A Preliminary Randomised Controlled Study of Short-Term Antrodia cinnamomea Treatment Combined with Chemotherapy for Patients with Advanced Cancer

Authors: Ming-Yen Tsai, Yu-Chiang Hung, Yen-Hao Chen, Yung-Hsiang Chen, Yu-Chuen Huang, Chao-Wei Kao, Yu-Li Su, Hsien-Hsueh Elley Chiu, and Kun-Ming Rau

Journal: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Study Design: Double-blind, randomized clinical study

Participants: 37 patients with advanced and/or metastatic adenocarcinoma

Trial Length: 30 days

Intervention:

• Treatment group: Routine chemotherapy regimens with Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) (20 ml twice daily) orally for 30 days
• Control group: Routine chemotherapy regimens with placebo

Outcome Measures:

• 6-month overall survival (OS)
• Disease control rate (DCR)
• Quality of life (QOL)
• Adverse events (AE)
• Biochemical features

Summary:

The study investigated the safety and efficacy of short-term AC treatment combined with chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancer. There was no significant difference in overall survival between the groups. The AC group showed significant improvements in sleep quality. There was a significant decrease in platelet counts in the AC group. The study concluded that AC combined with chemotherapy did not improve the outcome of advanced cancer patients, possibly due to the small sample size.   Sources and related content