ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) combined with chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.MethodsCNKI, VIP, WanFang Data and PubMed databases were searched to collect randomized controlled trials on the CHM combined with chemotherapy for ovarian cancer from inception to March 31st, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsThirteen studies were included. Meta-analysis showed that, CHM combined with chemotherapy group was superior to the chemotherapy alone group in effective rate of TCM syndrome (RR=1.72, 95%CI 1.46 to 2.03, P<0.00.000 1), effective rate of tumor change (RR=1.40, 95%CI 1.21 to 1.63,P<0.000 01), physical condition score (MD=9.19, 95%CI 5.89 to 12.48,P<0.000 01), tumor markers (MD=–18.00, 95%CI –20.62 to –1.538,P<0.000 01), leukocyte reduction (RR=0.67, 95%CI 0.58 to 0.77,P<0.000 01), granulocy tedepletion (RR=0.67, 95%CI 0.55 to 0.81,P<0.000 1), thrombocytopenia (RR=0.55, 95%CI 0.45 to 0.69,P<0.000 01), and digestive tract reaction (RR=0.66, 95%CI 0.50 to 0.87,P=0.004).ConclusionsThe current evidence shows that CHM combined with chemotherapy is superior to chemotherapy alone in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Due to limited quality and quantity of included studies, the above conclusions are required to be verified by more high-quality studies.
