Clinical efficacy of Fuhebeihua prescription in prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis after interventional therapy for primary liver cancer: a report of 40 cases

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of Fuhebeihua prescription in the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis after interventional therapy for primary liver cancer. Methods: A total of 80 patients with primary liver cancer meeting inclusion criteria were randomly divided into treatment group( n = 40) and control group( n = 40). Both groups were given transcatheter arterial chemoembolization( TACE) three times with therapy intervals of one month. The treatment group was also treated with Fuhebeihua prescription. Twenty- four hours before TACE and one month after the third TACE,the liver function,serum liver fibrosis indicators including hyaluronidase( HA),laminin( LA),IV- collagen( IV- C),and procollagen III( PC III) and cytokines including transforming growth factor- β1( TGF- β1) and tumor necrosis factor- α( TNF- α) were determined,and the internal diameters of portal vein and splenic vein and the thickness of spleen were also determined by color Doppler ultrasound. Results: The liver function was significantly improved in both groups after treatment( P 0. 05),with the treatment group showing a significantly more improvement compared with the control group( P 0. 05). The liver fibrosis indicators were significantly increased in both groups after treatment,with the treatment group showing significantly lower increases compared with the control group( P 0. 05). The levels of cytokines were significantly reduced in both groups after treatment( P 0. 05),with the treatment group showing significantly higher reductions compared with the control group( P 0. 05). The internal diameters of hepatic portal vein and splenic vein were significantly reduced and the thickness of spleen was also significantly reduced in the treatment group,who had significantly better outcomes compared with the control group( P 0. 05). Conclusion: Fuhebeihua prescription is effective in the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis after interventional therapy for primary liver cancer,and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of TGF- β1 and TNF- α.