Hou B, et al. – This trial resolved to minimize the clinical heterogeneity and pool high–quality studies to generate robust evidence with regard to the potential therapeutic value of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in preventing myelosuppression. It was revealed that CHM as an adjuvant resulted in an alleviation of the myelosuppression induced by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. It could also reduce the grade III–IV toxicity, and maintain therapeutic dose and treatment cycle. Owing to the heterogeneity and publication bias, the interpretation of the findings ought to be proceeded with caution and validated by conducting strictly designed multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of high quality and large scale.

Methods

• Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were examined from seven databases without language restriction.
• The inclusion criteria involved RCTs in adults, in which hematological toxicity was estimated based on WHO criteria and control group underwent chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy and the treatment group was given oral CHM.

Results

• 1021 articles were assessed from inception to October 7, 2016.
• 14 articles were selected for the final analysis.
• A notable decrease was noted in the suppression rate of leukocytes, neutrophils, hemoglobin, and platelets by CHM, when compared with the control group, especially in grade III-IV toxicity (leukocytes: RR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.33-0.56; neutrophils: RR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.27-0.58; hemoglobin: RR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.18-0.61; platelets: RR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.39-0.95).