Object: The aim of this study was to answer whether overall survival and progression-free survival are increased in patients with anaplastic glioma who are treated with radiotherapy plus chemotherapy as compared with those who treated with radiotherapy alone.
Methods: Searches of the MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase and Cochrane Library from January 2001 to May 2012 for relevant trials were undertaken. Selected studies based on the following criteria: First, only randomized clinical trial of adjuvant radiotherapy plus chemotherapy versus radiotherapy alone was permitted. Second, overall survival and/or progression-free survival was compared with patients in the studies. Third, cases were medically confirmed of anaplastic glioma.
Results: 4 randomized clinical trials were found eligible for this article (involving a total of 963 patients). The meta-analysis showed a significant increase in overall survival in patients treated with radiotherapy plus chemotherapy (HR = 0.84, 95 % CI 0.72-0.98, P = 0.031).
Conclusions: Results of our meta-analysis indicated that adjuvant chemotherapy played a beneficial role in the treatment for anaplastic gliomas. But the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment for anaplastic astrocytoma or anaplastic oligodendroglioma/anaplastic oligoastrocytoma still needs further large randomized trials to demonstrate.