A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Feiji Recipe on Quality of Life of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

In order to pilot a study observing the feasibility of applying the Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) version 2.0 to assess the quality of life (QOL) of patients with NSCLC treated with Feiji Recipe, a randomized, parallel controlled clinical trial was conducted in the university-affiliated hospital. Seventy inpatients who met the inclusion criteria were randomized into the study, and 60 cases were available as subjects for QOL data analysis. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the Feiji Recipe group (A); the Feiji Recipe combined with chemotherapy group (B); and the chemotherapy group (C) in which the patients were treated with vinorelbine plus cisplatin (NP) or gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP). QOL was assessed with the Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30. Sixty cases that finished the questionnaires were analyzed, and we found that patients who received chemotherapy had low QOL, in terms of their global health, role, emotional, social, economic status and symptom burden including fatigue, nausea and vomiting, dyspnea, loss of appetite and abnormal bowel movements. Simultaneous treatment with Feiji Recipe and chemotherapy was able to prevent the worsening of function in terms of role, social, fatigue and global health. The Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) version 2.0 can be used to evaluate the QOL of patients with NSCLC treated by Chinese herbal medicine. Feiji Recipe might partially improve the QOL of NSCLC patients when administered alone or in combination with chemotherapy. No unexpected side effects were observed. However, further double-blinded placebo controlled studies are strongly recommended.