Moxibustion for the side effects of surgical therapy and chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Side effects after surgical therapy and chemotherapy of gastric cancer substantially reduce patients’ quality of life. This systematic review aims to investigate whether moxibustion, as a complementary treatment, is effective in alleviating side effects in patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgical therapy or chemotherapy. METHODS: We will systematically search nine English and Chinese electronic databases to find relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compare basic treatment with and without moxibustion for treating the side effects induced by surgical therapy or chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer. The time frame of the search will be from inception to July 1, 2020, and the publication language will not be limited. The literature screening and data extraction will be completed independently by 2 reviewers. The Cochrane risk of bias tool will be used to assess the risk of bias. For the analyses of the side effects of both surgical therapy and chemotherapy, the primary outcomes are defined as the incidence of any side effect, response rate, and quality of life. For the analyses of the side effects of surgical therapy, the secondary outcomes include the incidence of each individual side effect, time to first flatus/defecation/bowel sounds, and length of in-hospital stay. For the analysis of the side effects of chemotherapy, the secondary outcomes include incidence of each individual side effect, white blood cell/red blood cell/platelets counts, and hemoglobin level. R v3.6.2 software will be used to perform the meta-analyses. The quality of evidence will be classified using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. RESULTS: This study will provide the first systematic review evidence on the efficacy of moxibustion as adjuvant management for gastric cancer by rigorous quality assessment and appropriate data synthesis. The results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will provide currently best evidence on moxibustion for patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgical therapy or chemotherapy and may impact clinical practice. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020169511