Molecular Targets of Shenqi Dihuang, A Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, and Its Potential Role in Renal Cell Carcinoma Therapy.

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), which includes herbal slices and proprietary products, is widely used in China. Shenqi Dihuang (SQDH) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula with ingredients that affect tumor growth. Despite recent advances in prognosis, patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cannot currently receive curative treatment. The present study aimed to explore the potential target genes closely associated with SQDH. The gene expression data for SQDH and RCC were obtained from the TCMSP and TCGA databases. The SQDH-based prognostic prediction model reveals a strong correlation between RCC and SQDH. In addition, the immune cell infiltration analysis indicated that SQDH might be associated with the immune response of RCC patients. Based on this, we successfully built the prognostic prediction model using SQDH-related genes. The results demonstrated that CCND1 and NR3C2 are closely associated with the prognosis of RCC patients. Finally, the pathways enrichment analysis revealed that response to oxidative stress, cyclin binding, programmed cell death, and immune response are the most enriched pathways in CCND1. Furthermore, transcription regulator activity, regulation of cell population proliferation, and cyclin binding are closely associated with the NR3C2.

[Modified Shenqi Dihuang Decoction for bone metastasis of hormone-sensitive prostate cancer after castration].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of Modified Shenqi Dihuang Decoction (MSDD) on bone metastasis of hormone-sensitive PCa after castration. METHODS: Seventy-six hormone-sensitive PCa patients with bone metastasis were randomly divided into a control and an MSDD group of an equal number, the former treated by maximal androgen blockade (MAB) and the latter with MSDD in addition to MAB, both for 6 months. Comparisons were made between the two groups of patients in their TCM symptom scores, quality of life (QOL) scores and the incidence rates of castration resistance, bone metastasis and adverse events. RESULTS: Totally, 64 of the patients were included in the statistical analysis. Compared with the controls, the MSDD group showed significantly lower rates of castration resistance (71.87% vs 28.12%, P < 0.05) and new bone and visceral metastases (40.63% vs 18.75%, P < 0.05) and level of serum alkaline phosphatase after treatment (ï¼»328.5 ± 170.6ï¼½ vs ï¼»318.5 ± 165.8ï¼½ U/L, P < 0.05), as well as lower scores in the TCM symptoms of frequent micturition (2.05 ± 0.51 vs 1.64 ± 0.66, P < 0.05), loss of appetite (1.95 ± 0.48 vs 1.41 ± 0.39, P < 0.05), fatigue (2.59 ± 0.68 vs 1.39 ± 0.58, P < 0.05), back pain (1.76 ± 0.41 vs 1.26 ± 0.38, P < 0.05), weight loss (1.88 ± 0.75 vs 1.26 ± 0.80, P < 0.05) and self-evaluation (1.89 ± 0.58 vs 1.54 ± 0.63, P < 0.05), but a higher score in the physical status (Karnofsky Performance Scale) (70.45 ± 12.16 vs 79.87 ± 11.23, P < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the Numeric Rating Scale for Pain score and the incidence of adverse events between the two groups of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Modified Shenqi Dihuang Decoction can effectively improve the QOL and TCM symptom scores of the patients with hormone-sensitive PCa after androgen castration, enhance the efficacy of modern drugs in the treatment of hormone-sensitive PCa, decrease the incidence of metastasis, improve the patient's serum indicators, reduce the pain associated with bone metastasis, and improve the patient's quality of life.