Park Bongki, Noh Hyeonseok, Choi Dong-Jun
1 Ilsan Oriental Hospital, Dongguk University Medical Centre, Gyeonggi, South Korea.
2 Department of Clinical Korean Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
Integr Cancer Ther. 2018 Jun;17(2):179-191. doi: 10.1177/1534735417728336. Epub 2017 Sep 4.
Xerostomia (dry mouth) causes many clinical problems, including oral infections, speech difficulties, and impaired chewing and swallowing of food. Many cancer patients have complained of xerostomia induced by cancer therapy.
The aim of this systematic review is to assess the efficacy of herbal medicine for the treatment of xerostomia in cancer patients.
Randomized controlled trials investigating the use of herbal medicines to treat xerostomia in cancer patients were included. We searched the following 12 databases without restrictions on time or language. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool.
Twenty-five randomized controlled trials involving 1586 patients met the inclusion criteria. A total of 24 formulas were examined in the included trials. Most of the included trials were insufficiently reported in the methodology section. Five formulas were shown to significantly improve the salivary flow rate compared to comparators. Regarding the grade of xerostomia, all formulas with the exception of a Dark Plum gargle solution with normal saline were significantly effective in reducing the severity of dry mouth. Adverse events were reported in 4 trials, and adverse effects of herbal medicine were reported in 3 trials.
We found herbal medicines had potential benefits for improving salivary function and reducing the severity of dry mouth in cancer patients. However, methodological limitations and a relatively small sample size reduced the strength of the evidence. More high-quality trials reporting sufficient methodological data are warranted to enforce the strength of evidence regarding the effectiveness of herbal medicines.
口干症（口腔干燥）会引发诸多临床问题，包括口腔感染、言语困难以及食物咀嚼和吞咽功能受损。许多癌症患者都抱怨过癌症治疗引发的口干症。
本系统评价旨在评估草药治疗癌症患者口干症的疗效。
纳入调查使用草药治疗癌症患者口干症的随机对照试验。我们检索了以下12个数据库，时间和语言均无限制。使用Cochrane偏倚风险工具评估偏倚风险。
25项涉及1586例患者的随机对照试验符合纳入标准。纳入试验共检验了24种配方。纳入试验的方法部分大多报告不足。与对照相比，有5种配方显示能显著提高唾液流速。关于口干症分级，除生理盐水含乌梅漱口水外，所有配方在减轻口干严重程度方面均显著有效。4项试验报告了不良事件，3项试验报告了草药的不良反应。
我们发现草药在改善癌症患者唾液功能和减轻口干严重程度方面具有潜在益处。然而，方法学局限性和相对较小的样本量降低了证据的力度。需要更多报告充分方法学数据的高质量试验来加强关于草药有效性证据的力度。
