Clinical observation of the effects of Xihuang pills combined with sodium cantharidinate and vitamin B6 injection in the treatment of tumor-induced fever

Objective To study the effects of Xihuang pills combined with sodium cantharidinate and vitamin B6 injection in the treatment of tumor-induced fever. Methods A total of 100 patients with tumor-induced fever in our hospital from March 2015 to January 2017 were enrolled in this study. The subjects were divided into the control group (n=50) and the treatment group (n=50) randomly. The control group were treated with aspirin-D L-Lysine injection, and the treatment group were treated with Xihuang pills combined with sodium cantharidinate and vitamin B6 injection. The two groups were treated for 2 periods. The clinical effects of the two groups after treatment were compared. The life quality of the two groups after treatment were compared. The serum TNF-α and IL-1β of the two groups before and after treatment were compared. The adverse reaction rates of the two groups during treatment were compared. Results The total efficacy rate of defervescence of the treatment group was 88.0%(44/50) significantly higher than 56.0%(28/50) of the control group (χ2=12.698, P=0.000). After treatment, the daily life score (1.10 ± 0.18 vs. 2.47 ± 0.21, t=35.025), social communication score (1.21 ± 0.13 vs. 2.53 ± 0.25, t=33.124), mental state score (1.08 ± 0.15 vs. 2.75 ± 0.21, t=45.758), appetite score (1.13 ± 0.16 vs. 2.56 ± 0.19, t=40.708), sleep score (1.22 ± 0.17 vs. 2.71 ± 0.20, t=40.139) of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum TNF-α (1.98 ± 0.07 μg/L vs. 2.86 ± 0.13 μg/L, t=42.144), IL-1β (9.20 ± 1.89 μg/L vs. 13.51 ± 2.36 μg/L, t=10.080) of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). There was no significantly differences of the adverse reaction rates of the two groups during treatment (χ2=0.211, P=0.646). Conclusions The Xihuang pills combined with sodium cantharidinate and vitamin B6 injection for patients with tumor-induced fever has a good efficacy and low incidence of adverse reactions, can improve the quality of life and reduce the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β. Key words: Tumor-induced fever;  Xihuang pills; Sodium cantharidinate and vitamin B6 injection; Quality of life; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Interleukin-1