Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine Injection on Cancer‐Related Fatigue: A Meta‐Analysis Based on Existing Evidence

Abstract

Background and Objective. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a common and painful side effect for cancer patients. The treatment of CRF by traditional Chinese medicine injection (TCMJ) is controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review to evaluate the effect of TCMJ on CRF, with a view to providing some guidance for clinical application. Methods. We systematically searched randomized controlled studies reported through March 2020 in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP databases. Two investigators independently screened the studies according to the predetermined criteria, extracted data, and evaluated the bias risk of the included studies, using RevMan5.3 software. Results. Twelve studies enrolling 1005 participants were included in this systematic review. We found that TCMJ could improve the clinical efficacy of CRF patients (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.05–1.46, P = 0.01 ), ameliorate fatigue status (RR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.27–1.65, P < 0.00001 ), and improve quality of life (MD = 8.34, 95% CI: 3.31–13.37, P = 0.001 ), but there was no statistical significance in the fatigue score (MD = −1.10, 95% CI: −2.23–0.04, P = 0.06 ). Referring to the number of adverse events, the safety of TCMJ was good. Subgroup analysis showed that TCMJ could improve clinical efficacy, fatigue, and quality of life in a short time (≤4 weeks). Among them, tonic TCMJ could improve the clinical efficacy. TCMJ had advantages in improving fatigue of lung cancer and gastric cancer. In addition, life quality of lung cancer patients improved significantly. Conclusion. Current research evidence showed that TCMJ could improve the clinical efficacy, fatigue status, and life quality of patients with CRF. In addition, we found that TCMJ could improve the clinical efficacy of CRF patients in a short period of time. Tonic TCMJ could improve the clinical efficacy, but heat-clearing TCMJ could not. Life quality and fatigue status of lung cancer patients improved significantly. However, due to the sample size and quality of the included studies, the results of this analysis should be treated with caution. The above conclusions still need to be verified by more large-sample and high-quality randomized controlled trials.

The Effects of Complementary Therapies on Patient-Reported Outcomes: An Overview of Recent Systematic Reviews in Oncology

“…In many cases, the group of patients receiving anti-cancer treatment combined with a complementary therapy experienced less adverse reactions from anti-cancer treatment compared to the control group receiving only anti-cancer treatment (for example: [ 35 , 64 , 67 , 74 ]). In two instances, a significant deteriorating effect of a complementary therapy on a patient-reported outcome was reported.…”

Efficacy and safety of herbal formulas with the function of gut microbiota regulation for gastric and colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Herbal formulas exerted anti-cancer efficacy through multiple mechanisms and pathways, and regulation of gut microbiota requires more attention. Previous studies showed that herbal formulas can improve the TRR, QoL, peripheral blood immune cell function, and fatigue status (Huang et al, 2020); reduce the incidence of AEs (Chen et al, 2018;Lu et al, 2021); and improve 1-and 2-year survival rates and the occurrence of liver dysfunction, renal dysfunction, neurotoxicity, and alopecia in gastrointestinal cancer patients, which is consistent with our study (Cheng et al, 2021b). Interestingly, a previous study evaluating the efficacy of herbal formulas combined with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy in GC found that the combination therapy could significantly improve the TRR [ORR: 1.39; 95% CI (1.24, 1.57), I 2 = 12%], and the small sample size was the disadvantage (Li et al, 2020c).…”

Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine for cancer-related fatigue: a systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials

“…For instance, Buzhong Yiqi Decoction contains at least eight herbs, and its therapeutic effects could be attributed to the processes such as interfering with tumor cell proliferation, inducing tumor cell apoptosis and correcting tumor cell drug resistance, and eventually improving quality of life (QoL) [ 12 , 13 ]. To many oncology patients, TCM has become an option in the treatment of CRF due to its potential efficacy, but the potential of adverse reactions and toxicity should also be taken into consideration [ 14 ].…”