In vivo flow cytometry reveals an anti-metastatic effect of Rujifang in triple-negative breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has the highest metastasis and mortality rate among all breast cancer subtypes. Rujifang is a traditional Chinese medicine formula with many years of clinical application in breast cancer treatment. Here, we aim to investigate the effects of Rujifang on circulating tumor cell (CTC) dynamics and the tumor microenvironment in a ZsGreen/luciferase double-labeled TNBC orthotopic model. We report that the number of CTCs monitored by in vivo flow cytometry (IVFC) strongly correlates with disease progression. Rujifang treatment decreased the number of CTCs and suppressed the distant metastasis of TNBC. Moreover, immunofluorescence analysis revealed that Rujifang treatment could affect the tumor microenvironment by downregulating Kindlin-1, which has been reported to promote metastasis of TNBC. Our study provides evidence of the anti-metastatic effect of Rujifang against TNBC in an animal model using fluorescent cell lines. The results suggest the potential therapeutic value of Rujifang as an anti-metastatic drug, however, further clinical trials are needed to validate these findings in humans.

[Effects of Modified Ruji Recipe in Preventing Relapse and Metastasis of Breast Cancer Patients with Negative Hormone Receptor].

Objective To observe the effect of Ruji Recipe (RR) (treated by syndrome typing) in preventing the relapse and metastasis of invasive ductal breast cancer patients with negative hormone receptor (HR) after surgery and chemotherapy. Methods Using a prospective, cohort method, 136 pa- tients with stage I - III C HR negative invasive ductal breast cancer were equally assigned to the treat- ment group (treated by RR in syndrome typing way) and the control group (routine follow-ups). Disease free survival (DFS) , overall survival (OS) , relapse and metastasis were observed in the two groups. Re- sults All patients were followed-up for 15 to 57 months, with the median follow-up of 44 months. The median DFS and OS had not reached. The 1. 0, 1. 5, 2. -0, and 3. 0 years DFS were 94.1 % (64/68) , 86. 4 % (51/59), 81. 8% (45/55), and 72. 0% (36/50) in the treatment group. They were 77. 9% (53/68), 67.2% (45)67), 60. 6% (40)66), and 54. 5% (36/66) in the control group. Significant difference existed in 1. 0, 1. 5, and 2. 0 years DFS between the two groups (X² = 7.403, 6.426, 6.459; P =0. 012, 0.013, 0. 016). No statistical difference existed in 1. 0, 1. 5, 2. 0, and 3. 0 years OS between the two groups (P >0. 05). Among triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, 1. 0, 1. 5, 2. 0, and 3. 0 years DFS were 97. 0% (32/33), 92. 9% (26/28), 92.6% (2527), and 84. 6% (22/26) in the treatment group, 81. 5% (2227), 66. 7% (1827), 61. 5% (16/26), and 57. 7% (15/26) in the control group. Of them, significant difference existed in 1. 5, 2. 0, and 3. 0 years DFS between the two groups (X² =5. 893, 7. 293, 4. 591 ; P = 0. 015, 0. 007, 0. 032). At the end of follow-ups, relapse and metastasis occurred in 15 patients, local recur- rence in 2 patients, single organ metastasis in 6 patients, and multiple organs metastasis in 7 patients of the treatment group. The relapse and metastasis occurred in 30 patients , local recurrence in 2 patients , single organ metastasis in 12 patients, and multiple organs metastasis in 16 patients of the treatment group. Conclusions RR ( by syndrome typing) could improve DFS and delay progression of invasive ductal breast cancer patients with negative HR in the first 2 years after surgery. It also had certain value for relapse and metastasis of TNBC patients within 2 years.

Treatment of middle/late stage primary hepatic carcinoma by Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy: A prospective randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of Chinese medicine comprehensive therapeutic project in treating the middle/late stage primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC). METHODS: With prospective randomized controlled design, 97 patients with PHC were assigned to the test group (49 cases) treated with Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy using Oleum fructus bruceas intervention combining oral intake of Ganji Decoction and external application of Ailitong, and the control group (48 cases) treated with chemotherapeutic agents combining iodized oil chemo-embolization and analgesics. The immediate and long-term efficacy, adverse reaction, pain-relieving initial time (PRIT) and pain-relieving sustained time (PRST) of the treatment, as well as the change in relieving patients' quality of life (QOL) were observed. RESULTS: The difference between the two groups in illness control rate was statistically insignificant (P>0.05), but the adverse reaction occurrence rate in the test group was lesser than that in the control group (P<0.05). PRIT was insignificantly different in the two groups (P>0.05), but the PRST was significantly superior in the test group than that in the control group (10.37+/-2.18 h vs 7.78+/-1.95 h, P<0.01). After treatment, the increased Karnofsky scores in the test group indicated that the patients' somatic activity, symptoms and QOL were improved significantly, which were significantly superior to those in the control group (P<0.05). The survival rate in the two groups was similar at the 3rd month after treatment, but the test group did show superiority in terms of half- and 1-year survival rate (65.9% vs 42.5% and 38.6% vs 18.1%, respectively, P<0.05). The median survival time in the test group was 8.9 months and that in the control group was 5.3 months. CONCLUSION: Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy is an effective treatment for the middle/late stage patients of PHC, and it could extend the PRST, improve the patients' QOL and long-term survival with less adverse reaction.

[Effect of ganji recipe combined with Fructus Bruceae oil emulsion intervention on quality of life in patients with advanced primary hepatic cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To observe and compare the quality of life (QOL) and survival time in patients with advanced primary hepatic cancer (PHC) after they have been treated by the combination of ganji recipe and interventional therapy with Fructus Bruceae Oil Emulsion (FBE) or by the trans-hepatic arterial chemical embolization (TACE) adopting Seldinger's technique. METHODS: Seventy-seven patients with advanced PHC were randomly assigned to two groups, 37 patients in the control group treated with TACE alone, and 40 in the treatment group with the combined therapy. One therapeutic course was 4 weeks, and the intervention therapy was repeated generally after an interval of 4-6 weeks according to patients'condition ,the average intervention frequency was 2.3 for one case. The QOL and the survival time in patients were evaluated after treatment. RESULTS: Significant difference was shown in the changes of the Karnofsky score between the two groups (P < 0.05). The scores suggested that the improvements in the treatment group, including patients'physical energy enhancing, symptoms alleviating and overall QOL improving, were superior to those in the control group (P < 0.05). No significant difference of the 3-month survival rate between the two groups was found (P > 0.05), but the 0.5- and 1-year survival rate were significantly superior in the treatment group to those in the control group (67.6% vs. 42.4% and 38.2% vs. 16.1%, respectively). The median survival time in the two groups was 8.9 and 5.3 months respectively. CONCLUSION: Combination of ganji recipe and interventional therapy with FBE in treating PHC could improve patients' QOL, raise the 0.5- and 1-year survival rate, and prolong the survival time, suggesting TCM treatment has an affirmative significance for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy and improving the prognosis in patients.