Clinical effect of Shenqi Gankang tablets combined with antiviral therapy after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in treatment of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of Shenqi Gankang tablets combined with antiviral therapy after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization ( TACE) in the treatment of hepatitis B virus ( HBV) -related hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) . Methods A total of106 patients with HBV-related HCC who were admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University from October 2015 to February 2017 were enrolled and randomly divided into control group with 57 patients ( treated with TACE + entecavir) and experimental group with 49 patients ( treated with Shenqi Gankang tablets + TACE + entecavir) . Among these patients, 89 completed follow-up ( 44 in the control group and 45 in the experimental group) . The levels of total bilirubin ( TBil) , alanine aminotransferase ( ALT) , alpha-fetoprotein ( AFP) , and albumin ( Alb) were measured before treatment and after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of treatment; the percentages of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+T lymphocytes, Child-Pugh class, and Karnofsky Performance Scale ( KPS) score were recorded before treatment and after 12 months of treatment, and survival rate was calculated after 12 months of treatment. The chi-square test or Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for comparison of sex and genotype and allele frequencies between the two groups. The independent samples t-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for comparison of continuous data between the two groups. Results After 3 months of treatment, the experimental group had significant improvements in the levels of ALT, TBil, and Alb than the control group ( all P < 0. 05) ; after 6 and 12 months of treatment, the experimental groups had further improvements in these indices than the control group ( all P < 0. 05) . Compared with the control group, the experimental group had a better change trend of ALT, AFP, TBil, and Alb and continuous improvements in ALT, TBil, and Alb. After 12 months of treatment, compared with the control group, the experimental group had a significantly higher percentage of CD4+T lymphocytes, a significantly higher CD4+/CD8+ratio, and a significantly lower percentage of CD8+T lymphocytes ( t =-2. 202, 3. 851, and-5. 324, P = 0. 030, < 0. 001, and < 0. 001) . At month 12 of follow-up, in the control group, 44 patients survived and 9 died, resulting in a survival rate of 83. 0%; in the experimental group, 45 survived and 2 died, resulting in a survival rate of 95. 7%; there was a significant difference in survival rate between the two groups ( χ2= 4. 121, P = 0. 042) . The experimental group had a significant improvement in Child-Pugh class than the control group, and there was a significant difference in Child-Pugh class between the two groups ( Z =-2. 260, P = 0. 024) . In the experimental group, 11 patients achieved a significant improvement in KPS score and 25 achieved a certain improvement, resulting in an improvement rate of 80. 00%; in the control group, 5 patients achieved a significant improvement in KPS score and 19 achieved a certain improvement, resulting in an improvement rate of 54. 55%; there was a significant difference in improvement rate between the two groups ( Z =-2. 688, P = 0. 007) . Conclusion Compared with antiviral therapy after TACE in the treatment of HBV-related HCC, Shenqi Gankang tablets combined with antiviral therapy after TACE has a better clinical effect in regulating the immune system, improving liver function, reducing bilirubin level, and improving survival rate.