The effect of Tai Chi practice on immunological function in cancer survivors: A protocol for systematic review

BACKGROUND: Tai Chi has been reported to be potentially effective for health and well-being of cancer survivors. It is worth to assess the effectiveness and safety of Tai Chi on immunological function in people with cancer. METHODS: All relevant randomized controlled trials (RCT) will be reviewed on Tai Chi for immunological function in cancer survivors. Literature searching will be conducted until March 9, 2019 from major English and Chinese databases: Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), PubMed, CINAHL, Sprotdicus, American Association for Cancer Research Journals, Sino-Med database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database, and Wanfang Data Chinese database. Two authors will conduct data selection and extraction independently. Quality assessment will be conducted using the risk of bias tool recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. We will conduct data analysis using Cochrane's RevMan software (V.5.3). Forest plots and summary of findings tables will illustrate the results from a meta-analysis if sufficient studies with the same outcomes are identified. Funnel plots will be developed to evaluate reporting bias. RESULTS: This review will summarize the evidence on Tai Chi for immunological function in cancer survivors. CONCLUSIONS: We hope that the results of this study will provide significant evidence to assess the value Tai Chi practice on immunological function in cancer survivors. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval is not required as this study will not involve patients. The results of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.