SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing natural products for novel anti-cancer strategies in gastrointestinal cancersView all articles
Efficacy and Safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine as an Adjuvant to Postoperative Chemotherapy in Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi Cancer Hospital, Nanchang, China
- 2Department of Anorectal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, China
- 3Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital, Nanchang, China
- 4Department of Pathology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi cancer hospital, Nanchang, China
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Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Methods: CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, CBM, PubMed, and Web of Science were searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCT) of TCM participating in postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. The search period was from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024. Cochrane bias risk assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of included studies, and RevMan5.4 was used for meta-analysis. Results: A total of 41 randomized controlled trials involving 2918 patients with colorectal cancer was ultimately included. The results demonstrated that the combination of TCM with chemotherapy was superior to chemotherapy alone in several aspects. These included the objective response rate (ORR), improvement of TCM-related symptoms, levels of tumor markers CEA and CA199, immune function indicators (CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+, NK cells), and quality of life as measured by the KPS score. Additionally, the combination therapy reduced CD8+ levels and mitigated abnormal laboratory indicators caused by chemotherapy, such as leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, decreased hemoglobin, and abnormal liver and kidney function. Furthermore, it alleviated chemotherapy-related adverse effects (AEs), including nausea, vomiting, and peripheral nerve toxicity. Conclusions: TCM may be associated with improvements in quality of life and reduce chemotherapy side effects in postoperative colorectal cancer patients, though large-scale rigorous trials are needed to confirm efficacy and safety.
Keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy, colorectal cancer, Meta-analysis, TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine
Received: 19 Sep 2025; Accepted: 16 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Chen, Zeng, Gao, Zheng, Rao, Wen, Yu and Zeng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiquan Zeng
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