Integrated Chinese Herbal Medicine and Western Medicine on the Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer: A Retrospective Study of Medical Records
Yeh MH, Chiu HP, Wu MC, Koo M, Lin NW, Liao KK, Yeh CC, Li TM · Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2020 January 13
DOI 10.1155/2020/4561040
Objective
The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate the effect of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) combined with Western medicine on the survival of patients with colorectal cancer.
Conclusions
Findings from this retrospective cohort study indicated that integrated CHM and Western medicine could improve survival in patients with colorectal cancer.
Critical Appraisal
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Insights
Traditional Chinese Medicine when combined with Western methods, could improve survival rates in patients with colorectal cancer.
The study undertook a retrospective analysis of patients, newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer during 2004-2014, who were treated at Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital. With the help of the hospital's cancer registry database and medical records, patients were categorized into two groups: those who used Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) and those who did not. Survival rates between these groups were investigated with Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses.
The research findings indicated a noticeable difference between the survival rates of the CHM users and the non-users. Furthermore, four specific CHM formulae - Jia Wei Xiao Yao San, Zhi Bah Di Huang Wan, Ping Wei San and Qui Pi Tang - were noted as significantly associated with enhanced survival. Therefore, it seems that integrating Chinese Herbal Medicine with Western treatment protocols could enhance survival in patients afflicted with colorectal cancer.
