Effectiveness of Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer...

Neurotoxicity is a major adverse effect of chemotherapy in breast cancer (BC) patients. A number of nonpharmacologic interventions are used to alleviate chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI), but no studies have compared their effectiveness.

The aim of this study was to identify and compare the effectiveness of different nonpharmacologic interventions for CRCI in BC patients.

A systematic review and network meta-analysis was conducted following the Cochrane guidelines. All randomized controlled trials were searched in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, MEDLINE (via OVID), Web of Science, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases from inception to September 2021. Studies using nonpharmacologic interventions to manage CRCI symptoms were included. A network meta-analysis and a comparative effects ranking were completed by STATA v14.0.

Twelve studies with 8 nonpharmacologic interventions were included. For subjective outcomes on CRCI, there was no significant difference between nonpharmacologic interventions. For objective outcomes, qigong and exercise were more effective than the psychotherapy. Qigong and exercise were also more effective than music therapy. The top 3 interventions were psychotherapy (83.4%), music therapy (60.8%), and electroacupuncture (52.5%) for subjective outcomes and qigong (87.7%), exercise (82.1%), and electroacupuncture (70.3%) for objective outcomes.

In the subjective evaluation, it was difficult to judge which interventions are best, but psychotherapy had the greatest probability. For objective evaluation, qigong and exercise may be the best nonpharmacologic interventions.

This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of nonpharmacologic interventions for CRCI in BC patients and facilitates support for future clinical trials and work.