Traditional Chinese Medicine in post-resection liver cancer therapy: a meta-analysis of efficacy

To systematically evaluate the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the comprehensive post-resection treatment of primary liver cancer.

Clinical studies on TCM in the comprehensive treatment of primary liver cancer post-resection were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Google Scholar databases. The search encompassed the period from the inception of each database up to June 28, 2024. Two independent reviewers conducted literature screening based on pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria, performed data extraction, and evaluated the risk of bias and the methodological quality of the included studies. A meta-analysis was conducted utilizing Review Manager 5.3 software.

A total of 12 studies involving 19,116 patients were included in this study. The meta-analysis revealed that TCM treatment following liver cancer resection significantly reduced the recurrence rate, mortality and incidence of adverse events (RR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.83, P < 0.00001; RR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.71-0.88, P < 0.0001; RR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.57-0.89, P = 0.003). Additionally, TCM notably increased the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rate (RR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.05-1.11, P < 0.00001; RR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.14-1.23, P < 0.00001; RR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.12-1.42, P < 0.0001), and extended the recurrence-free survival time and the 5-year overall survival time (HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.65-0.81, P < 0.00001; HR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.61-0.87, P = 0.0004) in patients with primary liver cancer after resection.

TCM has a beneficial impact on the comprehensive treatment of primary liver cancer post-resection. However, further validation through higher-quality clinical studies is warranted.