Impact of traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional therapies on the survival of patients with metastatic prostate cancer: a retrospective observational cohort study.
- 1Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
- 2The Second Clinical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
- 3Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract
Background
Traditional 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
We 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
During 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
These findings define a duration-survival association among TCM users and support prospective, multicenter evaluation using detailed longitudinal treatment records.
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BibTeX
@article{zhou2026impact,
title = {{Impact of traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional therapies on the survival of patients with metastatic prostate cancer: a retrospective observational cohort study.}},
author = {Jianfu Zhou and Shuyang Yang and Haoqiang Chen and Lei Hu and Yinglin Zhou and Hui Jiang and Jingmin Mai and Shu Gan and Zhiqiang Chen and Songtao Xiang},
journal = {Frontiers in oncology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fonc.2026.1948429},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898136},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Impact of traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional therapies on the survival of patients with metastatic prostate cancer: a retrospective observational cohort study.
AU - Jianfu Zhou
AU - Shuyang Yang
AU - Haoqiang Chen
AU - Lei Hu
AU - Yinglin Zhou
AU - Hui Jiang
AU - Jingmin Mai
AU - Shu Gan
AU - Zhiqiang Chen
AU - Songtao Xiang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Frontiers in oncology
DO - 10.3389/fonc.2026.1948429
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898136
AB - Background Traditional 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 We 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 During 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 These findings define a duration-survival association among TCM users and support prospective, multicenter evaluation using detailed longitudinal treatment records.
SN - 2234-943X
ER -