Objective:

2

To evaluate the effect of Chinese herbal medicine formula

modified Liujunzi Decoction (六君子汤

MLJZT)

for anorexia

utilized as adjunct therapy during chemotherapy treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods:

2

The study adopted a propensity score-matched design based on a prospective database. From February 2016 to September 2017

patients with advanced NSCLC that received both cisplatin-based chemotherapy and MLJZT (IM group) were 1:1 propensity score-matched to patients that received the cisplatin-based chemotherapy alone (control group). Changes in anorexia and weight

as well as side effects were evaluated per week within 4-cycle chemotherapy.

Results:

2

Overall

156 patients with advanced NSCLC that had received chemotherapy from our database were identified and 53 pairs were matched successfully. In total

48.6% (50/53) of patients in the IM group had anorexia-improvement compared to 28.3% (15/53) of patients in the control group

and a total of 39.6% (21/53) of patients in the control group had a worsening of anorexia compared to only 7.8% (8/53) of patients in the IM group (

P

<

0.01). The weight reduced significantly over time in the control group (–2.36±2.53 kg) as compared to the IM group (–0.62±3.89 kg

P

<

0.01). CHM didn't reduce the efficacy of chemotherapy in shrinking tumor size

and didn't increase the incidence of side effects such as hematological and hepatorenal toxicity.

Conclusion:

2

MLJZT is effective and safe for alleviating anorexia in patients with NSCLC. These findings warrant the conduct of a randomized controlled trial.