BACKGROUNDLentinus edodes polysaccharide (Lentinan) has attracted great attention from both pharmacologists and clinicians as a biological response modifier, and is widely used as an anti-tumor agent in both China and Japan. The aim of this study is to observe the efficacy of Lentinan combined with chemotherapy in stage III-IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODSEighty-one patients with stage III-IV NSCLC were randomly divided into two groups: (1)Lentinan + chemotherapy group (group A, 42 cases); (2)Simple chemotherapy group (group B, 39 cases). The peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8) and natural killer (NK) cell activity of patients in both groups were measured before and after treatment, while compared with healthy control (30 cases). The immune functions, the effect of treatment, quality of life, and adverse reactions were observed.

RESULTSAfter treatment the objective response rate (CR+PR) was 50% in group A, compared to 33% in group B (P < 0.05). The blood T cell levels(CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8) and NK cell activity in group A increased (P < 0.01), CD8 reduced (P < 0.05), but in group B the value had no obvious change (P > 0.05). Quality of life in group A was higher than that in group B (P < 0.01). The incidence of grade II-IV leukopenia, nausea and vomiting in group B was much higher than those in group A (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe therapeutic effect of Lentinan combined with chemotherapy is better than that of chemotherapy alone.