Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Apr 26, 2021; 9(12): 2845-2853
Published online Apr 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i12.2845
Partial response to Chinese patent medicine Kangliu pill for adult glioblastoma: A case report and review of the literature
Ge Sun, Wei Zhuang, Qing-Tang Lin, Lei-Ming Wang, Yu-Hang Zhen, Sheng-Yan Xi, Xiao-Lan Lin
Ge Sun, Wei Zhuang, Lei-Ming Wang, Xiao-Lan Lin, Department of Pharmacy, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
Qing-Tang Lin, Yu-Hang Zhen, Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
Sheng-Yan Xi, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Medicine and Cancer Research Center, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Sun G, Zhuang W and Lin QT were responsible for the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation; Sun G was responsible for composing the manuscript; Wang LM was responsible for pathological data collection, analysis, and interpretation; Zhen YH analyzed and interpreted the neuroimaging findings; Xi SY was responsible for English and grammar corrections, critical revisions, and approved the final version; Xi SY and Lin XL were responsible for acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, revision for important intellectual content, final approval of the version for publication, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work related to its accuracy and integrity. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Supported by the Foundation for Beijing Science and Technology Development of TCM, No. JJ2016-10; and the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Innovative Talents Training Project from Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, No. Z171100001717006.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors are solely responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Lan Lin, Chief Pharmacist, Reader (Associate Professor), Department of Pharmacy, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45 Changchun Street, Beijing 100053, China. xllin83@163.com
Received: November 16, 2020
Peer-review started: November 16, 2020
First decision: December 30, 2020
Revised: January 13, 2021
Accepted: February 22, 2021
Article in press: February 22, 2021
Published online: April 26, 2021
Processing time: 147 Days and 20.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain tumor and is invariably fatal, with a mean survival time of 8-15 mo for recently diagnosed tumors, and a 5-year survival rate of only 7.2%. The standard treatment for newly diagnosed glioblastoma includes surgery followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy and further adjuvant temozolomide. However, the prognosis remains poor and long-term survival is rare. This report aimed to demonstrate a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma.

CASE SUMMARY

A patient was referred to the Department of Neurosurgery with an intracranial space-occupying lesion with a maximum diameter of approximately 5 cm. The tumor was compressing functional areas, and the patient accordingly underwent partial resection and concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The imaging and pathological findings were consistent with a diagnosis of glioblastoma with oligodendroglioma differentiation (World Health Organization IV). The patient was finally diagnosed with glioblastoma. However, the patient discontinued treatment due to intolerable side effects, and was prescribed Kangliu pill (KLP) 7.5 g three times/d, which he has continued to date. Significant shrinkage of the tumor (maximum diameter reduced from about 3.5 to about 2 cm) was found after 3 mo of KLP therapy, and the tumor was further reduced to about 1 cm after 3 years. The patient’s symptoms of headache, limb weakness, and left hemiplegia were relieved, with no side effects.

CONCLUSION

KLP has been a successful intervention for glioblastoma, and the current case indicates that traditional Chinese medicine may offer effective alternative therapies for glioblastoma.

Keywords: Glioblastoma; Kangliu pill; Traditional Chinese medicine; Therapeutic effect; Adjunct therapy; Chinese patent medicine; Case report

Core Tip: Glioblastoma is the most common type of malignant primary brain cancer. The standard treatment for newly diagnosed glioblastoma includes surgery followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy and further adjuvant temozolomide. However, patients usually have a poor prognosis and high recurrence rate, and may develop drug resistance and serious adverse reactions to chemotherapy. Some recent studies suggested that traditional Chinese medicine may have a good therapeutic effect in patients with glioblastoma, and it is generally used as an adjunct therapy for various stages of tumors in clinical practice. We report a patient with glioblastoma who abandoned chemoradiotherapy due to intolerance, and subsequently received the Chinese patent medicine Kangliu pill without any other treatment. Three months after the start of treatment, the patient had a partial response, which persisted for more than 3 years. This surprising discovery indicates that the Chinese patent medicine Kangliu pill may provide a new option for the treatment of glioblastoma.