A Retrospective Study of Chinese Herbal Medicine Combined with Systemic Chemotherapy and/or Regional Arterial Perfusion for Pancreatic Cancer with Liver Metastases / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine combined with systemic chemotherapy and/or regional arterial perfusion for pancreatic cancer with liver metastases (PCLM).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrospectively selected 292 patients with PCLM who were treated by Chinese herbal medicine combined with systemic chemotherapy and/or regional arterial perfusion at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital from January 2001 to December 2010. All patients were assigned to the Western medicine treatment group (157 cases) and the integrative medicine treatment group (135 cases). Patients in the Western medicine treatment group were treated with gemcitabine (GEM)-based chemotherapy, and partial of them received regional arterial perfusion. Those in the integrative medicine treatment group additionally took Chinese herbs of clearing heat and eliminating mass for at least 4 weeks. The median survival time (MST) , adverse reactions and the incidence of complications were observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no statistical significance in general data between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was statistical difference in MST between the two groups (4.8 months vs 5.5 months, P < 0.05). No death occurred during chemotherapy or regional arterial perfusion. All toxic or adverse reactions were tolerable.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Chinese herbal medicine combined with systemic chemotherapy and/or regional arterial perfusion was effective and safe, and it could be optimally selected as palliative therapy for PCLM.</p>

Diagnosis and treatment of epithelioid sarcoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of epithelioid sarcoma (ES).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 13 cases with epithelioid sarcoma in the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from March 1995 to December 2009 were collected and analyzed. There were 10 males and 3 females in the group, with an average age of 41.5 years (range: 13 to 68 years). Nine patients had classic ES and 4 had proximal-type ES. Surgery was the mainstay of treatment. After the operation, four patients received radiotherapy, five received chemotherapy, and one received chemoradiotherapy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 13 cases, only 1 had multi-locus lesion. The average tumor size was (6.07 ± 1.34) cm. The lymph node involvement was found in 46.2% of the patients. Local and distant failure occurred in 50% and 30% patients, respectively. The most common site for dissemination was the lung. Four cases died within 3 years after initial operation. The 1-, 2-, 5-, 10-year overall survival rates of the 11 cases were 72.7%, 54.5%, 27.3% and 9.1%, respectively, with a median survival time of 27 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare disease. The prognosis for patients with epithelioid sarcoma is poor because of a high propensity for local recurrence, lymph node metastases, and/or distant metastases. The definite diagnosis depends mainly on the pathologic examination. Wide surgical excision is the mainstay treatment, and radiation and chemotherapy have been used occasionally as adjuvant therapy but have had limited success.</p>