Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of Kang-ai injection for patients with oesophageal cancer

Abstract

Background: Oesophageal cancer (OC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Despite the improvement of therapeutic methods in recent years, the prognosis of OC remains unsatisfactory. Kang-ai injection, a kind of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has been widely applied as a promising adjunctive drug for OC. In this study, we aimed to summarize the efficacy and safety of Kang-ai injection for patients with advanced OC through the meta-analysis, in order to provide scientific reference for the design of future clinical trials. Methods: Relevant randomized controlled trials and high-quality prospective cohort studies were searched from PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Excerpt Medica Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Scientific Journal Database and Wanfang Database. Papers in English or Chinese published from their inception to August 2020 will be included without any restrictions. Study selection and data extraction will be performed independently by 2 investigators. The clinical outcomes including overall response rate, disease control rate, overall survival, disease-free survival, quality of life, immune function and adverse events, were systematically evaluated. Stata 14.0 and Review Manager 5.3 were used for data synthesis, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, meta regression, and risk of bias assessment. Results: The results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, or presented the findings at a relevant conference. Conclusion: Our study will draw an objective conclusion of the effects of Kang-ai injection combined with conventional treatment for advanced OC and provide a helpful evidence for clinicians to formulate the best postoperative adjuvant treatment strategy for OC patients. INPLASY registration number: INPLASY202080019.

Efficacy and safety of Chinese patent medicine (Kang-ai injection) as an adjuvant in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

“…2014 ; Lu and Li 2018 ; Song et al. 2020 ). It contains several active ingredients, such as Astragalus polysaccharides and astragalosides (the major, effective antitumor constituents of milkvetch root), ginsenosides and ginseng polysaccharides (the major, effective antitumor constituents of ginseng), and oxymatrine (Song et al.…”

The value of microRNA-203 as a biomarker for the prognosis of esophageal cancer

“…[ 1 , 2 , 5 – 8 ] The occurrence of EC varies by geographic area and ethnic group. [ 9 ] Its incidence rate can be as high as 30 to 800 cases per 100,000 persons in particular areas of northern Iran, some areas of southern Russia, and in northern China; the incidence in the US is approximately 3 to 6 cases per 100,000 persons. [ 9 , 10 ] Despite the improvement of diagnostic and therapeutic methods in the past decades, the prognosis of EC remains unsatisfactory.…”

“…[ 9 ] Its incidence rate can be as high as 30 to 800 cases per 100,000 persons in particular areas of northern Iran, some areas of southern Russia, and in northern China; the incidence in the US is approximately 3 to 6 cases per 100,000 persons. [ 9 , 10 ] Despite the improvement of diagnostic and therapeutic methods in the past decades, the prognosis of EC remains unsatisfactory. [ 9 ] Most EC patients already have advanced or metastatic lesions when diagnosed, due to the lack of noticeable clinical symptoms at its early stage.…”

“…[ 9 , 10 ] Despite the improvement of diagnostic and therapeutic methods in the past decades, the prognosis of EC remains unsatisfactory. [ 9 ] Most EC patients already have advanced or metastatic lesions when diagnosed, due to the lack of noticeable clinical symptoms at its early stage. [ 9 , 11 ] The 5-year survival rate of stage III and IV EC patients was about 20% and 10% respectively.…”

“…[ 9 ] Most EC patients already have advanced or metastatic lesions when diagnosed, due to the lack of noticeable clinical symptoms at its early stage. [ 9 , 11 ] The 5-year survival rate of stage III and IV EC patients was about 20% and 10% respectively. [ 1 , 9 , 11 ] Therefore, actively looking for the related prognostic factors is helpful to improve the overall survival of EC.…”