Efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine injections in combination with docetaxel and cisplatin for non-small cell lung cancer: a network meta-analysis

Liangtao Wen; Lixiang Xie; Fengying Gong; Shunan Zhang; Tieju Xi

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1277284

Efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine injections in combination with docetaxel and cisplatin for non-small cell lung cancer: a network meta-analysis

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Dec 11:14:1277284. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1277284. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liangtao Wen^#¹, Lixiang Xie^#¹, Fengying Gong², Shunan Zhang¹, Tieju Xi¹

Affiliations

¹ General Practice, Shenzhen Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
² Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangdong, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) poses a serious threat to human health. Several clinical studies have reported the benefits of Chinese herbal injections (CHIs) in combination with docetaxel and cisplatin (DP). This multidimensional network meta-analysis aimed to investigate the preferred regimen of CHIs in combination with DP for the treatment of NSCLC. Methods: Multiple databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CHIs for NSCLC from the database inception to 30 April 2023. Studies that met the inclusion criteria and exhibited good methodological quality were included. Data analysis was conducted using Stata 15.0 and R 4.2.1 software. An odds ratio (OR) was used as the effect size, and the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SCURA) was employed to rank the evaluated treatments. Results: The network meta-analysis included 85 eligible RCTs, encompassing 6,580 patients and 11 CHIs. Astragalus Injection combined with DP was identified as the most effective regimen for improving the response rate (SUCRAs: 90.25%). Brucea Javanica Oil Milk Injection combined with DP proved most effective in ameliorating the quality of life (SUCRAs: 76.89%). Shenfu Injection combined with DP emerged as the most effective for enhancing CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ (SUCRAs: 93.75%, 88.50%). Kanglaite Injection combined with DP exhibited the best efficacy in improving CD8⁺ (SUCRAs: 88.96%). Brucea Javanica Oil Milk Injection combined with DP was the most potent regimen for enhancing CD4⁺/CD8⁺ (SUCRAs: 93.13%). Conclusion: CHIs in combination with DP outperformed DP alone in NSCLC patients. Astragalus Injection plus DP, Brucea Javanica Oil Milk Injection plus DP, Shenfu Injection plus DP, Kanglaite Injection plus DP, and Brucea Javanica Oil Milk Injection plus DP were significantly effective. However, further multicenter and well-designed RCTs are required to validate our findings.

Keywords: Chinese herbal injection; docetaxel in combination with cisplatin; network meta-analysis; non-small cell lung cancer; systematic evaluation.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Research on the cell mechanotransduction mechanism of ultrafine granular powde of Huangqi regulating the biological behavior of lung cancer cells under stress loading through extracellular matrixintegrin aVβ3-cytoskeleton-nuclear skeleton (Project Number: 2023A1515012338) as funded by Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangdong, China.