Wu JW, Li LP, Chen YS. Effects of bottle gourd moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy for cancer-related incomplete bowel obstruction on inflammatory cytokine levels. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(41): 110753 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i41.110753]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Li-Ping Li, Department of Oncology, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Eighth Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 6 Qinren Road, Chancheng District, Foshan 528000, Guangdong Province, China. 13794038664@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2025; 31(41): 110753 Published online Nov 7, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i41.110753
Effects of bottle gourd moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy for cancer-related incomplete bowel obstruction on inflammatory cytokine levels
Jing-Wen Wu, Li-Ping Li, Yin-Song Chen
Jing-Wen Wu, Li-Ping Li, Yin-Song Chen, Department of Oncology, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Eighth Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Foshan 528000, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Wu JW designed the experiments and conducted clinical data collection; Chen YS performed postoperative follow-up and recorded the data, conducted the collation and statistical analysis; Wu JW and Li LP make critical revisions to important knowledge content; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Medical Research Project of Foshan Health Bureau in 2024, No. 20240243.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Informed consent statement: For this study, all patients signed an informed consent form.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Ping Li, Department of Oncology, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Eighth Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 6 Qinren Road, Chancheng District, Foshan 528000, Guangdong Province, China. 13794038664@163.com
Received: July 4, 2025 Revised: August 12, 2025 Accepted: September 29, 2025 Published online: November 7, 2025 Processing time: 125 Days and 0.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Cancer-induced incomplete bowel obstruction presents numerous clinical challenges, notably pain management and inflammation control. Conventional therapies provide limited relief, prompting investigation into complementary approaches. This study compares the efficacy of bottle gourd moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy (BGM-UT) plus standard palliative care vs standard Western palliative care alone in symptom alleviation and inflammation reduction.
AIM
To compare the efficacy of BGM-UT plus standard palliative care vs standard palliative care alone in reducing inflammatory cytokine levels, alleviating symptoms, and improving gastrointestinal recovery in cancer-induced incomplete bowel obstruction.
METHODS
A retrospective analysis was conducted on 109 patients aged 18-75 years with cancer-induced incomplete bowel obstruction treated at the Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between October 2023 and September 2024. The participants were categorized into two groups: (1) Regular group receiving standard palliative care; and (2) BGM-UT group receiving additional moxibustion therapy. The inclusion criteria included ongoing opioid use and a Karnofsky performance status score below 60. The treatments were evaluated for 3 weeks in terms of opioid consumption, gastrointestinal function recovery, brief pain inventory scores, traditional Chinese medicine symptom scores, and inflammatory cytokine levels.
RESULTS
Initially, the groups were demographically and clinically comparable. Post-treatment, the BGM-UT group showed significant reductions in opioid intake (P = 0.027), improved gastrointestinal recovery times, and enhanced pain management as reflected by their lower brief pain inventory scores (P < 0.05). Similarly, the improvement in traditional Chinese medicine scores was greater in the BGM-UT group than in the regular group (P < 0.05). Inflammatory markers including interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and C-reactive protein decreased significantly in the BGM-UT group, indicating the superior anti-inflammatory effects of this treatment (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
The addition of BGM-UT to standard palliative care enhances pain relief, accelerates gastrointestinal recovery, and effectively reduces inflammatory cytokine levels in patients with cancer-induced incomplete bowel obstruction. This combination therapy offers a promising complementary approach to managing this challenging condition. Further prospective studies are warranted to validate these findings and explore underlying mechanisms.
Core Tip: This study demonstrates that bottle gourd moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy (BGM-UT) significantly enhances standard palliative care for cancer-related incomplete bowel obstruction. In a retrospective analysis of 109 patients, BGM-UT reduced opioid consumption, accelerated gastrointestinal recovery (e.g., faster bowel sound restoration), and improved pain control. Crucially, it also lowered key inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein), suggesting systemic anti-inflammatory effects. These findings highlight BGM-UT as a promising complementary therapy to alleviate symptoms and modulate inflammation in this challenging condition.
