Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer type and the leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. While herbal medicines are sources of novel remedies for cancer patients, their efficacies remain unexplored. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Nigerian medicinal plants for breast cancer treatment using the Bayesian network meta-analytic approach. Methods: We searched Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct until January 2022 for articles that reported the efficacy of Nigerian medicinal plants for the treatment of breast cancer in preclinical models. The mean difference (MD) of cytotoxicity data was analyzed using a random effects model with a 95% credible interval (CrI). The surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) was used to assess the ranking probabilities of the outcome measure. Results: A total of 13 articles were enrolled for qualitative and quantitative syntheses. The quality of the included studies ranges from low to moderate. Treatment of breast cancer cells for at least 48 hours caused cytotoxicity with no evidence of inconsistency. SUCRA indicated that fraction (MD: -10.5%, 95% CrI: -63.8, 43.3) performed better in killing cancer cells, followed by crude extract and then isolate with MD of -4.42% (95% CrI: -41.2, 33.4) and -2.67% (95% CrI: -64.3, 59.2), respectively. Conclusion: This meta-analysis provides evidence of the therapeutic benefits of Nigerian herbal medicines for the treatment of breast cancer. Future studies may examine these medicinal plants for breast cancer in animal and clinical trials with improved methodological quality.
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