Oral Chinese Patent Medicines for Breast Cancer：A Scoping Review of Clinical Evidence / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

To clarify the research progress and existing problems in the clinical research on oral Chinese patent medicine in the treatment of breast cancer. National drug catalogs and databases were searched for oral Chinese patent medicines against breast cancer. Chinese and English databases were searched for clinical trials on oral Chinese patent medicines in the treatment of breast cancer. The main functions，drug composition，literature basic characteristics，intervention measures， and outcome indicators of Chinese patent medicines were comprehensively analyzed and evaluated by a scoping review based on visual charts. In 68 Chinese patent medicines included，53% of them were potent in activating blood， resolving stasis， tonifying the kidney， and strengthening the spleen. In terms of frequency， the top drugs were Ligustri Lucidi Fructus， Astragali Radix， Moutan Cortex， Poria， and Olibanum，indicating the importance of the therapeutic principles of activating blood， resolving stasis， tonifying the kidney， and strengthening the spleen for breast cancer treatment. In 161 included clinical trials，70.71% of the intervention measures were Chinese patent medicine combined with chemotherapy. Literature studies mainly reported Xihuang pills and Huaier granules，which may be related to the combination of chemotherapy and the inclusion in the medical insurance. The outcome evaluation was mainly based on immune indexes，tumor markers，Karnofsky score，safety report and objective response rate，while the survival time and characteristic outcome indicators of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） were insufficient. The application and research on oral Chinese patent medicine in the treatment of breast cancer have advanced in recent years，but most of the clinical research evidence is not robust，and the evaluation of outcome indicators is not standardized，which needs to be improved.