OBJECTIVE:To observe clinical efficacy and safety of Astragalus injection combined with neoadjuvant chemother-apy and three dimensional conformal radiotherapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer. METHODS:A total of 80 patients with me-dium and advanced colorectal cancer were selected from oncology department of our hospital during Jun. 2010 to Jun. 2014,and di-vided into observation group and control group according to random number table,with 40 cases in each group. Control group re-ceived neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. Observation group was additionally giv-en Astragalus injection 10-20 mL added into 5％ Glucose injection 250-500 mL,ivgtt,qd,on the basis of control group. A treat-ment course lasted for 21 d,and both groups received 3 courses. Short-term efficacies as well as immune indexes [CD3+,CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ and NK cells] before and after treatment were observed in 2 groups. The occurrence of ADR and survival situation were compared between 2 groups. RESULTS:Clinical response rate of observation group was 87.5％,which was slightly higher than that of control group(77.5％),but there was no statistical significance(P>0.05). Before treatment,there was no statistical signifi-cance in immune index levels between 2 groups(P>0.05). After treatment,NK cells,CD3+,CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ levels of con-trol group were decreased significantly,which was significantly lower than observation group,with statistical significance (P<0.05). There was no statistical significance in the incidence of ADR between 2 groups(P>0.05). Two-year survival rate of observa-tion group was significantly higher than that of control group;the recurrence rate and distant metastasis rate were significantly low-er than control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Astragalus injection not only can improve therapeu-tic efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer,balance inflammatory state,improve survival rate,re-duce recurrence rate and distant metastasis rate with good safety.

OBJECTIVE:To study the effects of ginsenoside CK combined with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on the proliferation, apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells. METHODS:PANC-1 cells of logarithmic growth phase were randomly divided into blank control group,ginsenoside CK group (30 mg/L),5-FU group (25 mg/L)and combination group(ginsenoside CK 30 mg/L+5-FU 25 mg/L). MTT method was used to detect the cell proliferation in-hibition rate in each group after 24,48,72 h;flow cytometry was used to detect the cell apoptosis rate after 48 h;enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the fibronectin expression in cells after 24,48,72,96 h;and Western blot was used to detect the expressions of vimentin,N-cadherin,E-cadherin,protein kinase(Akt)and phosphorylated Akt(p-Akt)protein in cells after 48 h. RESULTS:Compared with blank control group,the cell proliferation inhibition rate,early and late apoptotic rates,pro-tein expression level of E-cadherin in ginsenoside CK group,5-FU group and combination group were obviously increased (P<0.05),while the protein expression levels of fibronectin,vimentin,N-cadherin,and p-Akt/Akt levels were obviously decreased (P<0.05);the effects of above-mentioned indexes in combination group were superior to ginsenoside CK group and 5-FU group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Both ginsenoside CK and 5-FU can inhibit the proliferation of PANC-1 cells,induce their apoptosis and inhibit EMT,which may be associated with inhibiting phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway. In addition,the combination of ginsenoside CK and 5-FU can produce a better effect.