臺灣中醫住院對癌症病患的輔助治療之評估

The Therapeutic Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitalization Combined with Conventional Western Medicine among Cancer Patients in Taiwan

目的：探討台灣中醫住院對於癌症患者的輔助治療。材料和方法：採用回溯性的研究方法，分析比較30 位中醫病房住院的腫瘤病患，住院前後的生活品質，如體重變化和EORTC QLQ-C30 問卷。以上評估指標使用統計軟體SPSS（version 19.0） ，採取成對和獨立樣本t 檢定的統計方式分析，P 值<0.05 則達到統計學意義。結果：（1） 所有患者的平均體重上升（P=0.003）以及整體健康狀態改善（P=0.001）達到統計學意義，且二者在不同性別和腫瘤類型之間並無差異。（2） 口腔癌和鼻咽癌患者相較其他腫瘤患者的疲倦情況改善較為明顯（P=0.021）。結論：本研究為台灣首先對於癌症病患在西醫接受常規治療的同時，於中醫住院並且接受中醫輔助治療的療效評估之前驅研究。本文發現：患者平均體重上升和整體健康狀態改善，口腔癌和鼻咽癌患者的疲倦情況也較為減輕，中醫住院治療期間無發生嚴重之併發症，但未來仍需更多病患人數和設計嚴謹的臨床研究來證實其真正的輔助醫療價值。此外，透過中醫住院之床邊教學，彌補了目前台灣中醫門診及會診臨床教學之不足。Objective: To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of adjuvant traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitalization among cancer patients in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: 30 cancer patients were enrolled in this retrospective study. To analyze and compare the quality of life in cancer patients before and after TCM hospitalization, we collected the data of body weight change and the EORTC QLQ-C30 scores. The results were analyzed by paired and independent t-test statistic methods via SPSS (version 19.0) with P-value less than 0.05 being significant. Results: (1) The average weight elevation (P=0.003) and the global health status improvement (P=0.001) were found in all patients, irrespective of gender or cancer type. (2) A decrease of fatigue in patients with oral and nasopharyngeal cancer compared with other cancer was also noticeable (P=0.021). Conclusion: This article was the first pilot study to explore the therapeutic efficacy of TCM hospitalization combined with conventional western medicine among cancer patients in Taiwan. Weight gain and improved global health status were found in all patients, irrespective of gender or cancer type. Fatigue in patients with oral and nasopharyngeal cancer also lessened. No severe adverse complications happened during TCM hospitalization. It will need more patients and more rigorous clinical studies to confirm the true adjuvant medical value in the future. In addition, bedside teaching at the TCM wards compensated for the lack of clinical teaching in Chinese medicine, which was usually carried out through out-patient clinics and consultation in Taiwan.