Qigong for women with breast cancer: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis Author: Tian Meng1, Sheng-Fang Hu1, Yi-Qin Cheng1, Mei-Na Ye1, Bing Wang1, Jing-Jing Wu1, Hong-Feng Chen2 Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Breast, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 725, Wanping South Road, Xuhui District, 200032, Shanghai, China. <sup>2</sup> Department of Breast, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 725, Wanping South Road, Xuhui District, 200032, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: chhfluk@163.com. Conference/Journal: Complement Ther Med Date published: 2021 May 28 Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102743. , Word Count: 259 Objective: The purpose of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of Qigong in improving the quality of life and relieving fatigue, sleep disturbance, and cancer-related emotional disturbances (distress, depression, and anxiety) in women with breast cancer. Methods: The PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Sinomed, Wanfang, VIP, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched from their inceptions to March 2020 for controlled clinical trials. Two reviewers selected relevant trials that assessed the benefit of Qigong for breast cancer patients independently. A methodological quality assessment was conducted according to the criteria of the 12 Cochrane Back Review Group for risk of bias independently. A meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.3. Results: This review consisted of 17 trials, in which 1236 cases were enrolled. The quality of the included trials was generally low, as only five of them were rated high quality. The results showed significant effectiveness of Qigong on quality of life (n = 950, standardized mean difference (SMD), 0.65, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.23-1.08, P = 0.002). Depression (n = 540, SMD = -0.32, 95 % CI -0.59 to -0.04, P = 0.02) and anxiety (n = 439, SMD = -0.71, 95 % CI -1.32 to -0.10, P = 0.02) were also significantly relieved in the Qigong group. There was no significant benefit on fatigue (n = 401, SMD = -0.32, 95 % CI 0.71 to 0.07, P = 0.11) or sleep disturbance relief compared to that observed in the control group (n = 298, SMD = -0.11, 95 % CI 0.74 to 0.52, P = 0.73). Conclusion: This review shows that Qigong is beneficial for improving quality of lifeand relieving depression and anxiety; thus, Qigong should be encouraged in women with breast cancer. Keywords: Breast cancer; Meta-analysis; Qigong; Systematic review. PMID: 34058368 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102743