Efficacy of ginseng and its ingredients as adjuvants to chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer.

Chemotherapy is applied to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but often limited due to its unstable therapeutic effects and adverse reactions (ADRs). Ginseng and its main ingredients (ginsenosides and polysaccharides) have been clinically used as adjuvants to chemotherapy. However, their efficacies were based on individual trials with relatively small sample sizes, and it is difficult to draw a valid conclusion. In this study, eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched in six international and Chinese databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese VIP Information and Wanfang). The outcomes of the objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), ADRs, quality of life (QOL), survival rates and immunity were extracted using standard data extraction forms. The efficacies of ginseng and its ingredients as adjuvants to chemotherapy in NSCLC were investigated and compared by meta-analysis and subgroup meta-analysis, respectively. A total of 28 RCTs including 2503 subjects were enrolled, and most of the eligible studies were of low-to-moderate quality. For the evaluation of ginseng and its ingredients as adjuvants to chemotherapy, the risk ratio (RR) or standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the ORR, DCR, leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, myelosuppression, hepatotoxicity, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, CD4+/CD8+ and one- and two-year survival rates, and QOL were 1.35 (1.21,1.50), 1.20 (1.14,1.28), 0.59 (0.50, 0.70), 0.53 (0.37, 0.76), 0.30 (0.17, 0.53), 0.67 (0.52, 0.87), 0.67 (0.53, 0.86), 0.42 (0.19, 0.96), 1.39 (0.63, 2.16), 1.35 (1.13, 1.60), 3.21 (1.51, 6.81) and 1.31 (1.22, 1.41) with significant differences. Subgroup analysis showed that ginseng enhanced nausea and vomiting and QOL, ginsenosides increased ORR, DCR, QOL, leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, myelosuppression, hepatotoxicity, diarrhea, CD4+/CD8+, and one- and two-year survival rates, while polysaccharides improved ORR, DCR, leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, myelosuppression, hepatotoxicity and nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy. In conclusion, ginseng and its ingredients facilitated the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy on NSCLC patients. Ginseng had beneficial effects on alleviating ADRs and enhancing QOL, ginsenosides demonstrated beneficial effects on enhancing therapeutic effects, reducing ADRs, improving immunity, prolonging survival rates and promoting QOL, while polysaccharides showed beneficial effects on promoting therapeutic effects and reducing ADRs.