| Disease | THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF SHUANGBAI SAN [SHUANGBAI SAN IS A HOSPITAL PREPARATION OF A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) THAT INCLUDES FIVE MAJOR COMPONENTS: RHUBARB (RADIX ET RHIZOMA RHEI,
POLYGONACEAE, THE DRIED ROOT AND RHIZOME OF RHEUM PALMATUM L.), ARBORVITAE TOPS (PLATYCLADUS ORIENTALIS
(L.) FRANCO, CURPRESSACEAE, THE DRIED BRANCHES AND LEAVES OF P. ORIENTALIS (L.) FRANCO), YELLOW CORKTREE
BARK (PHELLODENDRON AMURENSE, RUTACEAE, THE DRIED BARK OF PHELLODENDRON CHINENSE SCHNEID ), LYCOPUS LUCIDUS
(HERBA LYCOPI, LABIATAE, THE DRIED STEM AND LEAVES OF LYCOPUS LUCIDUS TURCZ.), AND PEPPERMINT (MENTHA
HAPLOCALYX, LABIATAE, THE DRIED OR FRESH STEM AND LEAVES OF M. HAPLOCALYX BRIQ.)] ON RELIEVING PAIN AND IMPROVING QOL IN PRIMARY LIVER CANCER PATIENTS WITH CANCER PAIN. A TOTAL OF 134 PRIMARY LIVER CANCER PATIENTS WITH MILD PAIN (NUMERICAL RATING SCALE [NRS] # 3), EITHER LOCALLY IN THE LIVER OR IN THE UPPER ABDOMEN, WERE ENROLLED AND RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO THE GROUP RECEIVING SHUANGBAI SAN OR THE CONTROL GROUP (RECEIVING PLACEBO). THE PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES WERE THE NRS SCORE AND QOL SCALES, INCLUDING THE QOL SCALE FOR
PATIENTS WITH LIVER CANCER, VERSION 2.0 AND THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF CANCER QOL QUESTIONNAIRE EC30. THE SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES INCLUDED THE KARNOFSKY PERFORMANCE STATUS SCORE, BLOOD INDICATORS, AND LIVER AND KIDNEY FUNCTION BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT. TWO HUNDRED GRAMS OF SHUANGBAI SAN OR PLACEBO COMPOUND WAS MIXED WITH 200 ML WATER AND 20 G HONEY TO MAKE A PASTE, WHICH WAS HEATED IN A MICROWAVE FOR THREE MINUTES. THE MIXTURE WAS SPREAD EVENLY ON A PREPARED TRANSPARENT FILM (APPROXIMATELY
5E10 MM THICK) AND WAS APPLIED AND KEPT IN PLACE AROUND THE LIVER OR UPPER ABDOMEN ONCE IT HAD
COOLED (FOR SIX HOURS EVERY DAY OVER SEVEN DAYS OF TREATMENT).RESULTS. THE NRS SCORES DECREASED MORE SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE SHUANGBAI SAN GROUP THAN IN THE PLACEBO GROUP (P < 0.05) AT THE CORRESPONDING TIME POINTS. THE CHANGES IN THE SCORES FOR THE PHYSICAL FUNCTION, PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION, AND SYMPTOMS/ ADVERSE EFFECTS DOMAINS OF THE QOL SCALE FOR PATIENTS WITH LIVER CANCER, VERSION 2.0 AND THE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, AND COGNITIVE DOMAINS OF THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF CANCER QOL QUESTIONNAIREEC30 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER IN THE SHUANGBAI SAN GROUP THAN IN THE PLACEBO GROUP (P < 0.05). THE CHANGES IN THE SCORES FOR THE OTHER DOMAINS WERE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION. THE USE OF SHUANGBAI SAN CAN RELIEVE MILD PAIN IN LIVER CANCER PATIENTS AND IMPROVE THEIR QOL. |