RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of chemotherapy assisted with shenqi fuzheng injection (SFI) on senile patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: One hundred and twenty old patients with NSCLC were treated with NP chemotherapeutic protocol, to the 60 patients in the treated group among them, additional medication of SFI was started one week before the beginning of chemotherapy. The short-term therapeutic efficacy, long-term survival rate, changes on quality of life (QOL) and immune function of patients, and hematological toxicity of therapy were observed. RESULTS: Difference between the two groups on short-term therapeutic effect, 1- and 2-year survival rate showed no significance (P>0.05), but the 3-year survival rate in the treated group was 26.6%, while that in the control group was 11.7%, showed that the former was higher than the latter. After treatment QOL of the treated group was better than that of the control (P<0.05). Besides, the hematological toxicity and affection on immune function of chemotherapy after treatment in the treated group were all lower than those in the control group showing significant difference (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: SFI has definite toxicity relieving effect on chemotherapy in treating senile NSCLC.