BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese medical researchers have disclosed that the traditional Chinese medicine berberine can prevent colorectal adenoma recurrence after resection, according to a recent study paper published in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Preventing colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer remains an important public health goal. Researchers from Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine randomly selected 553 participants being treated by berberine from 2014 to 2016, along with 555 participants who were given a placebo.
The researchers analyzed 429 participants in the berberine group and 462 in the non-berberine group.
The result showed 36 percent of the participants in the berberine group and 47 percent in the placebo group were found to have recurrent adenoma during follow-up. And no colorectal cancers were detected and no serious adverse events were reported, said the paper.
The research was conducted in seven hospital centers across six provinces in China. Individuals aged between 18 and 75 years old who had at least one colorectal adenoma that had undergone a complete polypectomy within the six months before recruitment were selected for the research.
Participants, investigators, endoscopists, and pathologists engaged in the research were blinded to treatment assignment, said the paper.
