Sixteen patients with stage IIIB and IV non-small cell lung cancer received conventional therapy plus 283 g/day of “Selected Vegetables” (SV) with breakfast or lunch. SV is a freeze-dried commercial vegetable soup prepared by Sun Farm (Milford, CT) that contains soybean, shiitake mushroom, mung bean, red date, scallion, garlic, lentil bean, leek, hawthorn fruit, onion, ginseng, angelica root, licorice, dandelion root, senegal root, ginger, olive, sesame seed, and parsley. In intent-to-treat analysis, the median survival time was 20 months, and the one-year survival rate was 55%. Among the 14 patients who ingested SV for at least 2 months (range, 2-46 months), the first patient remained tumor-free for more than 133 months, and the second showed complete regression of multiple brain lesions after using SV and radiotherapy. Among the remaining 12 patients, the median survival time was 33.5 months, and one-year survival was greater than 70%. The mean Karnofsky performance status of eligible patients was 55 at entry and improved to 92 after use of SV for 5 months or longer (p < 0.01). No adverse effects were seen.

Background: This study suggests that a proprietary vegetable soup product that contains a number of components with documented anticancer activity may improve survival and quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. In studies using a mouse lung cancer model, the addition of 5% SV (wt/wt) to the diet was associated with a 53 to 74% reduction in tumor growth rate. Because of its apparent safety, this preparation should be considered as part of a comprehensive treatment program for patients with lung cancer.

Sun AS, et al. Pilot study of a specific dietary supplement in tumor-bearing mice and in stage IIIB and IV non-small cell lung cancer patients. Nutr Cancer 2001;39:85-95.