Quality of Life and Neutropenia in Patients with Early Stage Breast Cancer: A Randomized Pilot Study Comparing Additional Treatment with Mistletoe Extract to Chemotherapy Alone
Autor: | Nevena Tišma, Svetlana Jezdić, Miodrag Matijašević, Zdravko Ždrale, Harald J. Hamre, Wilfried Tröger |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2009 |
Předmět: |
Cancer Research
medicine.medical_specialty Cyclophosphamide mistletoe therapy medicine.medical_treatment Neutropenia Bioinformatics lcsh:RC254-282 law.invention Mistletoe extract Breast cancer mistletoe thereapy breast cancer Quality of life Randomized controlled trial law Internal medicine medicine neutropenia Original Research Chemotherapy business.industry Cancer medicine.disease randomized clinical trial lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens Oncology quality of life business medicine.drug |
Zdroj: | Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research, Vol 3 (2009) Breast Cancer : Basic and Clinical Research Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research, Vol 3, Pp 35-45 (2009) |
ISSN: | 1178-2234 |
Popis: | Background: Chemotherapy for breast cancer often deteriorates quality of life, augments fatigue, and induces neutropenia. Mistletoe preparations are frequently used by cancer patients in Central Europe. Physicians have reported better quality of life in breast cancer patients additionally treated with mistletoe preparations during chemotherapy. Mistletoe preparations also have immunostimulant properties and might therefore have protective effects against chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Patients and Methods: We conducted a prospective randomized open label pilot study with 95 patients randomized into three groups. Two groups received Iscador ® M special (IMS) or a different mistletoe preparation, respectively, additionally to chemotherapy with six cycles of cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, and 5-fluoro-uracil (CAF). A control group received CAF with no additional therapy. Here we report the comparison IMS (n = 30) vs. control (n = 31). Quality of life including fatigue was assessed with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30). Neutropenia was defined as neutrophil counts 1,000/µl and assessed at baseline and one day before each CAF cycle. Results: In the descriptive analysis all 15 scores of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 showed better quality of life in the IMS group compared to the control group. In 12 scores the differences were significant (p 0.02) and nine scores showed a clinically relevant and significant difference of at least 5 points. Neutropenia occurred in 3/30 IMS patients and in 8/31 control patients (p = 0.182). Conclusions: This pilot study showed an improvement of quality of life by treating breast cancer patients with IMS additionally to CAF. CAF-induced neutropenia showed a trend to lower frequency in the IMS group. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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