Effect of traditional Chinese medicine in improving quality of life of patients with colorectal cancer

Objective To observe the effect of traditional chinese medicine(TCM)therapy on improving quality of life of patients with colorectal carcinoma(CRC).Methods Patients with CRC treated at the first affiliated hospital to Guangzhou university of traditional Chinese medicine and the second affiliated hospital of Guangzhou medical college from March 2005 to April 2006 were enrolled.90 valid cases were randomly divided into three groups:TCM group(30 eases),integrated traditional and western medicine group (30 cases)and western medicine group(30 cages).The FACT-C were used to evaluate the quality of life(QOL).Results The QOL wag best in integrated traditional and western medicine group.worst in western medicine group.When the trial finished,TCM group and integrated traditional and western medicine group gained a significant ameliorating effect of QOL compared with pre-treatment scores(P＜0.05).Conclusion The results prompted that TCM have antagonistic effect on the adverse reactions of chemotherapy and Can improve the patients' quality of life in a certain degree. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms; TCM therapy; TCM WM therapy; Quality of life