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

Zhengkai Huang; Qiang Zhang; Yihua Fan; Jiajing Zhou; Mingkun Liang; Xin Deng; Jian Liang

doi:10.1155/2020/2456873

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

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Dec 21:2020:2456873. doi: 10.1155/2020/2456873. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Zhengkai Huang¹, Qiang Zhang², Yihua Fan^{3

4}, Jiajing Zhou⁵, Mingkun Liang^{1

6}, Xin Deng⁷, Jian Liang^{1

8}

Affiliations

¹ College of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, China.
² Department of Oncology, Army Medical Center of PLA, ChongQing 400042, China.
³ First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China.
⁴ National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin 300381, China.
⁵ Department of Oncology, Yantai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yantai 264000, China.
⁶ Department of Science and Technology, Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530011, China.
⁷ School of Basic Sciences, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530200, China.
⁸ College of Medical, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

Review