Jie-du granule preparation for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study of 177 patients

// L.Y. Chen 1 , X.F. Zhai 1,* , Z. Chen 1 , J.F. Zhu 2 , P.A. Qian 2 , H.T. Zhao 1 and C.Q. Ling 1 1 Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China 2 Department of Liver Disease, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China * These authors have contributted equally to this work Correspondence to: C.Q. Ling, email: // Keywords : hepatocellular carcinoma, Jie-du granule, best supportive treatment, retrospective cohort study Received : July 28, 2016 Accepted : October 19, 2016 Published : October 25, 2016 Abstract Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of Jie-du granule preparation versus best supportive treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out in patients with advanced liver cancer. Patients were divided into Jie-du granule treatment (JD) and best supportive treatment (BST) groups. The main outcomes included median overall survival time. Results: A total of 177 patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C receiving JD granule treatment or BST were enrolled between January 2012 and December 2014. The overall median survival time was 6.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.546-7.854) in the JD group versus 4 months (95% CI 3.471-4.529) in the BST group. Significant independent risk factors were alpha-fetoprotein ( P = 0.048), Child-Pugh class ( P = 0.005), vascular invasion ( P = 0.003), and extrahepatic metastasis ( P = 0.0018). For patients with two or fewer of these independent risk factors, the overall median survival of those treated with JD was significantly longer than that of patients receiving BST ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: Jie-du granule preparation may prolong survival of patients with advanced HCC.