Traditional herbal medicine for cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Summary Background The effectiveness of traditional herbal medicine (THM) as an adjunctive therapy for cancer pain is unclear. Objective To assess the effectiveness of THM as an adjunctive therapy for cancer pain using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods Five electronic databases, including those from the UK and China, were systematically searched for the period before September 2013. All RCTs involving the use of THM in combination with conventional cancer therapy for cancer pain were included. Results Twenty-four RCTs involving 4889 patients with cancer pain were systematically reviewed. Among them, nine studies of 952 patients reported a significant decrease in the number of patients with cancer pain in the treatment group. Four studies of 1696 patients reported a significant decrease in the degree of pain in the treatment group. Conclusion The results of these studies suggest that THM combined with conventional therapy is efficacious as an adjunctive therapy for patients with cancer pain. However, more research, including well-designed, rigorous, and larger clinical trials, are necessary to address these issues.