Systematic review and network meta-analysis: neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locoregional esophageal cancer

Objective: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy improves survival in patients with locoregional esophageal cancer. This study compares the efficacy of two common regimens, paclitaxel plus platinum and platinum plus 5-fluorouracil, based on overall survival. Methods: We performed a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing paclitaxel plus platinum-neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or and platinum plus 5-fluorouracil-neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with surgery alone. The outcome was the hazard ratios for death in the entire population and the two major histologic subgroups, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Results: Ten clinical trials were included. Compared with surgery alone, the hazard ratios [95% credible interval (CrI)] in the entire, squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma population were 0.63 (0.50-0.80), 0.50 (0.36-0.71) and 0.74 (0.54-1.01) for paclitaxel plus platinum, and 0.79 (0.68-0.92), 0.82 (0.67-1.01) and 0.81 (0.63-1.05) for platinum plus 5-fluorouracil, respectively. When paclitaxel plus platinum was compared with platinum plus 5-fluorouracil, the hazard ratios (95% CrI) in the entire, squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma population were 0.80 (0.60-1.06), 0.61 (0.41-0.91) and 0.91 (0.61-1.36), respectively. The probability of paclitaxel plus platinum being ranked the optimal treatment for the entire, squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma population was 94.2, 99.1 and 67.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with paclitaxel plus platinum regimen seemed to be a better treatment than platinum plus 5-fluorouracil regimen for locoregional esophageal cancer, especially for squamous cell carcinoma.