Abstracts

BACKGROUND: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a leading cause of death. Interventions to reduce mortality in patients with NSCLC represent a patient-important field of research. Little is known about interventions used outside the Western world for NSCLC. One intervention widely used in Asia is astragalus-based herbal preparations. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive systematic review of all published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating astragalus-based herbal preparations in NSCLC patients. We searched independently, in duplicate, 6 English language electronic databases and 2 Chinese-language databases. We abstracted data independently, in duplicate on studies reporting of methods, survival outcomes, tumor responses, and performance score responses. We applied a random-effects meta-analysis and report outcomes as relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: We included 65 RCTs enrolling 4751 patients. All trials included the herbal preparations plus platinum-based chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone. We pooled 7 studies (n = 529) reporting on survival at 6 months and found a pooled RR of 0.54 (95% CI, 0.45 to 0.65, P