Heat-sensitive moxibustion enhances immunity in advanced NSCLC via Th1/Th2 and Treg/Th17 regulation.

Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often face poor prognoses despite chemotherapy, highlighting a critical need for adjunctive therapies that can improve treatment efficacy and patient quality of life. Current standard-of-care often leaves patients with compromised immune function and significant adverse events, limiting long-term survival and well-being. Heat-sensitive moxibustion (HSM), a traditional intervention, has shown promise in alleviating cancer-related symptoms and enhancing quality of life, suggesting a potential role in immunomodulation to support conventional cancer treatments. This study investigates HSM's impact on immune balance in this vulnerable population.

This randomized controlled trial enrolled 90 patients with advanced NSCLC between January 2023 and February 2024. Patients were assigned to either a chemotherapy-alone control group or a chemotherapy plus Heat-sensitive moxibustion (HSM) treatment group, with 45 patients in each arm. Following treatment, researchers evaluated CD4+ T cell subset percentages, measured serum IL-2, IL-17A, IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-10 levels using ELISA, and assessed T-bet and GATA3 expression via RT-qPCR and Western blot. Primary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score, and adverse event incidence.