Clinical study on safety of cantharidin sodium and shenmai injection combined with chemotherapy in treating patients with breast cancer postoperatively.

OBJECTIVES To assess side effects on Cantharidin sodium and Shenmai injection combined with chemotherapy in treating patients with breast cancer postoperatively. METHOD Patients with breast cancer receiving postoperative chemotherapy were retrospectively collected, and divided into four groups: group A with cantharidin sodium injection combined with chemotherapy; group B with Shenmai injection combined with chemotherapy; group C with both cantharidin sodium and Shenmai injection combined with chemotherapy; while group D (control group) received chemotherapy alone. All patients were administered docetaxel at a dose of 75 mg/m2 on day 1, epirubicin hydrochloride at a dose of 60 mg/m2 on day 1, and cyclophosphamide at a dose of 500 mg/m2 on day 1 for 3 cycles (repeated at 21 day intervals). After ≥ three courses of treatment, quality of life and side effects were evaluated. RESULTS There were a total of 78 patients in this study, and the incidence of leukopenia and gastrointestinal reactions in groups A and B were lower than those in the control group and lowest in group C (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Thus cantharidin sodium and Shenmai injection combined with chemotherapy reduce side effects and deserve to be further investigated in randomized clinical control trials.