the treatment effect of plantago major on lung cancer based on the computed tomography and pathological findings: a case report study

Purpose: plantago major (pm) is widely used for the treatment of different diseases due to several active compounds. previous studies demonstrated the treatment effect of this plant on lung cancer cell lines. here, we introduced a patient having lung cancer proved by computed tomography (ct) and pathological findings. the treatment effect of pm was assessed and presented based on ct and laboratory examinations for this patient as a first human case study.materials and methods: a 64-year-old woman, with gastrointestinal bleeding as well as high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (esr) and c-reactive protein (crp) levels, was examined by the chest ct scan for suspicious lung cancer. pathological findings confirmed the non-small cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma, stage iia). the patient consumed 150 ml of pm seeds extract (3-4 times daily) orally for about 4 months. follow-up ct and laboratory examinations were performed after the treatment period to assess the effect of pm.results: the volume of the tumor was reduced by about 62% (based on ct imaging findings) after the treatment with pm. in addition, the laboratory examinations illustrate that esr and crp levels reduced remarkably (from 97 mm/h to 24 mm/h for esr; from 36.8 mg/l to 1.2 mg/l for crp) after the treatment.conclusion: based on our human study, pm, as a natural compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibiotic characteristics, could have an anti-proliferative effect on non-small cell lung cancer. however, more follow-up examinations on big sample sizes are needed to assess the treatment effect of pm.