Noh, H., Yoon, S.W., & Park, B. (2018). A systematic review of herbal medicine for chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2018, 6194184.

DOI Link

Purpose

STUDY PURPOSE: To evaluate the evidence related to use of herbal medicine for prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy

TYPE OF STUDY: Systematic review

Search Strategy

DATABASES USED: 13 electronic databases including Medline, CENTRAL, EMBASE, AMED, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, CQVIP database, Korean Studies Information, DBPIA, Korea Institute of Science Technology Information, Research Information Center for Health Database, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, KoreaMed

YEARS INCLUDED: (Overall for all databases) through May 2017, no other limitations on publication date

INCLUSION CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials that tested herbal medicine for preventing or treating CIPN. Participants in the studies were at least 18 years old, diagnosed with cancer, had received chemotherapy, and had CIPN diagnosed by clinical assessment.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Only the first treatment period data was analyzed for crossover trials. If the authors could not separate the results of the first and second periods in the crossover trial, they excluded the study. RCTs with unreliable or unavailable methods or results

Literature Evaluated

TOTAL REFERENCES RETRIEVED: 819

Sample Characteristics

FINAL NUMBER STUDIES INCLUDED: 28

TOTAL PATIENTS INCLUDED IN REVIEW: 2,174

SAMPLE RANGE ACROSS STUDIES: 31-186

KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: Various solid tumors and one study in multiple myeloma, studies investigated oral herbals foot baths, IV, and fumigation. Oxaliplatin was used in 20 studies, paclitaxel was used in two, docetaxel was used in one, and various chemotherapy regimens were used in four studies.

Phase of Care and Clinical Applications

PHASE OF CARE: Active anti-tumor treatment

Results

The authors were unable to perform planned meta-analysis because of the heterogenicity of herbal treatments, doses, outcome measures, and small sample sizes.

Conclusions

Unable to draw any conclusions about the efficacy of herbal treatments for prevention or treatment of CIPN

Limitations

  • No quality evaluation
  • High heterogeneity
  • Low sample sizes

Nursing Implications

No changes to clinical practice can be recommended based on this article.