Traditional Chinese Medicine Interventions for Managing Cancer Treatment Induced Side Effects in Human Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Comments on Veterinary Medicine

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in humans as well as companion animals. Commonly used conventional medical treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation are associated with significant side effects such as vomiting, nausea, fatigue, bone marrow suppression and decreased quality of life. The objective of the current literature systematic review and meta-analysis was to answer the question: Can the adverse effects of conventional cancer therapies be ameliorated by the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Given the lack of research in veterinary oncology in this area, the systematic review and meta-analysis reviewed human studies exclusively. A total of 15 studies met inclusion criteria for meta-analysis from the initial 57 articles obtained through an internet search engine. Statistical evaluation using Stouffer’s Zscores resulted in an overall p-value of 8.8210-6 for reduction of adverse side-effects in patients receiving acupuncture treatments and 5.4510-22 for patients receiving Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) treatment. The marked statistical significance strongly supported the hypothesis that patients receiving TCM therapy (acupuncture, CHM) along with conventional cancer treatment (chemotherapy and radiation therapy) have significantly fewer side effects than individuals who do not receive TCM treatment. The statistically significant results of the meta-analysis demonstrate the addition of TCM to standard conventional chemotherapeutic and radiotherapy protocols reduces adverse effects associated with treatment and suggest randomized controlled studies evaluating TCM in conventional cancer treatment are warranted in human and veterinary medicine.