Research progress on Chinese materia medica in treatment of chemotherapy-induced leukopenia / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Leukopenia is one of the serious side effects of chemotherapy in cancer therapy, which affects the treatment progress, prognosis, and outcome of cancer patients. Clinically, it mainly relies on colony-stimulating factor drugs such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). However, with the increase of white blood cells number, its function is relatively insufficient. What’s more, the price of G-CSF is high, which is accompanied by certain toxic as well as side effects. So the clinical application is limited. Traditional Chinese medicine has unique advantages and multi-directional effects in preventing and treating chemotherapy side effects and reducing the symptoms of leukopenia. This article reviews the progress of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of leukopenia after chemotherapy by literature retrieval, and provides a reference for the treatment of leukopenia with traditional Chinese medicine in clinic.