BEIJING (Xinhua) -- A new Chinese medicine for treating lung cancer officially entered the market on Sunday, promising new hope for patients, researchers said.

After clinical trials on hundreds of patients, the new drug, approved by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), had proved to be more effective than chemotherapy in controlling the tumor, strengthening the immune system, prolonging life and improving life quality, said Pu Bingkui, chief researcher of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

If the herbal drug was applied in conjunction with chemotherapy, it could reduce the toxicity of the chemical agents to the alimentary tract, blood, liver and kidneys, Pu said.

The medicine comes in a form of dry granules, which the researchers say can best preserve the biological quality of the natural Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine had fewer side effects in treating tumors and was relatively inexpensive, said She Jing, director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was quite promising to find a role for Chinese medicine in the treatment of tumors.

Lung cancer is one of the top killers in China. It affected about 500,000 people last year and the number is growing by 26.9 percent annually. It is estimated that China will have one million new lung cancer patients by 2025.