The Traditional Chinese Medicine Kangai Injection as an Adjuvant Method in Combination with Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Breast Cancer in Chinese Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Table 1

The basic characteristics of the 15 included studies.

Author/year	Groups	Sample size	Age (median or mean or range) (year)	Is the baseline consistent	Course of treatment (days)	Intervention	Treatment options	Outcomes
Li et al. 2006 [10]	EG	42	58	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 40 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 21 days + CTF.	CTF	①②③④
	CG	40	60		21 days, 4 periods	CTF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day;
						THP: 40 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Pan et al. 2008 [11]	EG	15	56.62	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 21 days + CEF.	CEF	②③④
	CG	15	59.74		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day; EPI: 60 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 750 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Cao et al. 2009 [12]	EG	156	45	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 21 days + CEF.	CEF	①④⑥⑦⑨
	CG	80	45		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day; EPI: 60 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 750 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Wu 2010 [13]	EG	49	52.2 ± 11.2	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 21 days + CEF.	CEF	②③④
	CG	47	50.7 ± 10.5		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day; EPI: 50 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Xu et al. 2010 [14]	EG	33	54.6	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 21 days + CEF.	CEF	④⑤⑧
	CG	27	53.5		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 600 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day; EPI: 100 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day).
Y. Wang and K. Y. Wang 2011 [15]	EG	20	46	Yes	21 days, 2 periods	KAI: 40 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 42 days + CTF.	CTF	②③④
	CG	20	46		21 days, 2 periods	CTF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day;
						THP: 40 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Y. T. Wu and J. Y. Wu 2011 [16]	EG	30	51.5	Yes	21 days, 2 periods	KAI: 20 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 42 days + CTF.	CTF	①②④⑥⑦⑧
	CG	30	50.5		21 days, 2 periods	CTF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						THP: 40 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day).
Deng 2012 [17]	EG	40	45.58	Yes	21 days, 2 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 42 days + CTF.	CTF	①②
	CG	40	43.63		21 days, 2 periods	CTF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day;
						THP: 40 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Zhang 2012 [18]	EG	30	3269	Yes	30 days, 2 periods	KAI: 40–60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 30 days + AC.	AC	⑥
	CG	31	3468		30 days, 2 periods	AC (CTX: 600 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						ADM: 60 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day)
Zhu and Sun 2012 [19]	EG	30	52 ± 5	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 40–60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 30 days + CEF.	CEF	①
	CG	30	54 ± 3		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day;
						EPI: 50 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Chen 2016 [20]	EG	25	47.52 ± 10.31	Yes	21 days, 2 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 42 days + CEF.	CEF	①②④⑥⑦⑧
	CG	25	48.06 ± 10.28		21 days, 2 periods	CEF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day;
						EPI: 60 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 750 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and eighth day).
Qiu 2016 [21]	EG	60	45.8 ± 10.3	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 40 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 84 days + CEF.	CEF	①④⑥⑦⑨
	CG	60	46.7 ± 10.8		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						EPI: 80–100 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day).
Su et al. 2016 [22]	EG	53	3570	Yes	28 days, 3 periods	KAI: 60 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 84 days + CTF.	CTF	①④⑥⑦
	CG	53	3570		28 days, 3 periods	CTF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and fifth day;
						THP: 40 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first and fifth day).
Xu 2016 [23]	EG	30	42.61 ± 2.13	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 40 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 84 days + CEF.	CEF	①⑥⑨
	CG	30	42.29 ± 2.31		21 days, 4 periods	CEF (CTX: 600 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						EPI: 80–100 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day).
Shi et al. 2017 [24]	EG	30	41.83 ± 4.31	Yes	21 days, 4 periods	KAI: 40 ml, ivgtt, 1 time a day, for 63 days + CAF.	CAF	④⑤⑥⑦⑨
	CG	30	42.04 ± 4.25		21 days, 4 periods	CAF (CTX: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						ADM: 50 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day;
						5-Fu: 500 mg/m^2, ivgtt, the first day).

① Total effective rate; ② improvement of quality of life; ③ incidence of weight loss; ④ incidence of WBC count decrease; ⑤ incidence of decreased platelet count; ⑥ incidence of gastrointestinal adverse reactions; ⑦ incidence of renal and liver dysfunction; ⑧ incidence of cardiac dysfunction; ⑨ incidence of alopecia. EG: experimental group; CG: control group. Cyclophosphamide: CTX. THP. Fluorouracil: 5-Fu. Intravenous drip: ivgtt. Kangai injection: KAI. EPI. Adriamycin: ADM.