Wei X, Chen Z Y, Yang X Y, Wu T X
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Apr 18(2):CD004520. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004520.pub3.
Esophageal cancer is the seventh leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs are sometimes used as an adjunct to radiotherapy or chemotherapy for this type of cancer.
To assess the efficacy and possible adverse effects of the addition of Chinese medicinal herbs to treatment with radiotherapy or chemotherapy for esophageal cancer.
We searched the Cochrane Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases Group Trials Register, The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine Database), CBM (Chinese Biomedical Database), China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Cochrane Centre Controlled Trials Register and CISCOM (The Research Council for Complementary Medicine) (up to June 2004). Databases of ongoing trials, the internet and reference lists were also searched.
Randomised controlled trials comparing the use of radiotherapy or chemotherapy with and without the addition of Chinese medicinal herbs.
At least two review authors extracted data and assessed trial quality.
Two studies were included. The numbers of participants in these two trials were 42 and 80, 122 in total. Both studies were analysed separately because of the differences in interventions used. Although one study reported a positive result, the majority of outcome measurements from the two studies showed no significant benefit with the addition of Chinese herbal medicines to radiotherapy or chemotherapy. There was statistically significant improvement in quality of life with the additional Huachansu injection, however, no statistically significant improvement was found in short-term therapy effects, one-year survival rate or the adverse effect of radiation-induced esophagitis.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The included studies were of low quality. The results suggest Zhenxiang capsules or Huachansu injection may not improve short-term therapy effects or one-year survival rate when used as adjunct treatment to chemo- or radiotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer. The quality of life may be improved by Huachansu injection. The results suggest that more high-quality trials on Huachansu injection and other Chinese herbal medicines are needed in the future.
食管癌是全球癌症死亡的第七大主要原因。中药有时用作这类癌症放疗或化疗的辅助手段。
评估添加中药至食管癌放疗或化疗方案中的疗效及可能的不良反应。
我们检索了Cochrane上消化道和胰腺疾病组试验注册库、Cochrane图书馆、MEDLINE、EMBASE、AMED（联合与补充医学数据库）、CBM（中国生物医学数据库）、中国知网、中国Cochrane中心对照试验注册库及CISCOM（补充医学研究理事会）（截至2004年6月）。还检索了正在进行的试验数据库、互联网及参考文献列表。
比较使用放疗或化疗加与不加中药的随机对照试验。
至少两名综述作者提取数据并评估试验质量。
纳入两项研究。这两项试验的参与者人数分别为42名和80名，共计122名。由于所用干预措施不同，两项研究分别进行分析。尽管一项研究报告了阳性结果，但两项研究的大多数结局指标显示，放疗或化疗中添加中药并无显著益处。然而，华蟾素注射液可使生活质量有统计学意义的改善，在短期治疗效果、一年生存率或放射性食管炎的不良反应方面未发现有统计学意义的改善。
纳入研究质量较低。结果表明，在食管癌化疗或放疗中，贞芗胶囊或华蟾素注射液作为辅助治疗可能无法改善短期治疗效果或一年生存率。华蟾素注射液可能改善生活质量。结果表明，未来需要针对华蟾素注射液及其他中药开展更多高质量试验。
