Effect of combination of Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction and chemotherapy on quality of life and adverse reactions of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of combined treatment with Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction and chemotherapy (carboplatin + paclitaxel) on quality of life (QOL) and adverse reactions of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC).Methods: One hundred and fourteen (114) ROC patients in The Second Children & Women’s Healthcare of Jinan City were split into chemotherapy group (n = 60) and combination group (n = 54), based on whether or not they were treated with Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction. Differences in clinical efficacy, adverse reactions, levels of tumor marker, levels of immune indexes, and scores on Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) between the two groups were evaluated.Results: Treatment effectiveness was higher in the combination group than in the chemotherapy group (p < 0.05). Compared with the chemotherapy group, post-treatment levels of HE4 and CA125 in the combination group were lower, while the levels of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+, and population of NK cells were higher (p < 0.05). After treatment, the KPS score in the combination group was higher than the corresponding score in the chemotherapy group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Combination of Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction and chemotherapy (carboplatin + paclitaxel) produces significant enhancement of clinical efficacy in the treatment of ROC. The combination treatment is highly safe, and improves the health status and QOL of patients. Therefore, the combination treatment appears to be suitable for the management of ovarian cancer.