Chinese herbal medicine Guilu Erxian Jiao attenuates bone marrow suppression following chemotherapy in patients with advanced lung cancer

In recent decades, a classic recipe in traditional Chinese medicine, Guilu erxian jiao (GEJ), has been used in the prevention and treatment of myelosuppression following cancer chemotherapy. However, the safety and efficacy of GEJ has not been studied. In the present study, we investigated the safety and efficacy of GEJ in the management of myelosuppression in a cohort of advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients who received 4 cycles of chemotherapy. Treatment with GEJ was compared to the conventional treatment with pegylated recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (PEG-rhG-CSF). The GEJ treatment group (38 patients) was orally administered GEJ whilst the control group (25 patients) were treated with PEG-rhG-CSF during the 4 cycles of chemotherapy. We found that GEJ was as safe as the recommended treatment, PEG-rhG-CSF. GEJ patients recovered from suppressed bone marrow in a much steadier approach, compared with the highly fluctuating changes observed in PEG-rhG-CSF treatment. Our data suggests that GEJ may be a better alternative to manage cancer chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression.