A comparative study of survival benefits in patients with stage III/IV gastric cancer receiving sequential or consolidated treatment mode with Traditional Chinese medicine / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the effects of sequential or consolidated treatment mode with TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine) in the comprehensive treatment on the OS (overall survival) and MST (median survival time) in patients with stage III/IV gastric cancer. Methods: The clinical records of eighty-eight patients with stage III/IV gastric cancer receiving integrative medicine (Western medicine integrated with TCM) between January 1, 2007 and January 1, 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Of the 88 patients, 38 received sequential treatment mode with TCM, and 50 received consolidated treatment mode with TCM. The survival was followed up with a phone call and calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. The factors related with the survival were analyzed by stratified analysis. Results: The median OS of the 88 patients was 16.0 months. The median OS in the sequential treatment group was significantly prolonged as compared with that in the consolidated treatment group (33.0 vs 20.0 months, P = 0.047). The patients receiving TCM decoction had a longer median OS than the patients without receiving TCM decoction (23.8 vs 15.6 months, P = 0.012).There was a significant difference in the median OS between the patients with Borrmann III and Borrmann IV (16.8 vs 11.3 months, P = 0.029). The results of the stratified analysis revealed that the MST of the patients with clinical stage IV was obviously prolonged in the sequential treatment group than in the consolidated treatment group (P <0.05); and the MST of patients with single syndrome, composite syndromes or receiving TCM decoction between the two groups had no significant differences. Conclusion: The integrative medicine can provide survival benefits for patients with stage III/IV gastric cancer. As compared with the consolidated treatment mode, the sequential treatment mode with TCM has more advantages in prolonging the OS. Copyright© 2012 by TUMOR.