Abstract
The meta-analysis was to evaluate the therapeutic benefits of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), primarily consisting of platinum-based regimens in conjunction with paclitaxel, when integrated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for individuals afflicted with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). The outcomes were determined by overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), complete response rate (CRR), objective response rate, recurrence rate and adverse events. The assessment of these outcomes was based on the relative risk (RR) accompanied by its 95% confidence interval (CI). Eight articles were included for analysis. LACC patients who underwent treatment with paclitaxel combined with cisplatin (TP)-based NACT in conjunction with CCRT demonstrated improved OS at 2 (RR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.16, P < 0.001), 3 (RR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.23, 1.37, P < 0.001) and 5 years (RR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.32, P < 0.001), as well as PFS at 1 (RR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.06, P = 0.035), 2 (RR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.40, P = 0.012), 3 (RR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.34, P < 0.001) and 5 (RR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.55, P < 0.001) years, when compared with patients who received CCRT alone. Moreover, the TP-based NACT in conjunction with CCRT achieved a higher CRR and exhibited a lower rate of disease recurrence (RR:1.28, 95% CI:1.08, 1.50, P = 0.003). No significant differences in the risk of adverse effects including anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, radiocystitis and radiation enteritis between the group treated with TP-based NACT combined with CCRT and the group treated with CCRT alone were observed. The combination of TP-based NACT and CCRT demonstrates superior clinical efficacy than CCRT alone. This study may contribute to reducing the burden of LACC by using TP-based NACT plus CCRT.