Beta-elemene treatment is associated with improved outcomes of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Introduction
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide [1], and causes more than 400,000 deaths annually [2]. China is one of the countries with highest morbidity and mortality of esophageal cancer which causes 15,000 deaths per year [3]. According to the types of cells involved, the main subtype of esophageal cancer in China is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma [4]. In the past several decades, preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery has been widely studied for treating esophageal cancer and is considered to be one of the standard managements for resectable locally advanced esophageal cancer because of its survival benefits [5], [6]. This tri-modality therapy leads to tumor downstaging and increased likelihood of achieving a complete surgical resection [7]. However, shortcomings of the tri-modality therapy still exist, such as increased posteroperative morbidity and mortality [6]. So, development of new treatment is still in a great demand.
β-elemene, isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Curcuma wenyujin, is an broad-spectrum antitumor drug and exhibits antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo [8]. It has been approved as a medical treatment in clinical practice by the State Administration of Pharmacy of China and Ministry of Health People's Republic of China [8]. In the past several decades, β-elemene was widely studied basically and clinically in China [9]. However, so far, no clinical research about β-elemene treatment with special focus on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma has been done. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the use of β-elemene in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and assessed the survival benefits.
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Methods and materials
This study was approved by the institutional ethic committee at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and performed in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration.
Clinical characteristics of the patients
Table 1 showed the baseline characteristics of the patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. A total of 102 patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by curative surgery were included in this study according to aforementioned inclusion criteria. Among them, 89 patients (87%) were male and 13 patients (13%) were female. In total, 48 patients (47%) received β-elemene treatment. The differences of the clinical parameters between the patients treated with and without
Discussion
In the past several decades, Traditional Chinese Medicine has been widely studied basically and clinically as adjuvant therapy for treating cancer [10], including esophageal cancer [11], [12], [13]. β-elemene, as a herbal drug approved by the State Administration of Pharmacy of China and Ministry of Health People's Republic of China [8], was widely used clinically in China in cancer treatment as adjuvant therapy [14], [15], [16], [17], including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treatment [18]
Conflict of interests
None.
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2021, Biomedicine and PharmacotherapyCitation Excerpt :Whether β-elemene could play a positive role in the treatment of central nervous system metastases still requires further investigation and an analysis of more cases. An investigation of β-elemene treatment of esophageal cancer in 102 patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery, the outcome had suggested that β-elemene could prolong the overall survival time and progression-free survival time, and reduce chemoradiotherapy-associated toxicities [206]. In addition, β-elemene could also effectively enhance the therapeutic effects of cisplatin, fluorouracil, TF chemotherapy regimen and three-dimensional conformation radiotherapy etc. for esophageal cancer.