ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2020
Nonhormonal Hot Flash Management for Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Dietary Supplements on Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- How effective is acupuncture in treating hot flashes in breast cancer patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- The Efficacy and Safety of Nutritional Supplements for Cancer Supportive Care: An Umbrella Review and Hierarchical Evidence Synthesis.Integrative cancer therapiesPooled it
- Precision pharmacology in menopause: advances, challenges, and future innovations for personalized management.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Review
- The Effects of Complementary Therapies on Patient-Reported Outcomes: An Overview of Recent Systematic Reviews in Oncology.Cancers · 2023Review
- Implementation of Acupuncture in Routine Oncology Care: A Comparison of Physicians', Nurses', Physiotherapists' and Acupuncturists' Practice and Beliefs.Integrative cancer therapiesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
MATERIALS AND
methodsWe conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang, and VIP up to May 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting nonhormonal hot flash treatments for breast cancer survivors were included. Primary outcome measurements were hot flash frequency and hot flash score of posttreatment. The methodological quality of each study was assessed with Cochrane's risk of bias tool.
results16 RCTs involving 2,349 participants were included. The nonhormonal therapies used in the included studies were classified as follows: lifestyle changes, mind-body techniques, dietary/supplements, SSRIs/SNRIs, other medications, and other therapies. Pairwise meta-analysis showed that the general effect of nonhormonal management was statistically more effective than no treatment/placebo/sham in reducing hot flash frequency (SMD = -0.60, 95% CI [-1.13, -0.06];
conclusionsThis network meta-analysis comparing nonhormonal treatments suggested that acupuncture might be more effective in improving hot flashes for breast cancer survivors. A pronounced placebo response was found during hot flash treatments. The evidence of safety for nonhormonal therapies was also insufficient. Therefore, at present, we cannot make confirmative recommendations of nonhormonal hot flash management for breast cancer survivors. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018082008).
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.