Univariate analysis of syndrome differentiation in traditional Chinese medicine and clinical correlative factors in gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE: The research is aimed at investigating the developing rule and the relationship between syndrome differentiation in traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and clinical factors of gastric cancer so as to guide clinical work and indicate prognosis. METHODS: We collected the medical records and the information of four diagnostic methods of 325 cases of gastric cancer sufferers in the way of clinical epidemiological survey, and divided them into 6 syndromes including dysfunction of spleen, disharmony of liver and stomach, blood stagnation in stomach, yin deficiency of stomach, phlegm dampness stagnation and deficiency of both qi and blood. Then we used logistic regression analysis to analyze the relationship between syndrome differentiation and clinical-related factors such as age, gender, Karnofsky score and clinical stage, etc. RESULTS: The syndrome spleen dysfunction is a dominant one among the syndromes of stomach cancer. Disharmony of liver and stomach always happens in early stage of stomach cancer and is frequently seen in women. Patients with syndrome of phlegm dampness stagnation or deficiency of both qi and blood have lower Karnofsky score and poorer living quality. Syndromes of blood stagnation in stomach and yin deficiency of stomach show no relationship with the clinical factors in this research. CONCLUSION: Syndrome differentiation in TCM of gastric cancer is related to some clinical factors to a certain extent.