Clinical Efficacy of Modified Shashen Maidong Decoction as Adjuvant for Acupoint Application in the Treatment of Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and its Effect on T Lymphocyte Subsets

Abstract

Background This study aims to investigate the clinical efficacy of modified Shashen Maidong Decoction as adjuvant for acupoint application in the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its effect on T lymphocyte subsets. Methods 108 elderly NSCLC patients received chemotherapy in our hospital from February 2020 to February 2022 were randomly divided into control group and observation group, with 54 cases in each group. Patients in both groups received conventional chemotherapy and acupoint application while patients in the observation group were additionally given modified Shashen Maidong Decoction. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scores, immune function, Karlsruhe functional status (KPS) scores and European Research Group on Cancer Therapy Oncology Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) scores were compared between two groups. Results After treatment, the scores of six TCM symptoms, including cough, sputum and blood, fatigue, upset and sleeplessness, low-fever night sweats and dry and hard stool were significantly declined, and those in the observation group were lower than those in the control group. After treatment, CD₃⁺, CD₄⁺ and CD₄⁺/CD₈⁺ levels, KPS abd EORTC QLQ-C30 scores were all largely increased, and increases were more significant in the observation group than in the control group. Besides, incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was lower than that in the control group. Conclusion Modified Shashen Maidong Decoction as adjuvant of acupoint application therapy can effectively alleviate clinical symptoms of elderly patients with NSCLC, enhance immune system function, improve life qualify of patients, and reduce the incidence of adverse chemotherapy reactions.