Abstract: Objective To explore the predictive value for the efficacy of Xiaoyan decoction combined with gemcitabine/carboplatin (GC) chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods The clinical data from 65 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with Xiaoyan decoction and GC chemotherapy were analyzed retrospectively. The apparent diffusion coefficient before and after treatment (ADC_pre and ADC_post) of magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and ADC change rate (ΔADC) were compared between the effective group and the ineffective group. The correlation of ADC_pre and ADC_post and ΔADC with tumor regression rate and their predictive value for curative effect were analyzed. Results The effective rate of Xiaoyan decoction combined with GC chemotherapy was 58.46%. Before treatment, DWI showed a high signal, ADC_pre was low, and DWI was mainly equal signal and ADC_post was high after treatment. The tumor regression rate was negatively correlated with ADC_pre, and positively correlated with ADC_post and ΔADC(P＜0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and AUC of ADC_pre for efficacy prediction were 71.05%, 81.48%,75.38%, 0.789, respectively, and ADC_post was 89.47%, 66.67%, 80.00%, 0.810, and ΔADC was 81.58%, 85.19%, 83.08%, 0.842. Conclusions ADC_pre, ADC_post and ΔADC are closely related to tumor regression rate in advanced NSCLC patients. DWI can predict the clinical efficacy of Xiaoyan decoction combined with GC chemotherapy.

Key words: non-small cell lung cancer, diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI), clinical efficacy, prediction