Table 5.

Characteristics of the Included Randomized Controlled Clinical Studies.

No.	Study	No. of Patients	Cancer Type	Duration	MGN-3 Dosage	Conventional and Adjunct Treatment	Outcome Measurement	Outcomes
1	Takahara and Sano (2004) 49	205 (MGN-3: 96, Control: 109)	Various malignancies	18 mo	Orally at 3 g/d	Complementary and alternative therapy and anticancer drugs	NK cells activity, survival rate; custom quality of life scoring on pain, malaise, nausea, and appetite	MGN-3 group achieved higher survival rate and better appetite than control group
2	Bang et al (2010)52	68 (MGN-3: 38, Control: 30)	Hepatocellular carcinoma (stages I and II)	3 y	Orally at 1 g/d for 12 mo during treatment	Transarterial oily chemoembolization (TOCE) or TOCE and percutaneous ethanol injection treatment (PEIT)	Overall response to treatment, α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, tumor volume, recurrence, and survival	MGN-3 group showed lower recurrence, higher survival after 2nd year, and significantly lower AFP change compared with control
3	Cholujova et al (2013)53	48 (MGN-3: 32, Placebo: 16)	Multiple myeloma	3 mo	Orally at 2 g/d	Alternating courses of chemotherapy: alkylating agents, anthracyclines, and glucocorticoids	Immunophenotypic analysis; NK cells activity; and cytokine profiles	Increased NK activity, myeloid DCs level, and augmented concentrations of Th cell type 1-related cytokines in MGN-3 group compared with placebo group
4	Masood et al (2013)54	50 (MGN-3: 25, Control: 25)	Breast cancer	6 mo	Orally at 3 g/d 1 wk before and 1 wk after each chemotherapy cycle	6 cycles of chemotherapy	Chemotherapy induced side effects (tiredness, anorexia, vomiting, and hair loss)	MGN-3 group experienced significant reduction in tiredness; increased appetite; no antiemetic needs; and less hair fall compared with control group
5	Itoh et al (2015)55	20 (MGN-3: 10, Placebo: 10)	Cervical cancer	3 wk	Orally at 3 g/d during radiation therapy	Radiation therapy: combination of external-beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy Chemotherapy: cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil	Gastrointestinal side effects of chemoradiotherapy (diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, safety); WBC count; NK cell activity	MGN-3 group showed less diarrhea, less decrease in WBC count & less adverse events, but results were not significant due to lack of statistical power
6	Petrovics et al (2016)56	50 (MGN-3: 25, Control: 25)	Different malignancies with chronic fatigue syndrome	6 mo	Orally at 3 g/d for 24 wk	Oncothermia for MGN-3 group only Chemo- or radiotherapy as routine care	Quality of life score (EORTC QLQ-C3), pain score (visual analogue scale [VAS]), body pH level, blood abnormalities, ECG, blood test, fatigue scale (Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire [CFQ])	MGN-3 group showed changes in body pH level to be less acidic. Average of CFQ score was significantly reduced in MGN-3 group compared with no change in control group