Abstract
Context
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been widely used as a complementary medical
treatment for arthralgia and other types of pain. The available literature on the
effectiveness of TCM on breast cancer patients with musculoskeletal symptoms reports
controversial results.
Objectives
The objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of TCM as a treatment
option for musculoskeletal symptoms in patients with breast cancer who were treated
with aromatase inhibitors (AIs).
Methods
A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, the Cochrane Library,
SAGE journals, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Medline, Cumulated Index to Nursing
and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM),
Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database
(VIP), Wanfang, and Chinese Medical Journal Database (CMJ) from May 2020 to November
2020. The literature review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TCM for
AI-related musculoskeletal symptoms.
Results
Four RCTs incorporating TCM were assessed by meta-analysis and reported favorable
effects in reducing worst pain score (n = 284, mean difference [MD]: 2.31; 95% CI, 1.74 to 2.88; P < 0.00001). Three trials showed favorable effects of TCM in reducing pain interference
(n = 211, MD: 2.62; 95% CI, 1.29 to 3.94; P = 0.0001), while two trials reported no significant effects of TCM on stiffness (n = 147, MD: 1.21; 95% CI, −0.39 to 2.82; P = 0.14). The meta-analysis of three trials also found no significant effect of TCM
on bone mineral density (n = 214, MD, −0.01; 95% CI, −0.07 to 0.05; P = 0.71). The physical aspect of quality of life was significantly increased in breast
cancer patients after TCM treatment (n = 220, MD, 5.13; 95% CI, 2.04 to 8.22; P = 0.001). In addition, three RCTs reported minimal TCM-related adverse events.
Conclusion
The results suggest that TCM could be an effective treatment in relieving pain especially
worst pain and pain interference as well as improving quality of life caused by AI-related
musculoskeletal symptoms. However, further investigation of the molecular pathway
involved and in-depth safety profile are needed.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 02, 2020
Accepted:
November 20,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
