and Cantharidin Combined with Chemotherapy for Treatment of NSCLC Patients

Abstract

<br/><b>Objective</b>: To assess the safety of Brucea javanica and Cantharidin combined with chemotherapy in treatingpatients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma. <br/><b>Method</b>: A consecutive cohort of patients with NSCLC were dividedinto four groups: experimental group A treated with Brucea javanica injection combined with chemotherapy;experimental group B with Cantharidin injection combined with chemotherapy; experimental group C treatedwith Brucea javanica and Cantharidin injection combined with chemotherapy; and the control group receivingonly chemotherapy. After more than two courses of treatment, safety, quality of life and side effects were evaluated.<br/><b>Results</b>: The incidences of myelosuppression in groups A, B and C were lower than that in Control group (p<0.05),but without significant differences among A, B and C. Adverse effects on the gastrointestinal tract also werelower than in controls (p<0.05) without variation amnog the combined treatment groups. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Bruceajavanica or Cantharidin combined with chemotherapy could in both cases improve quality of life in our cohortof NSCLC patients without any increase in toxicity. However, further clinical experiments should be conductedto evaluate the efficacy of Brucea javanica and Cantharidin combined with chemotherapy for patients withNSCLC.