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Objective:To evaluate the 3-year survival outcomes of postoperative patients after high exposure to traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） for triple negative breast cancer （TNBC）. Method:The complete 3-year follow-up data of 150 postoperative patients with stage I–III TNBC were retrospectively analyzed. All the patients received routine western medical treatments （surgery， chemotherapy， and/or radiotherapy） according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network （NCCN） clinical practice guidelines in oncology as well as TCM. According to the degree of exposure to TCM， they were divided into the high- and low-exposure cohorts， with the oral administration of Chaihu Longmu Decoction with or without anti-cancer Chinese patent medicine for at least six months annually， or 18 months or more in the three years as the inclusion criterion for the former cohort. The metastatic sites of recurrent TNBC and the recurrent metastasis/death time were observed in both cohorts to compare the disease-free survival （DFS） and overall survival （OS）. The influences of onset age， pathological type， histopathological grade， vascular invasion， clinical stage， and exposure to TCM on survival were subjected to statistical analysis， followed by the observation of adverse effects. Result:There was no significant difference in the metastatic sites between the two cohorts （<italic>P</italic>>0.05）. The high-exposure cohort had a longer 3-year DFS than the low-exposure cohort， and the 3-year DFS rate in the high-exposure cohort was increased by 16.9% （χ<sup>2</sup>=6.995， <italic>P</italic>=0.008） as compared with that in the low-exposure cohort， exhibiting a significant difference （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. As revealed by the Cox proportional-hazards model， patients in the low-exposure cohort had a 3.724-fold as high risk of recurrent metastasis as that in the high-exposure cohort （95%CI 1.399~9.915）. There was no significant difference in the 3-year OS between the two cohorts （<italic>P</italic>>0.05）. The overall incidence of adverse effects in both groups was 7.3%， mainly manifested as gastrointestinal discomfort. Conclusion:High exposure to TCM contributes to reducing postoperative recurrence and metastasis and prolonging DFS.
RESUMO
<p><b>AIM</b>To prepare glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) loaded long-acting injectable microspheres and to evaluate their in vitro release behavior as well as its pharmacodynamics.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>GLP-1 loaded microspheres were prepared with poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) as carrier materials by dowble emulsion (W/O/W) method. Physical and chemical characteristics of microspheres, such as mean diameter, morphology and drug loading were evaluated. The in vitro release behavior and its influencing factors were determined by HPLC, also the bioactivity of GLP-1 in the course of encapsulation process and in vitro release were evaluated by in vivo animal experiments. The effect of reducing plasma glucose about GLP-1 microspheres were evaluated on the diabetes mice.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Microspheres with good shape and dispersive quality were prepared. The drug entrapment efficiency was more than 80%. The accumulated release in one month is up to 85% and the release equation is in accord with zero-class release model. The bioactivity of GLP-1 was conserved with glutin as inner water phase, but in the course of in vitro release, the specific activity of CLP-1 in the microspheres decreased a little. GLP-1 microspheres can decrease the plasma glucose significantly and the effect can go on for one month.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>GLP-1 can be encapsulated in injectable microspheres to yield one-month continuous release when using biodegradable polymers PLGA as carrier material, and this technique will have a favorable perspective in the near future.</p>