The Development of Chinese Herbal Medicine as a Modulator of Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

PHY906 is a Chinese herbal medicine that has been used for nearly 2,000 years. This herbal medicine was selected based on the historical documentation in the Chinese literature of its use to treat a wide range of GI ailments, including diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, and abdominal cramps, as well as extensive preclinical and clinical data we have gathered in recent years on its potential efficacy and molecular mechanisms of this medicine. While there had been extensive use of this herbal medicine, prior to our research, there was no product made under highly controlled and standardized methods nor had attempts been made to ensure quality control. With this in mind, our group focused our initial efforts on developing a rigorous standard operating procedure to produce cGMP material as well as develop highly sensitive chemical (LC-MS) and biological (gene expression) fingerprinting methodologies to ensure quality control and consistency of batch preparation. Using high quality cGMP material that has been confirmed to be free of heavy metals and contaminants, we have conducted phase I and II clinical studies investigating the role of PHY906 as a modulator of irinotecan-based chemotherapy and have shown that it can reduce toxicity, maintain and even improve quality of life, and improve clinical efficacy.

Presented by Edward Chu, M.D., M.M.S.
Director, Albert Einstein Cancer Center
Vice President for Cancer Medicine, Montefiore Medicine

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