{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is incorporated into the long-term integrative management of advanced prostate cancer in China, but evidence linking treatment duration with survival remains limited. Because treatment duration accumulates during follow-up, classifying patients by their final recorded treatment duration can misallocate pre-threshold observation time and bias survival comparisons.Methods\n\nWe evaluated the association between cumulative continuous TCM treatment exceeding 6 months and all-cause mortality in a single-center retrospective cohort of 242 patients with metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma at diagnosis who received continuous TCM from diagnosis. Follow-up continued through May 1, 2024. Treatment exceeding 6 months was modeled as a time-dependent exposure in Multivariable Cox regression, with sensitivity analyses addressing an alternative threshold, disease-severity adjustment, influential observations, and loss to follow-up.Results\n\nDuring follow-up, 147 deaths occurred. Median overall survival was 53.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 44.0-61.0), with 3- and 5-year survival rates of 64.0% and 43.4%, respectively. Cumulative continuous TCM treatment exceeding 6 months was associated with a lower average hazard of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.269; 95% CI, 0.186-0.389; P < 0.001). The association attenuated over time: adjusted HRs at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years were 0.098, 0.192, 0.286, and 0.471, respectively. Sensitivity analyses yielded estimates in the same direction.Conclusion\n\nThese findings define a duration-survival association among TCM users and support prospective, multicenter evaluation using detailed longitudinal treatment records.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.",
    "The Second Clinical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.",
    "Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jianfu Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shuyang Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Haoqiang Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lei Hu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yinglin Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hui Jiang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jingmin Mai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shu Gan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zhiqiang Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Songtao Xiang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c9792ynv44zp6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fonc.2026.1948429",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677356",
  "id": "c9792ynv44zp6",
  "issns": [
    "2234-943X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898136",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2707|Medical Research and Treatments"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7219851339",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677356?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13677356",
  "pmid": "42898136",
  "published": "2026-10-05",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c9792ynv44zp6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:37Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42898136",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898136"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:13Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fonc.2026.1948429",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2026.1948429/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:2234-943X",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Impact of traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional therapies on the survival of patients with metastatic prostate cancer: a retrospective observational cohort study.",
  "title_text": "Impact of traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional therapies on the survival of patients with metastatic prostate cancer: a retrospective observational cohort study.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:13Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c9792ynv44zp6",
  "venue": "Frontiers in oncology",
  "versions": []
}