To systematically assess the effect of Marsdenia tenacissima extract (MTE) on the immune function in patients with intermediated and advanced cancer treated by chemotherapy,and to provide evidence for clinical practice.Methods:Database of PubMed,EMBase,Cochrane Library,CNKI,VIP,Wanfang Data,CBM and other databases was retrieved.The search time limit was from the establishment of each database to October 2020.The clinical randomized controlled trial of MTE preparation combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced malignant tumors was searched.After the quality of the included studies was evaluated,the Revman5.3 software was used for Meta analysis.Results:A total of 11 RCTs were included,and the total number of samples was 828.The experimental group used MTE preparation combined with chemotherapy for 414 cases,and the control group used chemotherapy alone for 414 cases.The analysis results showed that compared with chemotherapy alone,the combination of MTE and chemotherapy could increase the CD3+ level of patients with intermediated and advanced cancer [MD=10.77,95%CI (8.67,12.86),P<0.000 01],CD4+ level [MD=6.94,95%CI (4.42,9.45),P<0.000 01],CD4+/CD8+ level [MD=1.02,95%CI (0.88,1.17),P<0.000 01] and enhance the activity of NK cells [MD=2.38,95% CI (0.83,3.86),P=0.002],whereas the combination showed no effect on CD8+ level [MD=1.01,95% CI (-0.36,2.37),P=0.15].Subgroup analysis result indicated that in terms of different categories of cancer,the CD4+/CD8+ level varied [MD=0.28,95% CI (0.24,0.32,P<0.000 01] and there was a statistical difference between lung cancer subgroup and the gastrointestinal cancer subgroup.There was no statistical difference of CD4+/CD8+ level among the subgroups of different administrations [MD=1.02,95% CI (0.88,1.17,P=0.13].There was no statistical difference of CD4+/CD8+ level among subgroups of different chemotherapeutics [MD=1.02,95%CI (0.88,1.17),P=0.4].The CD4+/CD8+ levels were correlated with different categories of cancer,but had no correlation with the administration types and chemotherapeutics.Conclusion:MTEs are likely to improve the immune function of patients with intermediated and advanced cancer treated by chemotherapy.There is correlation with categories of cancer,but no correlation with the administration methods and chemotherapeutics.However,the evidence needs further larger sample randomized controlled trials to confirm. |