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Treatment of Lung Cancer with Orally Administered Chinese Herbal Medicine: An Evidence Map between 1970–2020

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Abstract

Objective

Through showing the full picture of double-arm controlled clinical research and systematic review evidence in the field of orally administrated Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for treatment of lung cancer, to provide a reference for future clinical research and to indicate a direction for future systematic reviews.

Methods

A comprehensive search of clinical controlled studies was performed regarding orally administered CHM treatment for lung cancer published from January 1970 to September 2020. The language was restricted to Chinese and English. Relevant data were extracted, the quality of systematic reviews was evaluated, and the research evidence was visually displayed.

Results

Randomized controlled trials were the most common type of research design. The research sample sizes were typically small. Oral CHM showed certain curative advantages in treating lung cancer. The key stages in oral CHM intervention for lung cancer are chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and late palliative treatment. The advantageous outcomes of oral CHM treatment of lung cancer are the short-term efficacy, quality of life, and adverse reactions. The perioperative stage, overall survival, pharmacoeconomic evaluation, and Chinese medicine decoctions are weak research areas.

Conclusions

CHM has staged and therapeutic advantages in treating lung cancer. The overall methodological quality is poor, and the level of evidence requires improvement. It is necessary to carry out large-scale, standardized, and higher-quality research in the superior and weak areas of CHM treatment of lung cancer.

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Data Availability

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China

    Yue-rong Gui, Ying Zhang, Xue-qian Wang, Bing-jie Fan, Jing-lei Li, Lan-xin Zhang, Fen Fan, Kang-di Cao, Xiao-gang Zhang & Wei Hou

  2. Cancer Project Team of China Center for Evidence-Based Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100053, China

    Yue-rong Gui, Ying Zhang, Xue-qian Wang & Wei Hou

Authors
  1. Yue-rong Gui
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  2. Ying Zhang
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  4. Bing-jie Fan
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  5. Jing-lei Li
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  6. Lan-xin Zhang
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  7. Fen Fan
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  8. Kang-di Cao
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  10. Wei Hou
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Contributions

Gui YR, Zhang Y, Wang XQ, and Hou W designed the study. Fan BJ and Li JL searched and screened literature. Fan BJ, Li JL, Zhang LX, and Fan F extracted data. Cao KD and Zhang XG evaluated the quality of systematic reviews/meta-analyses methodology. Gui YR and Wang XQ analyzed the data. Gui YR, Wang XQ, Zhang Y, and Hou W interpreted the results. Gui YR wrote the manuscript. Wang XQ and Zhang Y contributed to the critical revision of the report. All authors have read and approved the contents of the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Hou.

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Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Supported by the Evidence-Based Medicine Program of Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (No. ZZ13-024-6) and Evidence-Based Capacity Building Project of Traditional Chinese Medicine Oncology (No. 60101)

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Gui, Yr., Zhang, Y., Wang, Xq. et al. Treatment of Lung Cancer with Orally Administered Chinese Herbal Medicine: An Evidence Map between 1970–2020. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 930–938 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-3465-3

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