Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33874968›Full record

Trial reportRadiation oncology (London, England)2021

External application of liver compresses to reduce fatigue in patients with metastatic cancer undergoing radiation therapy, a randomized clinical trial.

Pirus Ghadjar, Wiebke Stritter, Irina von Mackensen, Felix Mehrhof, Clara Foucré, Vincent H Ehrhardt, Marcus Beck, Pimrapat Gebert, Goda Kalinauskaite, Jacqueline S Luchte and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Radiation oncology (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% 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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

14 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Pirus GhadjarDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany. pirus.ghadjar@charite.de.
Wiebke StritterDivision of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Irina von MackensenDivision of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Felix MehrhofDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Clara FoucréDivision of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Vincent H EhrhardtDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Marcus BeckDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Pimrapat GebertInstitute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Goda KalinauskaiteDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Jacqueline S LuchteDivision of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Carmen StrombergerDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Volker BudachDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Angelika EggertDivision of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Georg SeifertDivision of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Freie Universität Berlin · DEHumboldt-Universität zu Berlin · DECharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEUniversidade de São Paulo · BR

Funding

The Christophorus foundation 277CSTThe Helixor foundation 57/16 and 45/17
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLiver compresses are frequently used in integrative medicine as supportive therapy during cancer treatment in order to reduce fatigue. We performed a pilot study to test whether the external application of yarrow liver compresses impacts fatigue in patients with metastatic cancer undergoing radiation therapy.

methodsA randomized prospective pilot trial was performed including patients with brain metastasis or bone metastasis of solid tumors. Patients underwent either palliative radiation therapy (RT) of the metastatic lesions (control group) over two weeks or the same RT with additional external application of yarrow liver compresses once daily during RT. The primary objective was improvement on the general fatigue subscale of the multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI-20) at the end of treatment, where a mean difference of two points is considered clinically relevant. Secondary objectives included psychological distress, quality of life and qualitative analysis with self-established visual analogue scales (VAS). Mean differences in general fatigue at the end of treatment compared to baseline were analyzed using the ANCOVA test.

resultsFrom 09/2017 to 08/2019 a total of 39 patients were randomized. Due to drop outs 24 patients (12 per group) were available for analysis. Patients in the intervention group received a mean number of 10.5 (range, 7-14) applications of yarrow liver compresses. The mean improvement at the end of therapy on the general fatigue subscale of the MFI-20 was 2 points in favor of the intervention group (p = 0.13), and all other MFI-20 subscales showed at least a trend towards improvement in favor of the intervention group. Likewise, psychological distress and VAS data was improved, the latter reaching statistical significance for the symptoms fatigue, tension and lack of drive. Major toxicities were not observed.

conclusionsExternal application of liver compresses appears to reduce fatigue within a clinical relevant range in patients with metastatic cancer undergoing radiation therapy.

trial registrationISRCTN, ICTRP DRKS00012999.

Indexed as

AchilleaBandagesPlants, MedicinalAdultAgedAged, 80 and overFatigueFemaleHumansLiver NeoplasmsMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm MetastasisPalliative CarePilot ProjectsProspective StudiesCancerCompressExternal applicationFatigueIntegrative medicineMetastasisRadiation therapy

Identifiers

PMID33874968
PMCPMC8054395
OpenAlexW3156516903

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.