Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37273198›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA2023

To explore the effects of herbal medicine among cancer patients in Taiwan: A cohort study.

Tsai-Feng Li, I-Hsuan Hwang, Cheng-Hung Tsai, Shinn-Jang Hwang, Ta-Peng Wu, Fang-Pey Chen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tsai-Feng LiInstitute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
I-Hsuan HwangCenter for Quality Control, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Cheng-Hung TsaiCenter for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Shinn-Jang HwangFamily Medicine Division, En Chu Kong Hospital, New Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Ta-Peng WuCenter for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Fang-Pey ChenInstitute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used by ethnic Chinese communities. TCM is covered by Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) program. We evaluated the efficacy and outcomes of complementary Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) therapy in patients with cancer.

methodsThis population-based cohort study was conducted using the data of patients who received a cancer diagnosis between 2005 and 2015 in Taiwan. Eligible patients were divided into standard and complementary CHM therapy groups. The complementary CHM therapy group was further divided into low cumulative dosage (LCD), medium cumulative dosage (MCD), and high cumulative dosage (HCD) subgroups. Overall survival (OS), mortality risk, cancer recurrence, and metastasis were analyzed for all cancers and five major cancers (lung, liver, breast, colorectal, and oral cancers).

resultsWe included 5707 patients with cancer (standard therapy, 4797 [84.1%]; complementary CHM therapy, 910 [15.9%]; LCD, 449 [7.9%]; MCD, 374 [6.6%], and HCD, 87 [1.5%]). For the LCD, MCD, and HCD subgroups, the mortality risk was 0.83, 0.64, and 0.45, and the 11-year OS, 5-year cumulative cancer recurrence, and 5-year cumulative cancer metastasis rates were 6.1 ± 0.2, 6.9 ± 0.2, and 8.2 ± 0.4 years; 39.2%, 31.5%, and 18.8%; and 39.5%, 32.8%, and 16.6%, respectively. The cumulative cancer recurrence and metastasis rates of the standard therapy group were 40.9% and 32.8%, respectively. The cumulative recurrence and metastasis rates of all cancers, lung cancer, and liver cancer and all cancers, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer, respectively, were significantly lower in the HCD subgroup than in the other subgroups and standard therapy group ( p < 0.05).

conclusionPatients receiving complementary CHM therapy may have prolonged OS and reduced risks of mortality, recurrence, and metastasis. A dose-response relationship was noted between CHM therapy and mortality risk: increased dosage was associated with improved OS and reduced mortality risk.

Indexed as

Drugs, Chinese HerbalCohort StudiesHumansMedicine, Chinese TraditionalNeoplasm Recurrence, LocalTaiwanDrugs, Chinese Herbal

Identifiers

PMID37273198
PMCPMC12755543

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.