ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Biotecnologica 2014 December;26(3):309-13

Copyright © 2014 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Combined use of Xunxi No. 1 and radiotherapy have clinical benefits in stage Ia-IIb cervical cancer patients with high-risk human papilloma virus infection

Xu X. ¹, Zhang B. ², Hao L. ², Gu J. ², Liu L. ³, Wang X. ⁴, Wu M. ⁵, Zhang P. ⁶, Cheng H. ⁵

¹ Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Xuzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Xuzhou 221009, China; ² Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, The Affiliated School of Clinical Medicine, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, China; ³ Department of Radiotherapy, Xuzhou City Central Hospital, Xuzhou, China; ⁴ Pathology Department, Xuzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Xuzhou, China; ⁵ Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, First Clinical College, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China; ⁶ Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xuzhou City Central Hospital, Xuzhou, China

AIM: We determined the clinical benefit of Chinese medicinal intervention (Xunxi No. 1) in cervical cancer (CC) patients with high-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV) infection undergoing radiotherapy (RT).
METHODS: Eighty stage Ia-IIb CC patients receving primary RT were randomly-and-equally divided into treatment (RT+Xunxi No. 1 for 20 days) and control (RT alone) groups. Expression of the HR-HPV (HPV16/18) was detected by in-situ hybridization (ISH) before and after treatment. The 5-year disease-free survival and pelvic lymphnode metastasis (> 0.9 cm diameter shown by CT) rates were determined.
RESULTS: We found that the HR-HPV positivity rate decreased (37.5-67.5%) significantly (P<0.05) in treatment group while the reduction in control group (65.0 – 72.5%) was non-significant. The 3-year disease-free survival rate in treatment group was better than control group (33/40 vs. 27/40). Notably, the difference in two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05) regarding the 5-year disease-free survival (65.0% vs. 42.5%) and pelvic lymphnode metastasis rate (7.5% vs. 25.0%). It was therefore concluded that the early-stage RT with Xunxi No.1 lowered the HPV positivity rate in CC.
CONCLUSION: The higher 5-year disease-free survival rate and the lower pelvic lymphnode metastasis rate in treatment group as compared with control group suggest that Xunxi No.1 clinically benefits CC patients.