Comparison of Efficacy and Side Effects of Propolis with Chemotherapy and Chemotherapy alone for NeoadjuantTherapy of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most common cancer of the female genital tract which is oftenadvanced at the diagnosis. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used in advanced cases, but isassociated with several side-effects. Propolis is a substance made by bees. Recent studiesshow that propolis with chemotherapy has therapeutic effect and reduces chemotherapy sideeffectsand toxicity. This study was performed aimed to comparatively evaluate the efficacyand side-effects of propolis with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone for neoadjuvanttherapy of ovarian cancer. This double-blind randomized clinical trial study was performed onthe women with advanced stages of epithelial ovarian cancer who required neoadjuvantchemotherapy at the department of gynecology oncology of Ghaem and Omid hospitals,Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from 2013 to 2014. The subjects were randomlydivided into two groups. In addition to the usual chemotherapy, one group randomly receivedPropolis tablet and other group received placebo. Two groups were compared in terms ofreduced tumor volume and tumor marker of CA125 and nausea, vomiting, cytopenia, liverdysfunction and possibility of optimal cytoreductive surgery after treatment. Data analysiswas performed using SPSS statistical software (version 16) and Mann-Whitney, Exact fishertest and Kruskal-Wallis tests. P Results: In both groups, reduced tumor volume and tumormarker of CA125 had a significant decrease, but no significant difference was observedbetween the two groups (P=….). The rate of leukopenia, nausea, and vomiting was notsignificantly different between the two groups (P=…). No cases had liver dysfunction. Allcases underwent cytoreductive surgery in Propolis group, but optimal cytoreductive surgerywas not performable in 2 patients (25%) in the placebo group. Propolis administration alongwith chemotherapy improves the efficacy of common chemotherapy without adversetherapeutic effect.

Keywords:

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy , Ovarian Epithelial Cancer , Propolis , Side-Effects , Chemotherapy