Traditional herbal medicine as adjunctive therapy for colorectal cancer:a scoping review

Background:A variety of therapy options are available for colorectal cancer,ranging from traditional medicine to complementary and alternative medicine.There is a growing body of evidence supporting the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine.Therefore,the main aim of this study is to conduct a scoping evaluation of traditional and herbal medicine’s effectiveness as an additional therapy for colorectal cancer patients in clinical settings.Methods:A systematic search was conducted for all articles pertaining to clinical trials related to traditional herbal medicine(THM)with or without other treatments,such as chemotherapy,placebos,or other types of treatment,published from 2010 to November 13,2020,using four search engines,namely Medline,Web of Science,Cochrane Library,and Scopus.Results:The number of colorectal cancer patients in five trials ranged from 89 to 565 people.The THMs stated in these studies were catalpol(Rehmannia glutinosa extract),the traditional Japanese medicine Daikenchuto(mixture of herbal extracts)and Goshajinkigan,Chinese patent herbal medicine Aidi injection,and the traditional Chinese medicine Simo decoction.Positive results were reported in term of reduction of colorectal cancer tumour marker(by catalpol),improvement of gastrointestinal function following gastrointestinal surgery(by Daikenchuto and Simo decoction),better disease control rate and quality of life score(by combination of Aidi injection and chemotherapy),and a decrease in the incidence of oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neurotoxicity(Goshajinkigan).Conclusion:All studies demonstrated fewer adverse effects found in THM intervention groups,however,evidence pointing to THMs’favourable effects on colorectal cancer patients is still required.Therefore,researchers and clinicians are encouraged to perform more research in this area so that more evidence of THM’s efficacy and safety in clinical settings can be obtained.

Clinical Observation of Treatment of Hyperbilirubinemia in the Newborn by Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine

Objective: To find a method of treatment for correcting hyperbilirubinemia timely and effectively to prevent bilirubin induced cerebral damage in the newborn. Methods: The newborns with hyperbilirubinemia in the treated group were treated with conventional treatment plus Butyribacterial preparation (BBP) and Simo Decoction (SMD, 四磨饮) taken orally, and the effect was compared with that in control group A treated with conventional treatment only and that in control group B treated with conventional treatment plus BBP. Results: The mean daily decreasing rate of bilirubin in the treated group was 51.11±25.03 μmol/L, which was higher than that in control groups A (39.36±22.44 μmol/L) and B (43.24±24.18 μmol/L), respectively ( P <0.01 and P <0.05). The bilirubin decreasing value on the first day and the speed of bilirubin decreasing (to 102.6 μmol/L) in the treated group were both higher than those in the control groups, P <0.01. Conclusion: The combined therapy of conventional treatment plus BBP and SMD could rapidly reduce the blood bilirubin level in the newborn with hyperbilirubinemia, and shorten the therapeutic course markedly, and the therapeutic effect is superior to that of the conventional treatment alone or that of the conventional treatment plus BBP only.