• Montien Pesee, Wichit Kirdpon, Anucha Puapairoj, Sukachart Kirdpon, and Pongsiri Prathnadi.
• Division of Radiotherapy, Department of Radiology, Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. pmonti@kku.ac.th
• Asian Pac J Cancer P. 2013 Jan 1;14(3):1593-6.

BackgroundTo evaluate outcomes using a Thai herbal medicine, Vilac Plus (G716/45) with standard radiotherapy in comparison with historic controls from literature reports of the results of treatment in stage IIIB cervical cancer.Materials And MethodsBetween March 2003 and June 2005, thirty patients with advanced cervical cancer stage IIIB-IV who had a poor performance status were treated by palliative radiotherapy along with an adjuvant daily dose of 15-30 ml of Thai herbal tonic solution (Vilac Plus G716/45) administered orally three times after meals as an additional supportive therapy. The results were analyzed from the aspect of the overall survival rates with curves estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.ResultsThe median follow -up time for stage IIIB was 4.2 years with a range of 7.9 months - 6.1 years. The overall 1, 3, and 5 year survival rates for stage IIIB were 88%, 60% and 52%.ConclusionsThe overall 5 year survival rate for stage IIIB with a poor performance status was 52% when compared with 34-54.8% for historic controls. The combined complementary palliative radiotherapy (CCPR) had low rates of radiation morbidity. It was a simple technique and feasible for developing countries. The pilot study was limited by the small number of patients and further research will be necessary to assess interrelated and confounding factors in treatment of cervical cancer patients.

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