Personalized cancer therapy for stage IV non-small cell lung cancer: Combined use of active hexose correlated compound and genistein concentrated polysaccharide

This study aims to provide a strategy for personalized cancer therapy that results in increased survival time with better and more stable quality of life (QOL).Methods and patientsActive hexose correlated compound (AHCC) and genistein concentrated polysaccharide (GCP) were administered to patients diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with distant metastasis (M1). AHCC and GCP were consumed orally by concurrent or sequential use. Long-term follow-up study was conducted from January 1996 to January 2012 using the individualized evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach. Forty-two cases of NSCLC were enrolled in this study.ResultsThe cumulative survival rate after 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of treatment were 80.6%, 56.8%, 24.3%, 8.1%, and 5.4%, respectively. Median survival time (MST) was relatively longer at 28.26 months, as compared to that of current cancer therapies that solely involve chemotherapy. Evaluation of QOL showed that 40% of the 42 M1 cases achieved excellent (Class A) and good (Class B) QOL according to our 5-level QOL scoring.ConclusionsAHCC and GCP resulted in increased patient survival time, better QOL, and reduced adverse effects related to cancer chemotherapy.