Objective
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of capecitabine combination chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer.
Methods
The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, CBM, CNKI and WanFang Data databases were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on capecitabine combination chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer from inception to December, 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, data were analyzed by using RevMan 5.3 software.
Results
Six RCTs were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, capecitabine combination chemotherapy extended the overall survival (HR=0.86, 95%CI 0.77 to 0.96, P=0.006) and disease progression-free survival (HR=0.83, 95%CI 0.75 to 0.91, P=0.000 2). Moreover, the objective response rate was significantly increased in capecitabine combination chemotherapy (RR=1.64, 95%CI 1.27 to 2.11, P=0.000 1). The results of 3–4 toxic side effects of 6 RCTs indicated that the incidence of neutropenia, stomatitis and hand-foot syndrome of capecitabine combination chemotherapy were obviously higher than those in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusions
Capecitabine combination chemotherapy extend the overall survival and disease progression-free survival, and improve the objective response rate. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify above conclusion.
