Traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy for breast cancer after operation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:This systematic review aims to explore the effect of traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy on the clinical efficacy of breast cancer postoperative patients, providing theoretical basis for the treatment of breast cancer postoperative patients with traditional Chinese medicine.Methods:A comprehensive search was conducted on databases such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library from their inception to August 2023 to screen RCTs comparing the effect of traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy with that of chemotherapy alone on the clinical efficacy of breast cancer postoperative patients. The included literature was systematically reviewed.Results:A total of 22 RCTs involving 1834 breast cancer postoperative patients were finally included, with 918 patients in the traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy group (treatment group) and 916 patients in the chemotherapy alone group (control group). Meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, therapeutical effective rate, CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8, and adverse reactions in the treatment group were all improved, and the incidence of leukopenia and thrombocytopenia after chemotherapy were all reduced, with statistically significant differences.Conclusion:Traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy is superior to chemotherapy alone in improving the therapeutical effective rate after breast cancer surgery, reducing chemotherapy adverse reactions, and enhancing immune function.