title: Chinese medicinal plants for advanced endometriosis after conservative surgery: a prospective, multi-center and controlled trial.
abstract: The trial was to explore the effects of Chinese medicinal plants (CMP) treatment on the advanced endometriosis (stage III-IV) after conservative surgery. A prospective, multi-center and controlled trial was conducted from June 2012 to September 2013. Sixty-five post-operative women with advanced endometriosis (stage III-IV) after conservative surgery were included in the trial. They had undergone laparoscopic surgical excision of the endometriosis lesions and the diagnosis of endometriosis was confirmed by pathological examination. The patients received either CMP treatment or goserelin acetate sustained-release depot treatment (as comparison) according to the willingness of the patients. In the post-treatment follow-up visit at 6 and 12 months, the patients were respectively undergone ultrasonic and gynecological examinations. The serum levels of cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) and interleukin 18 (IL-18) were also detected in the post-treatment follow-up visit at 12 months. We found that in the post-treatment follow-up visit at 6 months, the recurrence rate of CMP group and comparison group was 1/31 (3.23%) and 1/34 (2.94%), respectively. In the post-treatment follow-up visit at 12 months, the recurrence rate of CMP group and comparison group was 5/31 (16.13%) and 6/34 (17.65%), respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). The serum levels of CA-125 and IL-18 significantly decreased in both of the two groups (P<0.05) and no marked differences existed between them on the serum levels of IL-18 (P>0.05). The serum CA-125 levels of CMP group were significantly lower than those of the comparison group (P<0.05). No adverse effect was reported in both of the two groups during the research and the follow-up period. It concluded that CMP showed promise in preventing the recurrence of stage III-IV endometriosis after conservative surgery, although the conclusion is somewhat limited due to the small size of the trial.
authors.affiliation: The First People's Hospital of Yuhang District Hangzhou 311100, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Ming
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: The First People's Hospital of Yuhang District Hangzhou 311100, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: The 2nd Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine Harbin 150000, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Xia
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Yao-Zhen
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Fang-Fang
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang, China ; Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London London, SE5 9NU, UK.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qu
keywords: Chinese medicinal plants (CMP); cancer antigen 125 (CA-125); endometriosis; interleukin 18 (IL-18)