Using supplementary formula of Qing-Hao-Bie-Jia decoction for defervescence of lung cancer-related fever: a literature review and case report.

[INTRODUCTION] Cancer-related fever is a common complication of lung cancer that negatively affects patients' quality of life. Recently, Qing-Hao-Bie-Jia Decoction (QHBJD), as a representative Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula historically used to treat endogenous heat caused by Yin deficiency, has been increasingly applied in the management of lung cancer-related fever (LCRF). Our investigation endeavored to establish a chain of evidence bridging classical TCM theory and contemporary clinical practice toward the application of QHBJD in treating LCRF as a methodological reference in the real-world setting.

[METHODS] Our study was made up of three parts: 1) Ancient origins of QHBJD from pre-modern Chinese medical texts; 2) systematic review of QHBJD for treating LCRF from published case reports; 3) a case report treated with QHBJD-derived supplementary formula from our clinical practice.

[RESULTS] From our findings, "latent heat in the Yin" is the predominant pathogenesis of cancerous fever among lung cancer patients, who are mainly treated with the therapeutic principle of nourishing Yin and outthrusting heat. In addition, the pathogenesis of included LCRF case reports is complicated, but TCM practitioners can support vital-qi and eliminate pathogenic factors by flexibly adding or subtracting Chinese medicines based on QHBJD for treatment.

[CONCLUSION] In this study, we established a methodological framework merging ancient and modern evidence based on case reports, which prospectively aids future TCM studies in enhancing certainty of the same evidence from empirical medicine to evidence-based medicine.