Improved Survival with Integration of Chinese Herbal Medicine Therapy in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Abstract

Purpose. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most deadly subtype of leukemia, and many patients with this disease seek other complementary therapies, one of which is Chinese medicine. We set out to provide reliable data regarding the benefit of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for AML patients, using mortality as the main outcome measure. We also characterized the herbal prescriptions of patients. Methods. Using the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database, we performed a nationwide population-based cohort study among AML patients from 1997 to 2010. The Cox regression model was used to adjust for comorbidities and other variables, and the hazard ratios (HRs) of CHM users and non-CHM users were compared. Results. After 1:1 matching, 498 patients were included into the study. The HR of the CHM group was 0.41 (95% CI = 0.26-0.65; P =.0001) compared with the non-CHM group. This decrease in HR was also shown to be dose dependent (P