The effect of Cordyceps Sinensis in the prognosis on patients receiving chemotherapy with malignant tumors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

摘要

Highlights The combination therapy of Cordyceps Sinensis (CS) and chemotherapeutic drugs can reduce the inhibitory effect of bone marrow induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. CS can prevent leukocytes and white blood cells from decreasing in cancer patients during chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, the prognostic role of CS in patients with malignant tumors after chemotherapy is still not clear. The mechanism of Chinese medicine treatment of tumor is a promising direction. Abstract Objective: The efficacy of Cordyceps Sinensis (CS) on malignant tumors remains controversial. We undertook a systematic meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical studies on this issue. Method: A comprehensive literature search (by the end of Sep. 31, 2017) was conducted in following electronic databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP database, Wan fang database (VIP), PubMed, Medline, and EMBASE. Relevant studies were included according to inclusion criteria. Pooled relative risk was estimated by using the fixed effects model or random effects model according to heterogeneity. Data were extracted independently and the standardized mean deviation (SMD) of the calculated results was obtained. Result: After selection, 8 of 729 studies were included. The result showed that CS combined with chemotherapeutic drugs was favorable for the treatment of malignant tumor. The amount of CD3 T cells in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (SMD = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.02, 1.70; P 0.01; I 2 = 91%). The amount of CD4 T cells in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (SMD = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.22, 1.68; P 0.01; I 2 = 88%). The amount of CD8 T cells in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (SMD = -0.07; 95% CI= -0.30, 0.17; P = 0.32; I 2 = 14%). The rate of CD4 /CD8 T cells in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group (SMD = 27.76; 95% CI = 25.25, 30.28; P = 0.39; I 2 = 0%). And CS may retard the declining trend of KPS functional status evaluation (RR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.2780, 0.7350; P 0.01), thus improving the patients’ life quality. Conclusion: The current evidence suggested that CS is favorable to improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in patients with malignant tumors, probably by improving immune system function.