Introduction
Quality of Life (QoL) was proposed as a survival predictor in advanced cancer patients. PG2 injection was extracted and purified from Astragalus membranaceus. In Traditional Chinese medicine, Astragalus membranaceus is commonly used to treat the deficiency of qi (vital energy). We evaluated the efficacy of PG2 injection in improving QoL in advanced cancer patient with or without palliative radiotherapeutic or chemotherapeutic treatments in this study.

Objectives
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of PG2 injection on QoL in advanced progressed cancer patients under standard palliative care.

Methods
Patients with advanced cancer receiving standard palliative care were enrolled and randomized at a 1:1 ratio into two arms of PG2 injection treatment: 500mg dose (500mg in 500ml saline, 3 times per week for 4 weeks) or 250mg dose (250mg in 500ml saline, 3 times per week for 4 weeks) for two cycles. Symptoms and Quality of Life Assessments were analyzed by 11 questions (SS11) from European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Patients were divided into untreated, palliative chemotherapy treated, and palliative radiotherapy treated groups for analysis. 

Results
Three hundred and ten patients were enrolled in this study. High and low doses of PG2 injection significantly improved patients’ appetite loss (p<0.0001, p=0.0004), fatigue (p<0.0001, p<0.0001), insomnia (p=0.0002, p<0.00001), and global QoL (p<0.0001, p<0.0001) after two cycles of treatments. Patients with or without therapeutic treatments were both analyzed.

Conclusions 
PG2 injection can significantly improve several indicators for QoL in advanced cancer patients without safety concern.

21 / IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ADVANCED CANCER PATIENT WITH INJECTION OF COMPLEMENTARY PG2 - A DOUBLE BLIND, MULTI-CENTER, RANDOMIZED PHASE IV STUDY