***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
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    Input: In addition to modern medicinal therapy , many cancer patients in Taiwan are treated regularly with herbal medicines or prescribed a traditional herbal diet . In this paper , the effect of a Taiwanese traditional herbal diet ( TTHD ) on pain  in terminal cancer patients was investigated . A total of 2,466 patients diagnosed with a variety of cancers were included . The most common patient-reported symptoms included troublesome pain ( 79.2 % ) , weakness ( 69.0 % ) , anorexia ( 46.4 % ) , fever ( 36.5 % ) , dyspnea ( 31.1 % ) , and leg edema ( 30.9 % ) . The 2,466 terminal cancer patients included in the study were r and omly divided into three groups . The TTHD group ( n=1044 ; 42.3 % ) were given the TTHD consisting of analgesic herbs ( paeony root : licorice root=1:1 ) and a Taiwanese tonic vegetable soup ( Lilii bulbus , Nelumbo seed , and Jujube fruit ) . The remaining patients were divided into a reference group , given the regular hospital diet , ( n=909 , 36.9 % ) and a control group , given the Taiwanese tonic vegetable soup without analgesic herbs , ( n=513 , 20.8 % ) . All patients maintained their assigned diets for one week . A verbal numerical scale was used to assess pain . Results revealed that the patients given TTHD reported enhanced pain relief ( p<0.05 ) compared to the reference and control groups . We found that TTHD could alleviate the pain among terminal cancer patients thereby supporting the supposition that Eastern and Western medicines can be effectively co-administered to enhance terminal patient 's quality of life . Further research is warranted BACKGROUND This study aim ed to evaluate traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) in improving quality of life ( QOL ) , reducing chemotoxicity and modulating immune function in patients undergoing chemotherapy . PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with ovarian cancer were r and omized to receive either TCM or placebo in addition to st and ard chemotherapy . The primary outcome was global health status ( GHS ) score , assessed by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer question naire , while the secondary outcomes were other QOL items , chemotoxicity according to World Health Organization criteria and alterations in immune function as measured by immune cells count and the numbers of cytokines-secreting cells . RESULTS There was no significant difference in the GHS between the two groups . With adjustment for stage , chemotherapy type , disease status , age and baseline value , emotional function , cognitive function and nausea and vomiting were found to be worse or less improved in the TCM group compared with placebo group after six cycles of chemotherapy . The TCM group had less neutropenia after three cycles ( 0 % grade 4 neutropenia versus 28.6 % ) . There were no other significant differences in terms of chemotoxicity . Lymphocyte counts and cytokine activities decreased less in the TCM group . CONCLUSIONS TCM did not improve QOL but did have some effects in terms of maintaining immune function CONTEXT A prior national survey documented the high prevalence and costs of  alternative medicine use in the United States in 1990 . OBJECTIVE To document trends in alternative medicine use in the United States between 1990 and 1997 . DESIGN Nationally representative r and om household telephone surveys using comparable key questions were conducted in 1991 and 1997 measuring utilization in 1990 and 1997 , respectively . PARTICIPANTS A total of 1539 adults in 1991 and 2055 in 1997 . MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES Prevalence , estimated costs , and disclosure of alternative therapies to physicians . RESULTS Use of at least 1 of 16 alternative therapies during the previous year increased from 33.8 % in 1990 to 42.1 % in 1997 ( P < or = .001 ) . The therapies increasing the most included herbal medicine , massage , megavitamins , self-help groups , folk remedies , energy healing , and homeopathy . The probability of users visiting an alternative medicine practitioner increased from 36.3 % to 46.3 % ( P = .002 ) . In both surveys alternative therapies were used most frequently for chronic conditions , including back problems , anxiety , depression , and headaches . There was no significant change in disclosure rates between the 2 survey years ; 39.8 % of alternative therapies were disclosed to physicians in 1990 vs 38.5 % in 1997 . The percentage of users paying entirely out-of-pocket for services provided by alternative medicine practitioners did not change significantly between 1990 ( 64.0 % ) and 1997 ( 58.3 % ) ( P=.36 ) . Extrapolations to the US population suggest a 47.3 % increase in total visits to alternative medicine practitioners , from 427 million in 1990 to 629 million in 1997 , thereby exceeding total visits to all US primary care physicians . An estimated 15 million adults in 1997 took prescription medications concurrently with herbal remedies and /or high-dose vitamins ( 18.4 % of all prescription users ) . Estimated expenditures for alternative medicine professional services increased 45.2 % between 1990 and 1997 and were conservatively estimated at $ 21.2 billion in 1997 , with at least $ 12.2 billion paid out-of-pocket . This exceeds the 1997 out-of-pocket expenditures for all US hospitalizations . Total 1997 out-of-pocket expenditures relating to alternative therapies were conservatively estimated at $ 27.0 billion , which is comparable with the projected 1997 out-of-pocket expenditures for all US physician services . CONCLUSIONS  Alternative medicine use and expenditures increased substantially between 1990 and 1997 , attributable primarily to an increase in the proportion of the population seeking alternative therapies , rather than increased visits per patient OBJECTIVE To observe the effect and safety of Zhiling Capsule ( ZC ) in treating lung cancer of middle/advanced stage . METHODS With the multi-center , r and omized , double-blinded and parallel controlled method , the patients were divided into 4 groups , the 104 patients in the group A were treated with the whole recipe of ZC , the 52 in the group B with the disassembled recipe 1 ( Western medicines ) of ZC , the 46 in the group C with the disassembled recipe 2 ( Chinese medicines ) of ZC , and the 48 in the control group with Pingxiao Capsule , all the drugs were administered orally for 2 weeks . The changes of syndrome of qi-yin deficiency , symptoms , quality of life ( QOL ) , body weight and adverse reactions occurred in patients were observed . RESULTS The effective rate in alleviating syndrome in the groups A-D was 91.3 % , 80.8 % , 37.0 % and 14.6 % respectively ; in remitting stuffiness and chest pain 86.9 % , 60.5 % , 20.0 % and 10.0 % ; in improving appetite was 80.4 % , 47.9 % , 23.7 % and 10.3 % . QOL in the groups A-C was significantly elevated after treatment ( P < 0.05 or P < 0.01 ) , the improvement of group A was superior to that of other treatments ( P < 0.01 ) . Body weight in the group A was significantly increased and superior to that of others ( P < 0.05 ) . The whole recipe of ZC showed the therapeutic effect superior to that of the other treatments ( P < 0.05 ) . No obvious adverse reaction was found in all the 4 groups . CONCLUSION ZC can improve the symptoms and QOL in patients with lung cancer of middle/advanced stage OBJECTIVE To observe the effects ot Guben Yiliu II ( GY II ) combined with arterial perfusion with chemotherapeutic agent on advanced pancreatic cancer ( APC ) . METHODS Sixty-five APC patients were r and omly assigned to the treated group ( 35 cases ) given GY II and arterial perfusion with chemotherapeutic agent and the control group ( 30 cases ) with chemotherapeutic agent alone . RESULTS The clinical beneficial rate was 54.2 % in the treated group and 40.0 % in the control group , with significant difference between them ( P < 0.05 ) , the overall effective rate being 17.1 % and 13.3 % , and the effective rate in relieving pain being 64.5 % and 59.2 % in the treated and the control group respectively , all showed insignificant difference between groups ( P > 0.05 ) . Furthermore , in the treated group after treatment , the blood hypercoagulation state ameliorated , cellular immunity elevated , the toxic and side- effects of chemical medicine relieved , and the quality of life improved . CONCLUSION GY II is effective in enhancing clinical effects and relieving toxic and side-effects of chemotherapy , and so , better efficacy could be obtained by therapy of GY II and arterial perfusion with chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of APC Objective To observe the efficacy of Chinese medicine comprehensive therapeutic project in treating the middle/late stage primary hepatic carcinoma ( PHC ) . Methods With prospect i ve r and omized controlled design , 97 patients with PHC were assigned to the test group ( 49 cases ) treated with Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy using Oleum fructus bruceas intervention combining oral intake of Ganji Decoction ( 肝积方 ) and external application of Ailitong ( 癌理通 ) , and the control group ( 48 cases ) treated with chemotherapeutic agents combining iodized oil chemo-embolization and analgesics .  The immediate and long-term efficacy , adverse reaction , pain-relieving initial time ( PRIT ) and pain-relieving sustained time ( PRST ) of the treatment , as well as the change in relieving patients ’ quality of life ( QOL ) were observed . Results The difference between the two groups in illness control rate was statistically insignificant ( P>0.05 ) , but the adverse reaction occurence rate in the test group was lesser than that in the control group ( P<0.05 ) . PRIT was insignificantly different in the two groups ( P>0.05 ) , but the PRST was significantly superior in the test group than that in the control group ( 10.37±2.18 h vs 7.78±1.95 h , P<0.01 ) . After treatment , the increased Karnofsky scores in the test group indicated that the patients ’ somatic activity , symptoms and QOL were improved significantly , which were significantly superior to those in the control group ( P<0.05 ) . The survival rate in the two groups was similar at the 3rd month after treatment , but the test group did show superiority in terms of half- and 1-year survival rate ( 65.9 % vs 42.5 % and 38.6 % vs 18.1 % , respectively , P<0.05 ) . The median survival time in the test group was 8.9 months and that in the control group was 5.3 months . Conclusion Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy is an effective treatment for the middle/late stage patients of PHC , and it could extend the PRST , improve the patients ’ QOL and long-term survival with less adverse reaction Objective To observe the clinical effectiveness of a topical application of Xiaozheng Zhitong : Paste ( 消癥止痛方 , XZP ) in alleviating the cancerous pain of patients with middle/late stage cancer Methods By : adopting a r and om number table , 124 patients enrolled were r and omized into the treatment group ( 64 patients ) and the control group ( 60 patients ) . In addition to the basic therapy [ including the three-ladder ( 3L ) analgesia ] used in both groups , topical application of XZP was given to patients in the treatment group for pain alleviation . The analgesic efficacy was recorded in terms of pain intensity , analgesia initiating time and sustaining time , and the optimal analgesic effect revealing time . Meanwhile , the quality of life ( QOL ) and adverse reactions that occurred in patients were recorded as well . Results The total effective rate in the treatment group was : 84.38 % ( 54/64 ) , and in the control group it was 88.33 % ( 53/60 ) , showing no significant difference between them ( P>0.05 ) , but the analgesia initiating time and the optimal analgesia effect revealing time in the treatment group were significantly shorter ( both P<0.01 ) . Moreover , XZP was better in improving patients ’ QOL , showing more significant improvements in the treatment group than those in the control group in aspects of mental condition , walking capacity , working capacity , social acceptability , sleep and joy of living ( P<0.05 or P<0.01 ) . Lower incidence of adverse reactions , such as nausea , vomiting , mouth dryness , dizziness , etc . , especially constipation , was noted in the treatment group ( P<0.05 or P<0.01 ) . Conclusion Applying an external compress : of XZP showed a synergistic action with 3L analgesia for shortening the initiating time and the optimal effect revealing time , and could evidently enhance patients ’ QOL with fewer adverse reactions OBJECTIVE To observe the effects of ginsenosides ( GS ) and low dose glucocorticoid for preventing and treating the  post-transcatheter arterial chemoembolization ( TACE ) syndrome . METHODS Adopting r 
    Output:
    
The results of these studies suggest that THM combined with conventional therapy is efficacious as an adjunctive therapy for patients with cancer pain .