A randomized, double-blinded clinical trial of royal jelly intake for anticancer effects and suppressing adverse events in renal cell carcinoma patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Abstract

697 Background: Royal jelly (RJ) is a honey bee product secreted from the mandibular glands and hypopharyngeal glands of worker honeybees. RJ has anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. RJ has been reported to improve the anti-cancer effects and suppress the adverse effects of chemotherapeutic agents. The main aim is to clarify the clinical effects of oral intake of RJ in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Methods: A randomized, controlled, double-blinded clinical trial with reduction of tumor size and frequencies of adverse events as endpoints was performed in 33 RCC patients who received TKIs in Nagasaki University Hospital. Patients were divided into RJ (n = 16) and placebo (n = 17) groups, and there was no significant difference in all clinical and pathological parameters between the two groups. RJ and placebo were orally administered for 3 months. Results: In this study, 21, 8, and 3 patients were treated with sunitinib, pazopanib, and axitinib, respectively; only 1 patient was treated with sorafenib. Frequencies and severities of fatigue and anorexia in the RJ group was significantly lower than those in the placebo group ( P = 0.003 and 0.015, respectively). Such significant differences between the 2 groups were detected in patients treated with sunitinib, but not in those treated with other TKIs. The number of patients who were given an initial dose of TKIs in the RJ and placebo groups were 7 (43.8%) and 2 (11.8%), respectively, and the relative dose intensity (RDI) of the RJ group (88.6%) was significantly higher ( P = 0.016) than that in the placebo group (68.6%). Regarding anti-cancer effects, the frequency of partial response in the RJ group (n = 5; 41.7%) was higher than that in the placebo group (2; 18.2%); however, such difference was not significant ( P = 0.056). Conclusions: RJ intake can increase RDI. Although a significant difference was not observed, RJ intake observed a trend for improving anti-cancer effects by increasing RDI and maintaining quality of life.