Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine injection combined with conventional western medicine in the treatment of prostate cancer patients

Liu Yunbo; Sun Qin; Guo Hongzhi

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1671-6450.2025.11.018

Abstract：Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine injection combined with conventional Western medicine for the treatment of prostate cancer patients and to provide evidence-based sup-port for clinical practice.Methods Chinese and English databases including CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,and Co-chrane Library were searched electronically from inception to 2024.Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)and retrospective studies comparing TCM injection combined with Western medicine versus Western medicine alone were included.The Co-chrane Handbook 5.1.0 was used to assess the quality of the literature,and meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software.Heterogeneity was evaluated using I2 statistics,with a fixed-effects model applied for low heterogeneity(I2≤50％)and a random-effects model for high heterogeneity(I2＞50％).Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots and Begg's test.Results A total of 20 RCTs and retrospective studies were included,comprising 1972 patients.Meta-analysis showed that:① The total response rate in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group(MD=2.70,95％CI:2.06-3.54,P＜0.00 1);② KPS score:After treatment,the experimental group showed better improvement than the con-trol group(MD=2.21,95％CI:0.83-3.58,P=0.05),with no significant difference before treatment;③ PSA level:After treat-ment,the experimental group had significantly lower PSA levels than the control group(MD=-2.61,95％CI:-3.35--1.88,P＜0.001),with no significant difference before treatment;④ VAS score:Pain improvement in the experimental group was superi-or to that in the control group after treatment(MD=-1.02,95％CI:-1.65--0.39,P=0.001);⑤ Prostate volume:No significant difference was observed between the two groups.The overall incidence of adverse reactions in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group,though heterogeneity among studies was high(e.g.,hematuria,anemia,hot fla-shes).Conclusion Traditional Chinese medicine injection combined with conventional Western medicine can improve the total effective rate,quality of life,and PSA levels in prostate cancer patients,with favorable safety.However,due to study het-erogeneity and methodological limitations,more high-quality RCTs are needed to verify its long-term efficacy and mecha-nisms.