Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Liujunzi Decoction Combined with Chemotherapy on Middle-Late Stage NSCLC

OBJECTIVE  To systematically evaluate the efficacy and adverse reactions of Liujunzi decoction combined with chemotherapy on middle-late stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).METHODS  The randomized controlled trials (RCT) of Liujunzi decoction combined with chemotherapy (treatment group) and chemotherapy alone (control group) for the treatment of middle-late stage NSCLC were reviewed in PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang data, VIP, and Chinese Biomedical Database. In addition, Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan5.3.RESULTS  A total of 16 RCTs were included. The results of Meta-analysis showed that clinical efficacy: RR=1.22, 95%CI(1.08, 1.38), P < 0.05; quality of life: RR=1.60, 95%CI(1.11, 2.30), P < 0.05; KPS score: MD=-1.93, 95%CI(-2.93, -0.93), P < 0.01; efficacy on tumor-like lesions: RR=1.40, 95%CI(1.09, 1.79), P < 0.05; cough: RR=0.31, 95%CI(0.17, 0.56), P < 0.05; gastrointestinal reaction: RR=0.66, 95%CI(0.50, 0.87), P < 0.05; lacking in strength: RR=0.36, 95%CI(0.19, 0.70), P < 0.05; leukopenia: RR=0.69, 95%CI(0.55, 0.88), P < 0.05; carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA): MD=-2.91, 95%CI(-4.20, -1.62), P < 0.01; carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199): MD=-13.55, 95%CI(-14.56, -12.54), P < 0.05; squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag): MD=-1.32, 95%CI(-1.67-0.96), P < 0.01; cytokeratin 19 (Cyfra211): MD=-6.01, 95%CI(-6.75, -5.27), P < 0.05; neuronspecific enolase (NSE): MD=-6.74, 95%CI(-7.06, -6.42), P < 0.05.CONCLUSION  Liujunzi decoction combined with chemotherapy can alleviate the adverse reactions, reduce the serum tumor markers levels, improve the hematological examination results, increase the clinical efficacy, and better the quality of life in patients with middle-late stage NSCLC. However, those results still need to be confirmed by a large number of clinical studies in future.