Impact of treatment-duration-ratio of traditional Chinese medicine on survival period of primary liver cancer —A real-world study

INTRODUCTION: In China, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is regarded as an effective treatment for primary liver cancer (PLC). The present study analyzed the effect of TCM on the survival period of patients with PLC by analyzing the relationship between the treatment-duration-ratio of traditional Chinese medicine (C-TDR, (traditional Chinese medicine treatment duration)/(Overall treatment duration) × 100%) and the survival time of 1002 patients with PLC. METHODS: In this study, 1002 patients with PLC admitted to TCM Oncology Department of Changhai Hospital from January, 2015 to December, 2019 were enrolled. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression equation, propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to identify independent prognostic factors for survival outcomes of PLC patients at different stages and estimate the influence of C-TDR on survival time. RESULTS: Cox regression analysis indicated that C-TDR was an independent prognostic factor for survival outcome (P＜0.05) and a corresponding reduction of relative risk of death of 75.67% (relative risk (RR) = 0.2433; 95%Confedential Interval (CI) = 0.1747–0.3388). Similarly, it is also an independent prognostic factor for patients outcome of each stage (P＜0.05). The 251 patients of BCLC-A reduced 96.09% risk of mortality (RR = 0.0391; 95%CI = 0.0151–0.1012). The 396 BCLC-B patients decreased risk of death of 81.24% (RR = 0.1876, 95%CI = 0.1112–0.3163). Moreover, 355 patients of stage C demonstrated a 51.36% lower risk of death (RR = 1.0016, 95%CI = 0.9885–1.0149). Significant differences were found in the median overall survival (OS) both higher and lower C-TDR of all patients. Even after PSM, the overall survival of two groups were significantly improved following each stage. CONCLUSION: Earlier administration of traditional Chinese medicine can reduce the risk of mortality and prolong survival in patients with liver cancer.