Objective: To observe the clinical effects of Babaodan Capsule(八宝丹, BBD) combined with Qingyi Huaji Formula(清胰化积方, QYHJ) in treating patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods: Eighty-one patients with advanced pancreatic cancer(from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014) were enrolled. Patients were assigned to two groups: QYHJ plus BBD group(40 cases) and QYHJ only group(41 cases), and there were no significant differences for other treatment between two groups. The survival and cancer-related symptoms were compared between two groups over two cycles of treatment. Results: The cancer-related symptoms of patients such as ascites, jaundice, pain, abdominal distension, anorexia and Karnofsky performance status of QYHJ plus BBD group were significantly improved as compared with those of the QYHJ group(P<0.01). In addition, the 1-year survival rate of patients in QYHJ plus BBD group was longer than that in the QYHJ group(65% vs. 33%, respectively, P=0.0023). Conclusions: BBD with QYHJ is feasible treatment to prolong the survival of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. However, it deserves to be further investigated in randomized clinical trials.
song li-bingao songzhang ai-qinqian xiangliu lu-ming
OBJECTIVE： To investigate, in terms of Notch signaling pathway, the effect on pancreatic cancer of the extract of an anti-tumor prescription -- Qingyihuaji formula （QYHJ） -- from Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM）.METHODS： Nude mice were implanted subcutaneously with human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990 and then randomly divided into four groups： Control, QYHJ extract, Gemcitabine, and Combination of QYHJ extract and gemcitabine. Treatments were given for 21 days and tumor growth was evaluated simultaneously. Then, expression of Notch receptors （Notch-I, Notch-2, Notch-3, and Notch-4） and their Jagged ligands （Jagged-1 and Jagged-2） in dissected tumor tissue were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. Finally, immunohistochemistry was performed to detect CD133, a marker of pancreatic cancer stem cells （CSCs）, to evaluate the impact of QYHJ extract on pancreatic CSCs.RESULTS： QYHJ extract treatment effectively inhib- ited the tumor growth in nude mice. The expression of both Notch-4 and Jagged-1 were decreased significantly in QYHJ treatment groups （P 〈 0.05）, while gemcitabine alone had no significant effect in down-regulating Jagged-1 （P 〉 0.05）. No significant difference was observed in the ex- pression of Notch-1, Notch-2, Notch-3, and Jagged-2 between three treatment groups and control group （P 〉 0.05）. Moreover, immunohistochemical analysis showed that the number of CD133 positive cells was significantly reduced by QYHJ treatment （P 〈 0.05）, and the combined treatment was more effective than gemcitabine alone （P 〈 0.05）.CONCLUSION： The role of the extract in pancreatic cancer treatment was associated with down-regulation of Notch-4 and Jagged-1 in Notch signaling pathway. The extract could enhance the antitumor activity of gemcitabine and was more effective than gemcitabine in regulating Notch signaling pathway to some extent.
