Ji-hye Park

Traditional Oriental Herbal Medicine and Natural Killer Cells for Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Traditional oriental herbal medicine (HM) is used by cancer patients to improve immunity. Natural killer (NK) cells are associated with development and progression of tumor and survival of cancer patients. This literature review examined randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in four electronic databases until October 2015 to evaluate the effects of oral HM on NK cells in cancer patients. Data were pooled and computed in a meta‐analysis. The methodological quality was assessed according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Sixteen RCTs involving 1326 cancer patients were identified. Combination of HM and conventional treatment was associated with significantly higher level of NK cells compared with conventional cancer treatments (standardized mean difference, 1.218; 95% confidence interval 0.719–1.717; p < 0.001). Eight RCTs reported statistically significant improvements in the proportions or activity of NK cells in patient groups who received both HM and conventional treatment compared with patients who received conventional treatment alone, while eight RCTs reported no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Studies (n = 16) included in this review had insufficient quality of evidence with unclear (n = 1) and high (n = 15) values of the risk of bias. Although traditional oriental HM may have the positive effects on preserving the level of NK cells in cancer patients receiving conventional treatments, current evidence is inconclusive because of lack of high‐quality evidence. Copyright

Cancer-related Fatigue in Patients with Advanced Cancer Treated with Autonomic Nerve Pharmacopuncture.

The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of autonomic nerve pharmacopuncture (ANP) treatment on cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in patients with advanced cancer. This observational case study was conducted at the East West Cancer Center of Daejeon Universitys Dunsan Korean Medical Hospital. Two patients were observed. One patient was diagnosed with left thymic cancer metastatic to the left pleura. The other patient had terminal-stage cervical cancer with iliac bone and lumbar 5 metastases. We injected mountain ginseng pharmacopuncture (MGP) into acupoints alongside the spine (Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue, EX B2). We examined the patients for CRF using the Korean version of the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale (RPFS-K), which is a self-assessment tool. The scores on the RPFS-K for both patients tended to decrease during the treatment. Laboratory findings, including hematological changes, were also checked. Liver and renal function tests showed that the treatment was safe. Although further large-population studies are necessary, this case study suggests that ANP has a favorable effect on CRF in patients with advanced cancer.

Cancer Pain Control for Advanced Cancer Patients by Using Autonomic Nerve Pharmacopuncture

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report a case series of advanced cancer patients whose cancer pain was relieved by using autonomic nerve pharmacopuncture (ANP) treatment. ANP is a subcutaneous injection therapy of mountain ginseng pharmacopuncture (MGP) along the acupoints on the spine (Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue; 0.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous processes of vertebrae) to enhance the immune system and to balance autonomic nerve function. Methods: Patients with three different types of cancer (gastric cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer with distant metastases) with cancer pain were treated with ANP. 1 mL of MGP was injected into the bilateral Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue on the T1-L5 sites (total 12 ─ 20 mL injection) of each patient’s dorsum by using the principle of symptom differentiation. During ANP treatment, the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain was used to assess their levels of cancer pain; also, the dosage and the frequency of analgesic use were measured. Results: The cancer pain levels of all three patients improved with treatment using ANP. The VAS scores of the three patients decreased as the treatment progressed. The dosage and the frequency of analgesics also gradually decreased during the treatment period. Significantly, no related adverse events were found. Conclusion: ANP has shown benefit in controlling cancer pain for the three different types of cancer investigated in this study and in reducing the dosage and the frequency of analgesics. ANP is expected to be beneficial for reducing cancer pain and, thus, to be a promising new treatment for cancer pain.

Effects of HAD-B1 on the proliferation of A549 cisplatin-resistant lung cancer cells

The present study investigated the toxicity of HangAmDan-B1 (HAD-B1) on A549-Cisplatin resistant (A549CR) cells. HAD‑B1 inhibited the growth of A549CR cells in a concentration‑dependent manner; HAD‑B1 was more effective at inhibiting A549CR cell viability compared with vehicle‑treated cells. The reduction in viability may be due to S‑phase cell cycle arrest and the induction of apoptosis in HAD‑B1‑treated cells. Cell cycle protein profile analysis of HAD‑B1‑treated A549CR cells using an InnoPharmaScreen (IPS) ProteoChip‑based antibody microarray chip indicated downregulation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3. The activities of caspase‑3, ‑8 and ‑9 were significantly increased in HAD‑B1‑treated cells when compared with the vehicle‑treated control group. Furthermore, the HAD‑B1‑treated group exhibited similarly increased caspase levels when compared with the Afatinib‑treated group. Taken together, these observations suggest that HAD‑B1 may be a promising candidate for further research into the therapeutic management of cisplatin-resistant lung cancer.

Tumor-reducing effect of SB injection in a non-small cell lung cancer patient: A case report

Abstract Tumor-reducing effect of SB injection in a non-small cell lung cancer patient: A case report Ji Hye Park, So Jung Park, Hwi Joong Kang, Chong Kwan Cho, Kyun In Han, Hwa Seung Yoo* East West Cancer Center, Dunsan Korean Medicine Hospital of Daejeon University Received 3 December 2014, revised 19 December 2014, accepted 20 December 2014 Objectives : To study the effect of SB injection on tumor size in an advanced non-small cell lung cancer patient. Methods : A patient was clinically diagnosed as advanced non-small cell lung cancer (Stage Ⅲa). Four cycles of intravenous SB injection were conducted. Each cycle lasted 4 days. The content of 7vials SB was injected every day. To compare the tumor size before treatment and after four cycles of SB injection, chest computed tomography (CT) was performed. Results : Follow-up CT images showed that the tumor size was reduced. In admission, size of the tumor 6.7×8.5×9.5 cm on the left lower lobe of lung. After SB injection, size of the tumor 5.6×6.8×8.4 cm by Chest CT. The patients symptoms such as cough, sputum were improving until four cycles of SB injection. Numerical rating scale (NRS) showed improvement of Chest pain from point 3 to point 0.