Influence of Shenfu Injection on the quality of life of lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the influence of Shenfu Injection (SHF) on the quality of life of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving chemotherapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 133 patients with NSCLC receiving at least two cycles of chemotherapy with taxol plus cisplatin (TP)/vinorelbine plus cisplatin (NP) or gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) were randomized into SHF pre-treatment group (with SHF given only in the first cycle) and SHF post-treatment group (with SHF given only in the second cycle). The Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and the Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC) were used to evaluate the quality of life of the patients after the treatments.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Both of the groups showed improved quality of life after the treatments (P<0.01), but the improvements were more obvious in SHF pre-treatment group (P<0.05). SHF showed favorable effects in relieving such adverse effects as fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea associated with the chemotherapy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SHF can improve the quality of life in NSCLC patients receiving chemotherapies.</p>