Objective  To investigate the curative effect of lentinan combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors in middle and advanced stages.

  Methods  A total of 60 patients with gastrointestinal tumors in middle and advanced stages who were admitted to the hospital were randomly divided into observation group (n=30) and control group (n=30). All patients were treated with FOLFOX4 (oxaliplatin, calcium folinate and fluorouracil) chemotherapy, while the observation group was additionally treated with lentinan at 3 days before chemotherapy. The short-term clinical curative effect, changes in T cell subsets, NK cell activity, Karnofsky scores of quality of life, weight and adverse reactions were compared.

  Results  The clinical curative effect of the observation group was significantly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the immune function indexes, Karnofsky scores or weight between the two groups before treatment (P>0.05). CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD4⁺/CD8⁺ and NK cells in the observation group were significantly increased, while CD8⁺ was significantly decreased after treatment (P < 0.05). CD8⁺ in the control group was significantly increased after treatment, while the other indicators were decreased (P < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences between groups in above indicators(P < 0.05). The Karnofsky scores, the incidence of chemotherapy adverse reactions and weight of the observation group were significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Lentinan combined with chemotherapy for gastrointestinal tumors in middle and advanced stages can significantly improve the immune function and quality of life, reduce weight decrease, and alleviate chemotherapy-relayed adverse reactions.