Clinical Study On The Influence Of Replenishing Qi On Gastric Cancer Patients Accepting Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy

Objective:To investigate the influence of replenishing Qi on gastric cancer patients accepting neo-adjuvant chemotherapy with special regard to quality of life(QOL) and body immunity and to explore the molecular mechanism of the synergistic effect of replenishing Qi and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.Methods:76 patients with resectable gastric cancer were randomized into two groups,38 in the experiment group and 38 in the control group. All patients accepted operation after one cycle(14 days) of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFOX-4(oxaplatin,5-fluorouracil and leucovorin). Patients in the experiment group also accepted herbal treatment for replenishing Qi.Early efficacy, Karnofsky score, scores of symptoms, safety and adverse reactions were evaluated. Concentration of sIL-2R was analyzed with double antibody sandwich ELISA assay. Apoptosis of gastric cancer tissue was observed morphologically with TUNEL method. Apoptotic index(AI) and Ki-67 proliferation index(PI) of gastric cancer cells were analyzed with immunohistochemistry S-P method.Results:Compared with control, patients accepted replenishing Qi intervention benefited from better KPS scores and body immunities, less body weight loss and lower incidence of degreeⅢandⅣadverse reactions. The differences are of significance (P<0.05).Apoptotic index in the experiment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01)and Ki-67 profiferation index was significantly lower than that in control (P<0.01). Intestinal peristalsis recovered faster in the experiment group. Post-operative complications were not increased in the patients accepted replenishing Qi intervention.Conclusions:Replenishing Qi may improve symptoms and QOL of gastric cancer patients, reduce toxic and adverse reactions of chemotherapy, enhance body immunities and reactivate paralyzed bowels after operation. Replenishing Qi and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy exert synergistic effects in inducing gastric cancer cell apoptosis and suppressing proliferation. Replenishing Qi doesn’t increase post-operative complication of gastric cancer.