Volume 35, Issue 12, pages 2595–2602, December 2015
Article has an altmetric score of 5
1 School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
2 School of Chinese Medicine for Post-Baccalaureate, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
3 Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
4 School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
5 Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
6 Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
7 Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
8 Research Center for Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
9 Graduate Institute of Biostatistics, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
10 Department of Healthcare Administration, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
liver cancer;respective cohort study;traditional Chinese medicine
Abstract
Background
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative treatment for cancer with its effect by stimulating host immune response for cytotoxic activity against liver cancer. No studies evaluated TCM treatment on survival of liver cancer patients.
Patients and methods
This study determined whether the combination of TCM and conventional cancer treatment affects the survival of liver cancer patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 127 237 newly diagnosed liver cancer patients from 2000 to 2009 in the National Health Insurance Program database.
Results
Among these patients, 30 992 (24.36%) used TCM for liver cancer care. All patients were followed up until 2011. The mean follow-up was 5.67 years (SD 1.47) for TCM users and 5.49 years (SD 3.64) for non-TCM users. Compared with patients without TCM use, patients with TCM use were significantly associated with a decreased risk of death [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.64–0.66] with multivariate adjustment. A similar significant protective effect of TCM use across various subgroups of chronic liver diseases was also observed. Jia Wei Xiao Yao San (HR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.81–0.96) and Chai Hu Shu Gan Tang (HR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.78–0.95) were the most effective TCM agents that improved survival.
Conclusions
This cohort study provided information that adjunctive therapy with TCM may improve the survival in liver cancer patients. Further studies are needed to confirm the potential role of TCM in HCC.