Using single-patient (n-of-1) trials to determine effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine on chemotherapy-induced leukopenia in gastric cancer: a feasibility study

摘要

BackgroundGastric cancer has been the second cause of cancer death worldwide. Chemical comprehensive treatment programs primarily were the main therapy method with modest efficacy to gastric cancer. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been reported to alleviate adverse events induced by chemotherapy, but has not yet developed clinical trials to test and needs scientific evidence for making policy. Single-patient (N-of-1) trials might be an eligible study design for TCM since it well represented the individualized treatment philosophy of TCM. The aim of this study is to obtain information necessary to design a more series trial.