Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), a commonly used alternative therapy, has been reported to reduce the side effects of cancer treatments and improve the quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer (BC) patients. However, there is limited research on the effects of CHM in BC patients experiencing hot flushes (HFs) during adjuvant chemotherapy. We conducted a non-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of CHM on side effects, QOL, and changes in meridian electrodermal activity. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with stage I-III BC undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy were non-randomly assigned to either a 24-week CHM treatment group or a 24-week non-CHM control group. The CHM intervention involved a combination of Jia Wei Xiao Yao San and Er Zhi Wan in a 3:1 ratio, with a total daily dose of 4 g taken 3 times a day. The primary outcome was the occurrence of 10 or more HFs per week and the severity of symptoms, rated using a visual analog scale (1-10). Secondary outcomes included the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer questionnaire to assess health-related QOL, and meridian energy analysis to measure skin electrical conductance and sympathetic activity. The difference between the CHM and non-CHM groups in individual changes from baseline to week 24 was evaluated using an independent t-test. RESULTS: A total of 43 participants completed the study, with 25 in the CHM group and 18 in the control group. The CHM group showed a statistically significant reduction in HF frequency at 12 and 24 weeks and a decrease in HF severity at 12 weeks compared to the control group (P < .05). Physical well-being and specific concerns scores also improved significantly over time in the CHM group compared to the control group (P < .05). While CHM treatment did not lead to significant changes in overall electrical conductance at acupoints (P = .251), it did significantly affect specific meridians, including the heart, liver, and kidney (P = .032, P = .035, and P = .035, respectively). Additionally, sympathetic activity was reduced in the CHM group after completing chemotherapy (P = .045). CONCLUSIONS: CHM therapy appears to have a preventive effect on chemotherapy-related HFs in BC patients and is safe, with no severe adverse effects observed.