Aidi injection as adjunctive treatment to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Context Aidi injection is one of the most commonly use antitumor Chinese medicine injections for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is made from the extraction of Astragalus, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Ginseng , and Cantharis. Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Aidi injection in combination with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy (GBC) for advanced NSCLC. Materials and methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biological Medicine, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and VIP were searched for relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing Aidi injection plus GBC treatment with GBC alone in NSCLC, from inception up to October 2020. The primary outcomes were objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR). Secondary outcomes were quality of life (QOL) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The quality of evidence was rated using the GRADE approach. This study was registered with PROSPERO: CRD42021221225. Results In total, 54 RCTs involving 4318 NSCLC patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with GBC alone, Aidi injection plus GBC significantly improve ORR (risk ratios [RR] = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.29–1.48), DCR (RR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.12–1.19), QOL (RR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.54–1.89), and reduced the risk of gastrointestinal toxicity, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, liver injury, renal injury, and anaemia. The evaluation results of the evidence ranged from moderate to low. Conclusions Current moderate evidence revealed that Aidi injection as an adjunctive treatment to GBC was associated with superior benefits in patients with advanced NSCLC and alleviate toxicities. High-quality RCTs are needed to further confirm the results.

A Phyto-mycotherapeutic Supplement, Namely Ganostile, as Effective Adjuvant in Brain Cancer Management: An In Vitro Study Using U251 Human Glioblastoma Cell Line

“…Diversely, a paucity of data exists concerning the effects induced by the other two extracts composing the blend, i.e., E. senticosus and E. purpurea , on glioma or GBM cell lines. Nevertheless, the immunomodulatory action and antioxidant properties of both E. senticosus and E. purpurea have been recorded [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ], revealing their ability to activate an ancillary onco-suppression mechanism and to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy [ 62 ]. Therefore, although the current data are preliminary and further investigations could be carried out to better highlight possible synergistic effects of the proposed treatments, evaluating potential in vitro antitumor activity after combined treatments using the proposed chemotherapeutic and phyto-mycotherapeutic treatments (e.g., through the use of Chou and Talalay or similar formalism), as well as the possible in vivo metabolism, immunomodulatory effects, and blood–brain barrier permeability, the present investigation seems to support the use of this phyto-micotherapeutic preparation as a promising adjuvant in the field of integrative oncology, also paving the way to further in-depth studies devoted to clarifying the cellular/molecular mechanisms induced by each natural extract composing Ganostile .…”

Advances for pharmacological activities of Polygonum cuspidatum - A review

“…Nowadays, people use herbal medicine alone or as a supplement to treat many diseases, such as cancer (Guo et al. 2021 ), cardiovascular (Xu et al. 2019 ), cerebrovascular, and nervous system diseases (Lu et al.…”

Cantharidin suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma development by regulating EZH2/H3K27me3-dependent cell cycle progression and antitumour immune response

“…Cantharidin and related pharmaceutical preparations have been reported to have anticancer activity [ 6 – 8 ]. For example, CTD is a major ingredient of Aidi injection (China Food and Drug Administration Z52020236) [ 7 ], which is approved for clinical use in China in 2002 [ 6 , 7 ], and is widely used for the treatment of several cancer types, including liver cancer [ 7 , 8 ], lung cancer [ 9 ], colorectal cancer [ 8 ], and gastric carcinoma [ 10 ].…”