What do systematic reviews say?

Moxibustion vs sham

Moxibustion may leads to higher qoL (EORTC QLQ‐C30) compared with sham treatment (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  MD 14.88 [4.83, 24.93]
  1 study · 50 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

Moxibustion + conventional treatment showed no clear difference in the incidence and severity of toxicities: leukopenia (WHO grade 3 to… compared with conventional medicine alone (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.14 [0.01, 2.64]
  1 study · 56 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

Moxibustion + conventional treatment may leads to higher qoL (EORTC QLQ‐c30) compared with conventional medicine alone (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  MD 8.85 [4.25, 13.46]
  3 studies · 134 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

Moxibustion + conventional treatment may leads to lower patient‐reported symptom: nausea/vomiting (WHO grade 3 to 4) compared with conventional medicine alone (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.43 [0.25, 0.74]
  7 studies · 801 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

Moxibustion + conventional treatment showed no clear difference in patient‐reported symptom: diarrhoea compared with conventional medicine alone (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.19 [0.01, 3.88]
  1 study · 61 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  3 studies · 262 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

Moxibustion + conventional treatment may leads to higher objective outcome measure: haemoglobin (g/L) compared with conventional medicine alone (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  MD 3.97 [1.4, 6.53]
  2 studies · 142 participants
  Low

Moxibustion + conventional treatment vs Western medicine

Moxibustion + conventional treatment showed no clear difference in objective outcome measure: platelet (× 109/L) compared with conventional medicine alone (low certainty).

• Moxibustion for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with cancer 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  MD 13.48
  2 studies · 142 participants
  Low