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The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine 2007;28(3): 531-543. |
| Wheel Balance Cancer Therapy in the Treatment of Metastatic Gastric Carcinoma : A Retrospective Analysis of 62 Patients |
| Jeong-seok Park, Hwa-seung Yoo, Yeon-weol Lee, Jung-hyo Cho, Chang-gue Son, Chong-kwan Cho |
| East-West Cancer Center, College of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon University |
| Correspondence |
Chong-kwan Cho ,Tel: 82-42-470-9132, Fax: 82-42-470-9006, Email: altyhs@dju.ac.kr
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Published online: September 30, 2007. |
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| ABSTRACT |
Backgrounds :
Gastric cancer is one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Gastric cancer patients frequently exhibit distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis and at present, there is no standard regimen after operation or chemotherapy to prevent metastasis and recurrences.
Aims :
The objective of the study was to compare the overall survival and disease free survival in patients treated with wheel balance therapy (WBT) with patients treated with WBT alone or the combination of WBT and conventional therapy and see if there were any significant improvements in survival between the two groups.
Setting & Design :
East-West Cancer Center at Daejeon University; retrospective study.
Materials & Methods :
We retrospectively analyzed 62 patients with stage III (40 patients) and stage IV (22 patients) gastric cancer who have received operation or chemotherapy 2 months prior to beginning WBT. The patients followed the WBT protocol which includes herbal medicine such as PSM capsules, OnePlus syrup, or HAD capsules which prevent metastasis and recurrences. Overall survival and disease free survival were analyzed and the patients were treated for 89.55 weeks and 49.27 weeks (median value) for stages III and IV, respectively.
Statistical analysis used :
Overall survival and disease free survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the WBT and combination treatment arms were compared using the log rank test.
Results:
For stage III, the 3 year overall survival was 78.5% and disease free survival was 78.3%. Metastasis and recurrence occurred in 13 of 40 patients (32.5%). For stage IV, the 2 year overall survival was 18.2% and disease free survival was also 18.2%. Metastasis and recurrence occurred in 19 of 22 patients (86.4%). No significant difference was found statistically between the WBT alone and combination treatment arms though the combination regimen showed superiority (overall survival p=0.5093, disease free survival p=0.5175).
Conclusions:
WBT yielded satisfactory results in prolonging survival and preventing metastasis and recurrence in gastric cancer patients. The major treatment unit of WBT is composed of herbal medications (HAD, PSM capsules, OnePlus syrup) and a randomized, prospective study should be carried out using only this treatment unit in the future. |
| Key words:
stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ advanced gastric cancer, WBT, time to progression, overall survival, disease free survival |
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