Therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects of Bojungikki-tang on cancer - a scoping review

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Levi

Cancer remains a major global health concern, and conventional treatments can be constrained by side effects and resistance. Bojungikki-tang (BJIKT), a traditional herbal formula, has shown potential to relieve cancer-related symptoms and boost anti-cancer activity, especially alongside conventional therapies. With immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) now standard, this scoping review summarizes evidence on BJIKT in cancer care, examines immunomodulatory effects, and highlights research gaps.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Background

Cancer burden and treatment evolution

Role and limitations of ICIs

Rationale for adjunctive herbal medicine

Bojungikki-tang (BJIKT)

Cho et al. BMC Cancer (2024) 24:1169 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12924-0](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12924-0) BMC Cancer RESEARCH Open Access Therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects of Bojungikki-tang on cancer: a scoping review Eunbyul Cho1†, Se Won Na2† and Mi-Kyung Jeong2* Abstract Background Cancer remains a major global health concern, with conventional treatments often limited by side effects and resistance. Bojungikki-tang (BJIKT), a traditional herbal formula, has shown promise in alleviating cancerrelated symptoms and enhancing anti-cancer effects when combined with conventional treatments. As immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the standard for cancer treatment, a combination of BJIKT and ICIs may exhibit immune-mediated anti-cancer effects. This review aims to summarize the recent evidence on BJIKT use in cancer treatment, investigate its immunomodulatory effects, and identify research gaps. Methods This review was conducted and reported following the Arksey and O’Malley framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Scoping Review. A comprehensive search of six electronic databases was conducted, and studies published between 2013 and 2022 were identified. Reports on oral administration of BJIKT to patients with cancer were included and analyzed by two reviewers. The extracted data were synthesized using descriptive reporting and meta-analysis. Results Overall, 56 studies met the inclusion criteria: 36 human studies, 14 experimental studies, and 6 reviews on clinical and preclinical investigations. The use of BJIKT in restoring immune function and improving fatigue, cancerrelated fever, and quality of life after chemotherapy has been reported in clinical studies. The different medication forms of BJIKT included decoction, extract granules, pills, and water extract. The meta-analysis revealed a significantly higher Karnofsky Performance Scale score in the BJIKT plus chemotherapy group than in the chemotherapy alone group. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that BJIKT has anti-cancer effects, enhances gastrointestinal function and immunomodulatory effects, and supports favorable chemotherapy outcomes. Conclusion In recent clinical research on BJIKT, its impact on fatigue, quality of life, and alleviating cancer-related fever has mostly been examined. The direct anti-cancer activities and immunomodulatory mechanisms of BJIKT have been reported in preclinical studies; however, clinical research on BJIKT-induced enhancement of immune function is lacking. Further research on the efficacy and safety of ICI combined with BJIKT and the association of immunomarker changes with clinical outcomes is required to precisely identify the effect of BJIKT on immune system modulation. Keywords Bojungikki-tang, Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang, Cancer, Immune system, Hochu-ekki-to †Eunbyul Cho and Se Won Na contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence: Mi-Kyung Jeong [oiny2000@kiom. re.kr](oiny2000@kiom. re.kr) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted

FAQs

What is the main goal of this scoping review on Bojungikki-tang (BJIKT)?

To summarize recent evidence on BJIKT use in cancer treatment, investigate its immunomodulatory effects, and identify research gaps.

What studies and time period were included in the review?

Studies reporting oral administration of BJIKT to cancer patients were included, with searches covering publications from 2013 to 2022 across six electronic databases.

What did the review find regarding clinical outcomes and immune function?

The review reports BJIKT-related improvements in fatigue, cancer-related fever, quality of life, and immune function, and a meta-analysis showed higher Karnofsky Performance Scale scores in the BJIKT plus chemotherapy group versus chemotherapy alone.

What limitation did the authors identify for future research on BJIKT and ICIs?

Clinical research on BJIKT-induced enhancement of immune function is lacking, and further studies are needed to assess efficacy and safety of ICI plus BJIKT and link immunomarker changes to clinical outcomes.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Levi