OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of integrative therapy on elderly patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), thus providing clinical evidence for further studies.

METHODSTotally 91 elderly patients with advanced NSCLC were randomly assigned to three groups, i.e., the Chinese medicine (CM) group (Group I, 31 cases), the chemotherapy group (Group II, 30 cases), and the CM and chemotherapy combination group (Group III, 30 cases). Oral administration of CM decoction and intravenous dripping of Chinese patent medicine were given to patients in Group I. Patients in Group II received chemotherapeutic protocol alone. Patients in Group III received chemotherapeutic protocol while taking CM decoction. Twenty-eight days were taken as one therapeutic course, and two courses in total. They were observed for two treatment courses by taking Symptoms Scale of CM to Primary Lung Cancer, bone marrow depression score, and progression-free survival (PFS) as therapeutic efficacy indices. Meanwhile, the Cox's proportional hazards regression model was established to analyze the favorable factors and risk factors that influenced patients' PFS.

RESULTSThe CM symptom integral of Group I and Group III was superior to that before treatment, showing statistical difference (P < 0.01). The occurrence of bone marrow depression in Group III was lower than that in Group II. The degree of bone marrow depression was also milder in Group III than in Group II, but there was no statistical difference in inter-group comparison (P = 0.097, P = 0.299). The PFS was 202 days in Group III, 168 days in Group I, and 129 days in Group II. It was better in Group III than in Group II (P = 0.0157). The Cox regression analysis showed that positive factors to longer PFS included CM + chemotherapy, no surgical management, and PS = 1.

CONCLUSIONSCM therapy could improve the symptoms of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. It might extend the PFS of the elderly patients by CM therapy combined with chemotherapy.