Prescription frequency and patterns of Chinese herbal medicine for liver cancer patients in Taiwan: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Health Insurance Research Database

We conducted a National Health Insurance Research Database-based Taiwanese nationwide population-based cohort study to evaluate whether Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) treatment decreased the incidence of chronic hepatitis in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. A total of 81171 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer within the defined study period. After randomly equal matching, data from 13856 patients were analyzed. Hazard ratios of incidence rate of chronic hepatitis were used to determine the influence and therapeutic potential of CHM in patients with breast cancer. The patients with breast cancer receiving CHM treatment exhibited a significantly decreased incidence rate of chronic hepatitis even across the stratification of age, CCI score, and treatments. The cumulative incidence of chronic hepatitis for a period of seven years after initial breast cancer diagnosis was also reduced in the patients receiving CHM treatment. The ten most commonly used single herbs and formulas were effective in protecting liver function in patients with breast cancer, where Hedyotis diffusa and Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San were the most commonly used herbal agents. In conclusion, our study provided information that western medicine therapy combined with CHM as an adjuvant modality may have a significant impact on liver protection in patients with breast cancer.

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Association Between Chinese Herbal Medicine Therapy and the Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease in Gout Patients

Frontiers in Pharmacology ◽

10.3389/fphar.2021.661282 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Yan-Zhuan Xiao ◽

Zhi-Zhong Ye ◽

Yuan-Tong Liang ◽

Xin-Peng Chen ◽

Yu-Hsun Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Kidney Disease ◽

Kidney Disease ◽

Herbal Medicine ◽

Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽

Conditional Logistic Regression ◽

International Classification Of Diseases ◽

Population Based ◽

Research Database ◽

Chinese Herbal ◽

Incidence Of Ckd

Background: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been nationally and globally used in treating gout for over a millennium. The potential relationship between the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in gout patients and CHM therapy is unclear. Thus, this study aimed to provide some evidence regarding the relationship between CHM therapy and the occurrence of CKD in gout patients.Methods: We used data from the National Health Insurance Research database (NHIRD) in Taiwan. In this population-based nested case-control study, all participants were identified by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9). Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of the risk of CKD in gout patients treated with CHM therapy.Results: Data on 1718 gout patients with CKD and 1:1 matched 1718 gout patients without CKD were collected for analysis. The results showed that CHM therapy in gout patients did not increase the risk of developing CKD (adjusted OR = 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86–1.18; p > 0.05). Moreover, CHM therapy in gout patients for >365 days did not increase the incidence of CKD (adjusted OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 0.90–1.88; p = 0.162).Conclusion: Traditional CHM therapy does not increase the incidence of CKD in gout patients.

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Concurrent Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Anticoagulants May Reduce Major Bleeding Events

10.21203/rs.3.rs-683341/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shuo-Min Hsu ◽

Hung-Jen Lin ◽

Yi-Wei Kao ◽

Te-Mao Li ◽

Ben-Chang Shia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Herbal Medicine ◽

Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽

Major Bleeding ◽

Lower Risk ◽

Panax Notoginseng ◽

Research Database ◽

Bleeding Events ◽

Chinese Herbal ◽

Concurrent Use ◽

Major Bleeding Events

Abstract Background: This retrospective cohort study investigated the risk of major bleeding events during the concurrent use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and anticoagulants in clinical practice. Methods: A total of 4,470 patients receiving anticoagulant drugs were selected from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Half (n=2,235) were also using CHMs (CHM cohort); the other half were not (non-CHM cohort). Each cohort was matched 1:1 using the propensity score. Chi-square testing and the Student’s t-test were used to examine differences between two cohorts. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis assessed the risks for major bleeding events in each cohort, as well as bleeding risks associated with specific CHM formulas and herbs. Cumulative incidence curves for major bleeding events were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: Compared with the non-CHM cohort, the CHM cohort had a lower risk of overall bleeding events (p < 0.001) including hemorrhagic stroke (p = 0.008), gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding (p < 0.001), urogenital bleeding (p ≤ 0.001) and nasal/ear/eye bleeding (p = 0.004). Single herbs, such as Glycyrrhiza uralensis et Rhizoma, Panax notoginseng, Panax ginseng, Platycodon grandiflorum, Eucommia ulmoides Oliver and formulas, such as Shu Jing Huo Xue Tang, Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang and Ji Sheng Shen Qi Wan were associated with a lower risk of major bleeding events. Conclusions: Using CHMs with anticoagulants appeared to decrease the risk of major bleeding. Further investigations are needed to determine whether CHM can maintain the therapeutic efficacy of anticoagulants while simultaneously reducing potential side effects.Trial registration: Not applicable.

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Survival Benefit of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine (A Herbal Formula for Invigorating Spleen) in Gastric Cancer Patients with Peritoneal Metastasis

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2014/625493 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lu Zhao ◽

Ai-Guang Zhao ◽

Gang Zhao ◽

Yan Xu ◽

Xiao-Hong Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gastric Cancer ◽

Herbal Medicine ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽

Peritoneal Metastasis ◽

Herbal Formula ◽

First Line ◽

Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽

Chinese Herbal ◽

Gastric Cancer Patients

Objective.We evaluated the efficiency of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (a compound herbal formula for invigorating spleen) as a complementary and alternative therapy for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis.Methods.Between 2001 and 2012, 93 gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis were enrolled in this study. The effect of traditional Chinese herbal medicine on their long-term outcome was investigated. Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess the difference in survival time, and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to identify independent prognostic factors.Result.First-line palliative chemotherapy plus traditional Chinese herbal medicine was performed in 47 patients and the other 46 patients received chemotherapy alone. The overall survival was different between patients with and without traditional Chinese herbal medicine (12.0 versus 10.5 months;P=0.046). According to the Cox proportional hazard model, first-line chemotherapy cycle (hazards ratio [HR] = 0.527; 95% CI = 0.323~0.860) and TCHM (hazards ratio [HR] = 0.644; 95% CI = 0.481~0.992) were selected as independent prognostic factors for survival.Conclusion.The results suggest that traditional Chinese herbal medicine could improve the prognosis of the gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis.

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Chinese Herbal Medicine for Reducing Chemotherapy-Associated Side-Effects in Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2020.599073 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Sha Li ◽

Tsz-him So ◽

Guoyi Tang ◽

Hor-Yue Tan ◽

Ning Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Side Effects ◽

Herbal Medicine ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Chemotherapeutic Agents ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Chinese Herbal

BackgroundChemotherapy usually induces a variety of side-effects in cancer treatment as it cannot tell normal cells apart from cancer cells and kills both. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been regarded as a potential effective intervention for relieving the side-effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.ObjectiveThis study aims to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of CHM as adjuvant therapy for reducing the chemotherapy-induced side-effects in the treatment of breast cancer.MethodsMain electronic databases were searched up to May 2020 for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of CHM on breast cancer patients with chemotherapy. The PRISMA statement was adopted in this study and meta-analyses were performed.ResultsThe included studies showed unsatisfied quality. Results based on available literature indicated that the adjunctive use of CHM with chemotherapy may reduce the chemotherapeutic agents-associated adverse events, including nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, alopecia, myelosuppression, and impaired immune function.ConclusionA confident conclusion could not be have due to the lack of large scale and high quality trials.

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