Abstract:Objective To explore the regularities of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in preventing and treating the skin lesion caused by anti-tumor therapies, in order to guide clinical medication.Methods The clinical research articles on TCM in the prevention and treatment of skin lesion caused by anti-tumor therapies were retrieved from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Database. The frequency of use, efficacy, property, flavour, and meridian tropism of different medicinal herbs were calculated and analyzed. Cluster analysis and association analysis were carried out for medicinal herbs with high frequency.Results In total, 115 literatures were included in this study, involving 120 prescriptions, 94 for external use and 26 for internal use. In the 94 prescriptions for external use, involved were 154 medicinal herbs, among which Huangbai, Danggui, Honghua, Huangqi, and Zicao were the most frequently used. In the 26 prescriptions for internal use, involved were 113 medicinal herbs, among which Danggui and Gancao were the most frequently used. Among the medicinal herbs for external use, heat-clearing herbs were the most frequently used (33.24%), while deficiency-tonifying herbs were the most frequently used (32.78%) among those for internal use. The medicinal herbs cold in property were the most frequently used in both external-use and internal-use prescriptions (respectively 47.52% and 40.73%). As for flavour, the most frequently used herbs for external use in turn were bitter, pungent, sweet, with a total frequency of 89.74%; while the most frequently used herbs for internal use in turn were sweet, bitter, pungent, with a total frequency of 90.82%. The meridian tropism of the herbs mainly focused on liver in both external-use and internal-use prescriptions (respectively 21.29% and 19.27%). For external-use herbs, there were three clusters, including 23 pairs of high-frequency drug combinations. For internal-use herbs, there were also three clusters, including 15 pairs of high-frequency drug combinations.Conclusion In the prevention and treatment of skin lesion which was caused by anti-tumor therapies, both external-use and internal-use TCM were focused on heat-clearing, deficiency-tonifying, blood-invigorating and blood stasis-dispelling, and relieving drugs. The results of cluster analysis and association analysis of high frequency TCM can provide certain reference and guidance for clinical medication.