Table 1.
Characteristics of the included RCTs with AT for cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients.
| Author (Year) [Ref] Country |
Sample Size/ Cancer Stage/Current Antitumor Treatment Mean Age (Year) |
Intervention (Regimen, Randomized/ Analysed) |
Control (Regimen, Randomized/ Analysed) |
Fatigue Measurement | Result | AEs/Trial Registration Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Li (2020) [34] China |
40/I to III/ongoing-chemo A: 47.5; B: 42; C: 50.5 |
(A) AT (1 time weekly for 20 weeks, n = 20/18) | (B) Sham AT (noninsertive stimulation at non-AT points, n = 10/10) (C) UC (n = 10/10) |
MFI-20 | A vs. B: MD −5.90 [−17.43, 5.63], p = 0.32; A vs. C: MD −13.70 [−28.50, 1.10], p = 0.07 | Bruising ChiCTR-IPR-17013652 |
| Smith (2013) [35] Australia |
30/NR/off-treatment A: 55.0; B: 53.0; C: 58.0 |
(A) AT (2 times weekly for 3 weeks and once weekly for 3 weeks, n = 10/9) | (B) Sham AT (noninsertive stimulation at non-AT points, n = 10/10) (C) WLC (n = 10/10) |
BFI | A vs. B: MD −1.70 [−3.70, 0.30], p = 0.10; A vs. C: MD −2.20 [−4.16, −0.24], p = 0.03 | NR/ACTRN12610000720011 |
| Mao (2014) [36] USA |
67/I to III/ongoing- HT A: 57.5; B: 60.9; C: 60.6 |
(A) EA (2 times weekly for 2 weeks and once weekly for 6 weeks, n = 22/21) | (B) Sham EA (noninsertive stimulation at non-AT points, n = 22/20) (C) WLC (n = 23/22) |
BFI | A vs. B: MD −0.80 [−2.40, 0.80], p = 0.33; F/U: MD −0.70 [−2.13, 0.73], p = 0.34 A vs. C: MD −1.90 [−3.32, −0.48], p = 0.008; F/U: MD −1.60 [−3.14, −0.06], p = 0.04 |
NR/NCT01013337 |
| Zhang (2019) [37] China |
104/I to IV/off-surgery A: 45.1; B: 45.6 |
(A) AT (2 times weekly for 8 weeks, n = 53/53) | (B) Sham AT (noninsertive stimulation at non-AT points, n = 51/51) | EORTC QLQ-C30_Fatigue | MD −1.95 [−5.43, 1.53], p = 0.27; F/U: MD −3.70 [−6.99, −0.41], p = 0.03 | NR/NR |
| Yu (2017) [38] China |
72/I to III/off-treatment A: 50.2; B: 51.4 |
(A) AT (2 times weekly for 4 weeks, n = 36/34) | (B) Sham AT (noninsertive stimulation at non-AT points, n = 36/30) | PFS | MD −0.22 [−0.96, 0.52], p = 0.56; F/U: MD −0.21 [−0.84, 0.42], p = 0.51 |
NR/ISRCTN71727232 |
| Chen (2016) [39] China |
60/I to IV/ongoing-chemo A: 50.9; B: 51.2 |
(A) AT (1 session [1 time daily for 10 days], total 2 session, n = 30/30) | (B) UC (n = 30/30) | (1) BFI (2) ER |
(1) MD −1.67 [−7.20, 3.86], p = 0.55 (2) RR 1.21 [1.00, 1.46], p = 0.05 |
NR/NR |
| Molassiotis (2013) [40] UK |
197/I to III/off-treatment NR |
(A) AT (1 time weekly for 10 weeks, n = 65/56) (B) Self AT (n = 67/46) |
(C) UC (n = 65/49) | MFI | A vs. C: MD −0.92 [−2.30, 0.46], p = 0.19; B vs. C: MD −0.89 [−2.30, 0.52], p = 0.22 | NR/NCT00957112 |
| Brinkhaus (2019) [41] Germany |
150/I to III/ongoing-chemo A: 51.4; B: 50.6 |
(A) AT (NR for 6 months, least 6 sessions), n = 75/65) + (B) | (B) UC (n = 75/55) | FACIT-fatigue | MD −1.30 [−4.49, 1.89,], p = 0.42 | NR/NCT01727362 |
| Zhou (2018) [42] China |
64/I to IV/mix off and ongoing chemo A: 52; B: 50 |
(A) AT (3 times weekly for 5 weeks, n = 32/32) + (B) | (B) UC (n = 32/32) | (1) TCM Symptom Evaluation-fatigue (2) ER |
(1) MD −1.94 [−4.15, 0.27], p = 0.08 (2) RR 1.25 [1.00, 1.56], p = 0.05 |
NR/NR |
| Molassiotis (2012) [43] UK |
302/NR/off-treatment A: 52; B: 53 |
(A) AT (1 time weekly for 6 weeks, n = 227/181) + (B) | (B) UC (n = 75/65) | MFI | MD −3.10 [−3.45, −2.75], p < 0.00001 | None/NCT00957112 |
| Johnston (2011) [44] USA |
13/NR/off-treatment A: 55; B: 53 |
(A) AT (1 time weekly for 8 weeks, n = 6/5) + (B) | (B) UC (n = 7/7) | BFI | MD −2.25 [−4.41, −0.09], p = 0.04 | None/NCT00646633 |
| Zhu (2016) [45] China |
78/I to IV/ongoing-chemo A: 47; B: 46 |
(A) AT (1 time for 5 days, n = 40/40) + (B) | (B) UC (n = 38/38) | ER (TCM Symptom Evaluation-fatigue) | RR 1.16 [1.00, 1.34], p = 0.05 | NR/NR |
AEs: adverse events; AT: Acupuncture; BFI: Brief Fatigue Inventory; Chemo: Chemotherapy; ER: Effective rate; F/U: Follow-Up; HT: Hormonal therapy; MFI: Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory; NR: Not Reported; PFS: Piper fatigue scale; RR: Risk Ratio; RT: radiotherapy; MD: Mean Difference; UC: Usual Care; WLC: Wait List Control.