Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, but it comes with a dangerous side effect: inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis. For patients with mild cases, doctors typically use steroids, but these can weaken the immune system and affect cancer control. Now, researchers are turning to an ancient remedy to see if it can help.
The study will test Songjiao Dihuang Tang (SJDHT), a traditional Chinese herbal decoction, combined with standard care (steroids) against a placebo plus standard care. Two hundred patients with mild immunotherapy-related myocarditis will receive either SJDHT or a placebo twice daily for 28 days. The goal is to see if the herbal formula speeds up recovery of heart muscle damage and improves treatment success.
This is a rigorous, double-blind trial, meaning neither patients nor doctors will know who gets the real treatment. The team will track heart function, cancer symptoms, quality of life, and major heart events over six months. Importantly, this is just a protocol – no results are available yet. The trial aims to provide a standardized way to study traditional Chinese medicine in a modern context.