Integrative Cancer Therapies最新文献

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. Emerging evidence suggests that integrative oncology approaches may provide survival benefits when combined with conventional treatments. This study examines whether an integrative oncology treatment plan incorporating modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) improves survival in GBM patients.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from GBM patients treated at the Integrated Health Clinic (IHC) between 2010 and 2024. Survival outcomes were compared between IHC patients receiving adjuvant integrative naturopathic therapies and a matched control group from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates, and Cox proportional hazard models were conducted to assess survival differences. Secondary analyses evaluated the impact of treatment timing (≤120 days vs >120 days post-diagnosis) and age on survival.

Results: The integrative treatment cohort demonstrated a lower hazard of mortality than the SEER group (HR = .72, 95% CI: .53-1.00, P-value = .05). The treatment benefit was greater among IHC patients who started treatment within 120 days of diagnosis (HR = .52, 95% CI: .33-.83, P-value = .006) and those under age 50 (HR = .51, 95% CI: .31-.85, P-value = .009).

Conclusions: The findings suggest that an integrative naturopathic approach incorporating mEHT may improve survival outcomes in GBM patients. Patients initiating integrative treatment earlier experienced a greater survival benefit, as did patients under 50 years of age. Further studies, ideally prospective randomized controlled trials, are warranted to validate these findings.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) imposes a heavy disease burden. Besides physical morbidity, some patients might still experience long-term psychological distress. Our previous study demonstrated that physical symptoms and psychological distress of CRC improved following traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined online group psychotherapy. However, the multidimensional nature of these experiences warrants deeper exploration of patients' lived perspectives.

Methods: We designed a single-arm phase I clinical trial, in which 40 CRC patients (aged between 18 and 75) who have received radical surgery (stage I-III) were recruited. This 6-week intervention of TCM combined online group psychotherapy included 90 minutes' communication on various topics for each week. The video of each online group psychotherapy session was saved, and the 38 patient's' speech was analyzed by thematic analysis in the qualitative study.

Results: We identified 4 themes and 13 subthemes. The patients mainly displayed foundational outlook transformation and tangible lifestyle reformation. The physical symptoms and psychological symptoms also had a certain degree of relief. In addition, patients also showed an increased demand for medical advice and health care information, which indicates that they were more concerned about their health condition, and the needs of patients were responded to in treatment, resulting in corresponding benefits.

Conclusion: During TCM combined online group psychotherapy interventions-including education, skill-building, TCM lifestyle coaching, and peer-exchange platforms-patients developed sustained self-health management practices, improving psychological resilience and physical symptoms. This holistic, tailored and culturally sensitive approach fostered long-term recovery and independence of CRC survivors.

The extent to which breast cancer impacts well-being depends on the patient's psychosocial resources for coping with the stressors the illness entails. Recent research has shown that character strengths, such as hope and zest, play a role in the life satisfaction of breast cancer patients, although the underlying mechanisms are yet to be explored. This study, involving 173 Spanish women with breast cancer, analyses the mediating role of hope and zest in the association between illness-specific stressors and 2 indicators of well-being, namely life satisfaction and flourishing. Both hope and zest were positively correlated with life satisfaction and flourishing, and negatively with stressors. Mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between stressors and the 2 indicators of well-being is mediated by both these character strengths. These results suggest that a lack of hope and zest is one mechanism through which stress may diminish well-being, whereas high levels of these character strengths may buffer the impact of stressors and improve well-being in breast cancer patients. Psycho-oncologists are encouraged to develop effective psychological interventions to promote these strengths in women with breast cancer.

Context: Due to therapeutic side effects and physical weakness, patients are not always able to carry out strenuous and lengthy exercises. Hence, this study investigated the effectiveness and feasibility of a short-term Whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) for oncological patients during and after anticancer treatment. The primary aim was to ensure the feasibility of WB-EMS training. Furthermore, the effects of WB-EMS training were investigated over a period of 2 weeks on parameters such as quality of life, body composition and physical performance.

Method: Thirteen cancer patients with different diagnosis, disease stages and treatment state were included. They participated in supervised WB-EMS sessions 4 times over a 2-week period. Physical functioning, body composition, depression, fatigue, and quality of life were measured before and after the intervention period. Moreover, a pre-post measurement of the patients' perceived body constitution was conducted in every exercise session.

Results: All included patients (n = 13) were able to complete the 4 WB-EMS sessions. At the end of the 2 weeks, a significant increase of the muscle strength could be observed. Additionally, patients improved their cardiovascular fitness. The body composition analyses showed significant reductions in body lean mass and extracellular water. Muscle mass remained unchanged. Furthermore, patients reported an improved perceived body constitution reduced pain and discomfort following all 4 WB-EMS sessions.

Conclusion: This study suggests that WB-EMS is safe and feasible for cancer patients. Furthermore, it showed that even after 2 weeks, improvements concerning the physical performance and patient-reported outcomes can be achieved. This study indicates benefits of WB-EMS as short-term exercise methode in cancer patients, that could be utelised in fields such as cancer prehabilitation.

Trial registration: This trial has been registered with the ISRCTN-Registry (ISRCTN68069634).

Background: Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality all over the world, with high rates of locoregional recurrence and distant metastasis even after curative-intent surgical resection. The mechanisms of the tumor microenvironment's role in supporting metastasis through the formation of pre-metastatic niches are crucial areas of investigation.

Methods: Lung metastasis models were established by injecting Lewis lung cancer cells (LLCs) into the tail vein of 20 specific pathogen free (SPF)-grade male C57BL/6 mice. The mice were divided into 4 groups: control (physiological saline), GuBenPeiYuan (GBPY) medium-dose (25 g/kg), GBPY high-dose (50 g/kg), all administered by gavage, and gemcitabine (50 mg/kg, administered by intraperitoneal injection on days 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13), the total treatment duration was 14 days. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of GBPY were performed using Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC). Metastasis was observed using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, and the expression of immune cells was assessed by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence staining. Mechanistic insights were gained through Western blot.

Results: The high-dose GBPY and gemcitabine groups showed significantly fewer lung metastatic tumors (P = .002; P < .001), while no significant difference was observed between the medium-dose group and control group (P = .438). Flow cytometry results indicated that high-dose GBPY significantly downregulated Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs) and G-MDSCs (P = .002 and P = .001, respectively), upregulated dendritic cells (DCs; P = .021), increased M1 macrophages (F4/80⁺/iNOS⁺; P = .001) and decreased M2 macrophages (CD206⁺ F4/80⁺) (P < .001). Furthermore, Western blot results showed that the high-dose GBPY group significantly inhibited the expression of p-JAK2, p-STAT3 (P = .013, P = .001 respectively).

Conclusions: The GBPY Formula may reduce lung cancer metastasis and recurrence by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway, downregulating the presence of MDSCs, upregulating the proportion of DCs, and promoting the polarization of M2 macrophages to M1 macrophages. These changes enhance the anti-tumor immune response, contributing to the reduction of lung cancer metastasis and recurrence.

Background: Numbness and tingling secondary to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) are frequent side effects that limit chemotherapy treatment and quality of life. Successful treatments for CIPN are limited. This preliminary report shows the potential long-term effects of ozone treatment in the management of persistent numbness and tingling secondary to CIPN.

Methods: Ozone treatment was administered by rectal insufflation in 15 patients (female/male: 8/7, age: 66 years old) suffering from persistent numbness and tingling secondary to grade-2 or grade-3 CIPN. Planned ozone treatment consisted of 40 sessions over 4 months. The initial concentration of 10 μg/mL was progressively increased to 30 μg/mL. The initial gas volume of 180 mL/session was progressively increased to 300 mL/session if tolerated. Before and after ozone treatment, and at 3- and 6- months after the end of treatment, they were assessed (i) the grade of CIPN-toxicity, and (ii) the self-reported decrease in numbness and tingling.

Results: After ozone treatment, 47% of patients experienced a decrease in the grade of CIPN-toxicity (P = .016), and 67% of patients reported a decrease in numbness and tingling ≥50% (P = .002). These effects were maintained at 3- and 6- months after the end of O₃T.

Conclusions: In this retrospective report, patients with persistent numbness and tingling secondary to CIPN showed clinically relevant and long-term improvements after ozone treatment. The magnitude and duration of the observed effects merit further research and support our ongoing clinical trials.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of Dendrobium officinale in the treatment of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, and to explore its regulating effect on immune function and oral microbiota by comparing immune-related factors and oral microbiota before and after the intervention.

Methods: We conducted a randomized double-blinded controlled trial in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. Sixty patients with nasopharyngeal cancer combined with radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis were randomly divided into a study group and control group, with 30 cases in each group The study group used compound vitamin B12 solution and Dendrobium tea drink, and the control group simply used compound vitamin B12 solution rinse. When the patients developed radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis (at the time of 10F radiotherapy), and after 1 month of Dendrobium treatment (at the end of radiotherapy), the salivary flow rate was measured without stimulation to evaluate the degree of oral mucositis and the clinical efficacy. We also detected the content of EGF in saliva and the content of IL-10 and IL-11 in serum, and analyzed the differences in microbial community structure. All patients consented before enrollment.

Results: The salivary flow rate and oral mucosal fraction of the study group after treatment were significantly improved, which was better than that of the control group(P < .05). The content of IL-10 in the study group after treatment increased significantly compared with that before treatment(P < .05). There was a significant difference between the oral flora of the study group before and after treatment (Unique OTU counts: 5390 vs 3906), and there was also a difference between the oral flora of the study group and control group after treatment (Unique OTU counts: 5671 vs 5439). After treatment, Erysipelotrichales (Phylum Firmicutes, LDA score = 2.80, P = .034), Leptotrichiaceae (Fusobacteria,LDA score = 3.38, P = .030) and Campylobacteraceae (Proteobacteria, LDA score = 3.35, P = .026) were significantly enriched in the study group. The use of Dendrobium officinale in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis showed little difference in microbial diversity and abundance, but there were significant differences among oral bacteria genera.

Conclusions: Dendrobium officinale is effective in the treatment of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis, which may be related to the improvement of salivary gland function and regulation of the oral microenvironment. Dendrobium officinale may reduce the symptoms of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis by affecting the systemic cellular immune function. It may reduce the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors of the relevant flora by directly changing the oral flora and regulating the oral micro-ecology.

Purpose: Radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis is the most common side effect in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Rabdosia rubescens drop pills in NPC patients with radiation-induced oral mucositis (RTOM).

Methods: The study involved 40 NPC patients who were given Rabdosia rubescens drop pills thrice daily from the start of radiation therapy. The study monitored the incidence and severity of oral mucositis and oral pain. The main outcomes measured were the occurrence rate of oral mucositis, grade 3 oral mucositis, oral pain assessment, and changes in immunological function, body weight, BMI, NRS2002, and albumin levels.

Results: In the study, 38 patients completed the treatment. The incidence rates of Grade 0 to 3 oral mucositis were 5.26%, 21.05%, 47.37%, and 26.32% respectively. Pain levels were mild (42.11%), moderate (13.16%), and severe (13.16%). The onset of Grade 1, 2, and 3 oral mucositis occurred at 18, 24, and 30 days respectively. Grade 3 oral mucositis was associated with body weight, BMI, NRS2002 score, and albumin levels. Post-treatment, there was a decrease in CD4⁺/CD8⁺, CD3⁺, and CD4⁺ immune cells, but an increase in CD8⁺ cells. Mild to moderate gastrointestinal adverse events were observed in 13.2% of patients.

Conclusion: Rabdosia rubescens drop pills administration can reduce the incidence and severity of radiotherapy induced oral mucositis. Our finding suggested a positive impact of Rabdosia rubescens drops pills upon administration to NPC patients.

Systematic treatment and cocktailed drug applications have become a paradigm shift for cancer therapy. This study aims to explore the highly potent herbal cocktail strategies and pharmacological mechanisms, by which herbal medicines are effective in cancer treatment. A total of 397 cases of clinically reported cancer treatments with pure herbs were scrutinized, and the herbal prescription rules were systematically analyzed. The core prescriptions and their pharmacological mechanisms were revealed. The results unveiled specific rules for effective herbal treatment of cancer, including boosting energy metabolism, inhibiting tumor proliferation, improving digestion and defecation, enhancing blood circulation, promoting gas exchange, and facilitating water and toxic substance metabolism. Pharmacologically, anti-cancer effects are achieved through the manipulation of PI3K-Akt, IL-17, HIF-1, VEGF, TNF, Wnt, and other pathways. Following this unfolded integrative prescription rule, herbal therapy demonstrated remarkable effects in clinical practices, from which a few representative cases are presented herein.