ArticleJournal of traditional and complementary medicine2026
Oral Chinese herbal medicine in combination with opioids for treatment of cancer pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Journal of traditional and complementary medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Research hotspots and trends in the application of Chinese herbal medicine for cancer pain management: a bibliometric study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and aim: While oral Chinese herbal medicine (OCHM) is frequently used for cancer pain (CP), its combined effects with opioids remain unclear. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of OCHM combined with opioids in patients with moderate to severe CP. Experimental procedure: We systematically searched five Chinese and English databases up to December 30th, 2024, for randomized controlled trials comparing OCHM plus opioids versus opioids alone. Primary outcomes were pain relief and pain intensity. Secondary outcomes included onset and duration of pain relief, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score, and adverse events. Results: Meta-analysis of 18 trials revealed that OCHM plus opioids had a lower pain intensity (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -1.70; 95 % CI = -2.31 to -1.08; Conclusion: OCHM plus opioids improved pain relief, enhanced the quality of life, reduced opioid-related adverse events in patients with moderate to severe CP compared to opioids alone.
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