Objective: To seek for the effective therapeutical method in treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).
Methods: One hundred and sixty seven patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were randomly divided into two groups, the treatment group, which consisted of 112 cases using Chinese herbs combined with chemotherapy and 55 cases of control group were treated by chemotherapy only.
Results: The effective rate (CR + PR) in the combined group was 91.96% and survival rates of 1-, 3- and 5-year were 85.7%, 54.5% and 29.5% respectively, and median survival time was 554 days. In control group the effective rate was 72.73% and 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 76.4%, 38.2% and 18.2% respectively, and the median survival time was 465 days. The difference of effective rates or 3-year survival rates between two groups was significant (P < 0.05). In the combined group the activity of NK cell, OKT3, OKT4 and ratio of OKT4/OKT8 were obviously raised after treatment (P < 0.01). And the level of platelet adhesion rate and the blood viscosity markedly decreased (P < 0.01), but in the control group the values of these indexes did not distinctly change.
Conclusion: Chinese herbs could enhance the immunologic function and improve the viscosity of blood of the patients with NHL. The side effect in the combination therapy group was less and milder than that in the chemotherapy group. These showed that Chinese herbs combined with chemotherapy was a safe and effective method for treating NHL and deserve to be recommended.