Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30719055›Full record

ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2019

Investigation on Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer among Elderly Patients Treated with Chinese Herbal Medicine versus Chemotherapy: A Pooled Analysis of Individual Data.

Lingling Sun, Wan Sze Yim, Paul Fahey, Shutang Wang, Xiaoshu Zhu, Jing Qiao, Hezheng Lai, Lizhu Lin

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Lingling SunIntegrative Cancer Centre, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.ORCID 0000-0001-7033-1698
Wan Sze YimSchool of Chinese Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Paul FaheySchool of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6351-9876
Shutang WangIntegrative Cancer Centre, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Xiaoshu ZhuSchool of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia.
Jing QiaoIntegrative Cancer Centre, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Hezheng LaiSchool of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia.
Lizhu LinIntegrative Cancer Centre, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.ORCID 0000-0001-8283-6554
First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine · CNCamden and Campbelltown Hospitals · AUChinese University of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeMany patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) seek help from Chinese herbal medicine (CHM). The purpose of this study was to investigate the survival between CHM and chemotherapy (CT) treatment of patients aged ≥60 years with advanced Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) wild type NSCLC and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) ≥ 60.

methodsWe extracted individual data of all eligible patients from 1 randomized control trial and 2 cohort studies and performed a pooled analysis. Survival outcomes of patients were compared between CHM group and CT group using Cox regression model stratified for study.

resultsA total of 486 patients were included in the study, including 262 patients in the CHM group and 224 patients in the CT group. The median overall survival time was 10.9 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 8.9-13.0) months in CHM group and 9.8 (95% CI: 8.1-11.5) days in CT group (p=0.592). The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CI for CHM compared to CT are 0.98 (0.87, 1.10, p=0.751) in the stratified Cox regression model. Stratified analysis showed a trend that previously treated elderly patients with EGFR wild type advanced NSCLC probably gain greater survival benefit from CHM (adjusted HR:0.83, 95% CI: 0.68-1.01, p=0.063).

conclusionsThere might be no significant difference in survival for elderly patients with advanced EGFR wild type NSCLC between the CHM and CT groups in the current study. And previously treated elderly patients with advanced NSCLC probably receive greater benefit from CHM. However, limited by the design and unpreplanned study hypothesis, the results must be confirmed by randomized control trial before making a conclusion.

Identifiers

PMID30719055
PMCPMC6334362
OpenAlexW2907316133

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.