Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effect of chemotherapy combined with sodium cantharidinate vitamin B6 injection in the patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its effect on the patients' quality of life, and to clarify its mechanism.Methods: A total of 110 NSCLC patients were divided into chemotherapy group and combined group according to the different treatment methods adopted by the patients. A total of 55 patients were treated with chemotherapy alone (chemotherapy group) and 55 patients treated with chemotherapy combined with sodium cantharidate vitamin B6 injection (combined group). The total effective rate of the patients in two groups were compared; EORTC QLO-C43 scale was used to evaluate the quality of life of the patients in two groups before and after treatment; the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-12 (IL-12) of the patients in two groups before and after treatment were detected by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay method.Results: After treatment, the total effective rate of the patients in combined group was higher than that in chemotherapy group, but the difference was not statistically significant (χ²=0.806, P=0.369). Before treatment, there were no significant differences in the scores of functional scale, overall health status, symptom subscale and lung cancer specific subscale of the patients between combined group and chemotherapy group (P>0.05). After treatment, the scores of functional scale and overall health status of the patients in combined group were significantly higher than those in chemotherapy group (P<0.05); the scores of symptom subscale and lung cancer specific subscale of the patients in combined group were significantly lower than those in chemotherapy group (P<0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant differences in the serum levels of VEGF, TNF-α, and IL-12 of the patients between combined group and chemotherapy group (P>0.05). After treatment, the serum level of VEGF of the patients in combined group was significantly lower than that in chemotherapy group (t=3.608, P<0.05), and the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-12 were significantly higher than those in chemotherapy group (t=3.426, P<0.05; t=2.849, P<0.05).Conclusion: The effect of chemotherapy combined with sodium cantharidate vitamin B6 injection in the treatment of the NSCLC patients is good, and it can significantly improve the quality of life of the patients;its mechanism may be related to decreasing the serum VEGF level and increasing the serum TNF-α and IL-12 levels.

Key words: sodium cantharidinate vitamin B6, cancer,non-small cell lung, quality of life, vascular endothelial growth factor, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-12