Evidence Explorer / Collection

October 16, 2026

Search window: October 8–16, 2026, overlapping the previous pass, plus historical exercise and rehabilitation backfill. PubMed/PMC, original reports, ClinicalTrials.gov and ASCO guidance were checked where relevant.

Added: Ten new clinical-question records (MS-N039–MS-N048).

• Structured physiotherapy after breast-cancer surgery — Positive randomized rehabilitation evidence.
• Exercise prehabilitation before head-and-neck chemoradiotherapy — Preliminary positive randomized signal.
• Supervised exercise during neoadjuvant breast chemotherapy — No demonstrated tumor-response benefit.
• Lesion-aware exercise with prostate-cancer bone metastases — Positive functional and supervised-safety signal.
• Aerobic exercise for cognitive changes during breast-cancer chemotherapy — Mixed randomized evidence.
• Aerobic exercise for neuropathy after ovarian-cancer chemotherapy — Promising secondary randomized signal.
• Manual lymph drainage to prevent arm lymphedema after breast surgery — No demonstrated prevention benefit.
• Preventive swallowing exercises during head-and-neck radiotherapy — Mixed evidence.
• Exercise during allogeneic stem-cell transplantation — Small randomized supportive signal.
• Intermittent aerobic exercise for insomnia during breast-cancer chemotherapy — Primary sleep-duration endpoint negative.

Important interpretation: Neo-train did not improve tumor response; ACTIVATE did not improve objective cognitive testing; FATSOMCAN did not increase total sleep time; the largest swallowing trial did not improve penetration–aspiration; and manual lymph drainage did not prevent postoperative lymphedema. Positive functional or symptom signals remain supportive care, not cancer treatment.

Safety: Bone-metastasis exercise must be lesion-aware; transplant exercise changes with infection and blood counts; neuropathy changes fall risk; postoperative and swallowing rehabilitation require treatment-specific clinical supervision.

Coverage limits: FIT4TREAT was appraised at abstract and registry level because full text was not accessible in this pass. No material regulator warning, correction or retraction changing a repository conclusion was identified.

October 15, 2026

Search window: October 7–15, 2026, overlapping the previous pass, plus a historical botanicals and nutraceuticals backfill. PubMed/PMC, original reports, NCCIH, NIH ODS, ASCO and MASCC/ISOO materials were checked where relevant.

Added: Ten new clinical-question records (MS-N029–MS-N038).

• Black cohosh for hot flashes after breast cancer — phase III found no benefit beyond placebo; liver and product-quality cautions.
• Guarana for cancer-related fatigue — conflicting small trials and heterogeneous meta-analyses.
• Chamomile mouthwash for treatment-related oral mucositis — the largest placebo-controlled trial was negative; smaller later signals remain uncertain.
• Calendula ointment for breast-radiotherapy skin reactions — positive older randomized signal against trolamine, formulation-specific.
• Aloe vera gel for radiation dermatitis — conflicting results across radiation sites and products.
• Vitamin E for hot flashes after breast cancer — about one fewer hot flash per day; benefit was clinically minimal.
• Intravenous glutathione to prevent platinum neuropathy — positive small-trial neuropathy signal, insufficient for routine intravenous use.
• Oral L-glutamine for treatment-related oral mucositis — older negative trials and a large 2026 head-and-neck signal; regimen-specific.
• Milk thistle for chemotherapy-associated liver injury — laboratory trends without demonstrated clinical liver benefit.
• Goshajinkigan to prevent oxaliplatin neuropathy — phase III stopped early; neuropathy was more frequent with the Kampo formula.

Important safety change: Goshajinkigan is not simply an inconclusive traditional remedy in this setting. In the stopped phase III GENIUS trial, grade 2 or worse neuropathy occurred in 50.6% with the formula and 31.2% with placebo (HR 1.908; P=.007).

Coverage limits: Several botanical trials were accessible only at abstract level, which is stated in their records. No material regulator warning, correction or retraction was identified in this targeted pass. A scheduled search is not exhaustive live surveillance.

October 14, 2026

Search window: October 6–14, 2026, providing a seven-day overlap after the previous pass, plus targeted historical nutrition and dietary-pattern backfill. PubMed/PMC, original reports, ClinicalTrials.gov, NCI, NIH ODS, ESPEN and MASCC/ISOO materials were checked where relevant.

Added: Ten new clinical-question records (MS-N018–MS-N027), covering individualized dietary counseling, neutropenic diets, soy foods, perioperative immunonutrition, high-dose vitamin D, a high-vegetable prostate-cancer program, selenium, photobiomodulation, self-acupressure and pomegranate products.

• Dietary counseling during radiotherapy
• Neutropenic diets
• Soy foods after breast cancer
• Perioperative immunonutrition
• High-dose vitamin D in metastatic colorectal cancer
• High-vegetable diet in prostate active surveillance
• Selenium during pelvic radiotherapy
• Photobiomodulation for oral mucositis
• Self-acupressure for fatigue
• Pomegranate and prostate-cancer progression

Important evidence change: The September 1, 2026 SOLARIS phase III trial did not confirm a progression-free or overall-survival benefit from high-dose vitamin D in metastatic colorectal cancer. The earlier phase II signal remains in the record rather than being silently replaced.

Safety: Selenium dosing was confined to documented deficiency and supervised treatment; photobiomodulation is device- and protocol-specific; food-based soy evidence does not clear concentrated isoflavone supplements; restrictive neutropenic diets were not beneficial, but food-safety precautions still matter.

Coverage limits: A ketogenic-diet record was held privately for cancer- and formulation-specific extraction. No material regulator warning, correction or retraction was identified in this targeted pass. A scheduled search is not exhaustive live surveillance.

October 13, 2026

Search window: Initial surveillance covered September 13–October 13, 2026, with targeted historical backfill. Primary reports, PubMed records, ClinicalTrials.gov results and official safety or guidance sources were checked where relevant.

New records:

• Coenzyme Q10 for cancer-related fatigue — a large blinded negative trial weighed against a small 2026 open-label paclitaxel signal.
• Clinical hypnosis for hot flashes after breast cancer — a 2008 survivor trial plus a 2025 sham-controlled study, with the cancer subgroup and conflicts made explicit.
• Creatine for cancer-related wasting and muscle loss — a negative 263-person trial and a 2026 synthesis of five randomized trials.
• Topical diclofenac to prevent capecitabine hand–foot syndrome — the positive D-TORCH trial balanced against an August 20, 2026 prospective real-world null result.

Strengthened record:

• Acupuncture for aromatase-inhibitor joint pain — added randomized denominators, six-week absolute and responder effects, 52-week follow-up, bruising risk, funding and guideline context.

Important safety signals: CoQ10 has potential warfarin, insulin and cancer-treatment compatibility concerns; creatine safety data in oncology remain sparse, particularly for kidney monitoring; topical diclofenac retains NSAID kidney, bleeding, cardiovascular and allergy warnings despite lower systemic exposure; acupuncture requires treatment-specific blood-count and infection precautions.

Coverage limits: This was a selective first maintenance pass, not an exhaustive systematic review. Some publisher pages and broad PubMed query endpoints were not fully retrievable, so unresolved items were not published as evidence records. No retraction or regulator safety notice changing a current repository conclusion was identified in the sources checked.

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October 17, 2026 — Mind–body, sleep and psychosocial supportive care

• Published ten new structured clinical-question records, MS-N049–MS-N058, covering music therapy, acupuncture, Tai Chi Chih, bright light, expressive writing, mindfulness, yoga, relaxation plus imagery, dignity therapy and meaning-centered psychotherapy.
• Added the 2026 MELODY noninferiority trial: telehealth music therapy and CBT both improved anxiety, but the active-comparator design cannot estimate benefit over usual care.
• Made null and contradictory findings visible: CBT-I outperformed acupuncture; Tai Chi Chih improved subjective but not polysomnographic sleep; bright light showed prevention of worsening rather than improvement; dignity therapy did not improve primary distress outcomes; a small later yoga trial was null on patient-reported outcomes.
• Added practical cautions for needling, movement with bone or balance risk, light exposure, and emotionally activating interventions.
• Reconciled the repository to 89 published records (33 existing reviews + 56 dedicated briefs) and 328 deduplicated source links.
• No material new correction, retraction or regulator safety notice affecting these ten records was identified in the October 9–17 overlap search. Coverage remains selective, not exhaustive live surveillance.

New records: MS-N049 — Music therapy compared with CBT for anxiety in cancer survivors · MS-N050 — Acupuncture compared with CBT-I for insomnia in cancer survivors · MS-N051 — Tai Chi Chih compared with CBT-I for insomnia after breast cancer · MS-N052 — Morning bright light for fatigue during breast-cancer chemotherapy · MS-N053 — Expressive writing for symptoms and physical quality of life in renal cell carcinoma · MS-N054 — Mindfulness-based programs for fatigue after breast cancer · MS-N055 — Yoga during radiotherapy for breast-cancer quality of life · MS-N056 — Progressive muscle relaxation plus guided imagery for anxiety during chemotherapy · MS-N057 — Dignity therapy for distress near the end of life · MS-N058 — Meaning-centered psychotherapy in advanced cancer

October 18, 2026

Ten new supportive-care records; 39 new source URLs indexed. Repository totals: 99 published records (33 existing reviews + 66 dedicated briefs) and 367 distinct source links.

• Acupuncture for cancer-related fatigue — pragmatic benefit, inconsistent sham-controlled evidence.
• Acupuncture for chemotherapy neuropathy — mixed; a 2026 randomized trial missed its primary numbness endpoint.
• Acupuncture for chronic radiation dry mouth — improved symptoms versus standard oral hygiene; sham contrast depended on time point.
• Acupuncture for chronic survivor pain — positive pragmatic trial; auricular acupuncture did not meet noninferiority to electroacupuncture.
• Electroacupuncture for hot flashes — promising phase II results, not definitive head-to-head proof.
• P6 wristbands for chemotherapy nausea — no clear benefit beyond sham bands.
• Reflexology in advanced breast cancer — limited function/dyspnea signals; several outcomes negative.
• Oral cryotherapy for mucositis — useful only in supported short-infusion settings.
• Scalp cooling for chemotherapy hair loss — effective for some regimens, not universal.
• Frozen gloves and socks for taxane neuropathy — CryoPac primary endpoint negative; secondary sensory signals remain exploratory.

Safety changes: Added procedural cautions for cytopenias, anticoagulation, compromised skin, implanted devices, clot risk, cold-sensitive conditions, neuropathy and uncontrolled freezing. No new record was classified as cancer-control evidence.

Coverage limits: Surveillance was targeted rather than exhaustive. Reflexology details unavailable outside the abstract were explicitly marked not verified. The scheduled search is not continuous safety monitoring.