A multicenter randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of cancer green therapy in treatment of stage IIIb/IV non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy is the main therapy for stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the 5-year survival rate is 6%. Cancer Green Therapy is a novel therapy in China, which refers to cryoablation combined with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula. Our previous retrospective analysis showed that patients with NSCLC had longer survival time and better quality of life after receiving cryoablation combined with TCM formula, compared with patients who received chemotherapy alone. METHODS: This study is a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical study. The experiment will be carried out in 6 hospitals at the same time, and a total of 450 cases of participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group (n = 225). The experimental group will be given cryoablation and 28-days TCM formula, and the control group will be given 4 cycles chemotherapy. After 30 months of follow-up, the efficacy and safety of cryoablation combines with TCM formula in patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC will be observed. The primary outcome is overall survival. The secondary outcomes include progression-free survival, objective response rate, and quality of life. We will also conduct a safety evaluation of the treatment at the end of the trial. DISCUSSION: This multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical study not only provides data on the efficacy and safety of cryoablation combined with TCM formula, but also provides a novel treatment strategy for clinicians and advanced NSCLC patients.