Chinese Herbal Medicine and Fluorouracil-Based Chemotherapy for Colorectal Cancer: A Quality-Adjusted Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

ABSTRACT: Background Chinese herbal medicines reportedly increase efficacy and minimize toxicity of chemotherapy; however, little attention has been paid to how poor study quality can bias outcomes. Methods We systematically searched MEDLINE, TCMLARS, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials of Chinese herbal medicines combined with fluorouracil-based chemotherapy compared with the same chemotherapy alone. We screened for eligibility, extracted data, and pooled data with random-effects meta-analysis. Outcome measures were survival, toxicity, tumor response, performance status, quality of life, and Cochrane Risk of Bias (ROB) criteria to critically evaluate the quality of reporting in the randomized trials included in the meta-analysis. Results We found 36 potentially eligible st

SUBMITTER: McCulloch M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5739191 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature