Effect of Combining Traditional Chinese Medicine with Hormonal Therapy on Quality of Life and Tumor Markers of Prostate Cancer Patients

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of combining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with hormonal therapy on the quality of life and tumor markers of prostate cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 60 prostate cancer patients treated in Zibo Central Hospital from June 2017 to June 2021 were selected for the retrospective analysis study and divided into the control group and experimental group based on whether applying TCM treatment, with 30 cases each. The patients in the experimental group received the combined treatment of TCM and hormonal therapy, and those in the control group only accepted the hormonal therapy, so as to analyze their clinical efficacy and tumor marker levels after treatment. RESULTS: The patients' general information were not statistically different (P > 0.05); after treatment, the levels and ratios of total prostate-specific antigen (TPSA) and free prostate-specific antigen (FPSA) of patients in both groups were improved, and the experimental group obtained significantly lower TPSA and FPSA levels (P < 0.05) and higher TPSA/FPSA ratios (P < 0.05); the incidence of androgen-independent prostate cancer was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (8 vs. 16, P < 0.05); in addition, the time to develop into the androgen-independent prostate cancer was longer in patients of the experimental group than those of the control group (P < 0.05); the treated patients in the experimental group obtained obviously higher Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate (FACT-P) quality of life scores and Karnofsky score (KPS) than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and the number of patients with recovered PSA levels was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Combining self-made TCM formula with hormonal therapy can effectively improve the levels of prostate tumor markers and postpone the progress of developing from prostate cancer to androgen-independent prostate cancer, which is conducive to promoting the patients' quality of life.