Clinical value of modified Shenling Baizhu powder in treating targeted therapy-induced diarrhea in non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: To assess clinical value of modified Shenling Baizhu powder (, SBP) in intervening targeted therapy-induced diarrhea.

Methods: This study was a prospective randomized controlled study. Eighty-five non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with diarrhea who took targeted drugs were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group received modified SBP, while the control group received imodium. During 2 courses of treatment (1 week/course) and 2 weeks of follow-up, we observed remission and recurrence of diarrhea, as well as the improvement of Karnofsky score (KPS) in the two groups and drug safety.

Results: Eighty cases were completed, with 40 cases in the experimental group and 40 cases in the control group. The control group's diarrhea remission rate was significantly lower than the experimental group's (P<0.05). After 2 courses of treatment, the symptom scores of both groups were lower than before, with that of the experimental group remarkably lower (P<0.05). Furthermore, the experimental group experienced less abdominal fullness and appetite loss than the control group (P<0.05). There was no prominent difference in overall diarrhea recurrence, time, or KPS after treatment between the two groups (P>0.05). No unique adverse events occurred in experimental group or control group.

Conclusion: The modified SBP could improve targeted therapy-induced diarrhea in NSCLC, and is superior to imodium in relieving diarrhea, improving related symptom scores and symptoms, with no obvious drug-related adverse events.