The efficacy and toxicity of maintenance therapy with bevacizumab plus pemetrexed versus bevacizumab/pemetrexed alone for stage IIIB/IV nonsquamous non‐small cell lung cancer: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

摘要

Abstract What is known and Objective Whether maintenance therapy with bevacizumab (Bev) + pemetrexed (Pem) can achieve greater clinical benefits than Bev or Pem alone for stage IIIB/IV nonsquamous non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. We assessed the antitumour effect and toxicity of maintenance Bev+Pem versus maintenance with single‐agent Bev/Pem in this meta‐analysis. Methods Appropriate randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were screened using electronic databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Ovid MEDLINE, Cochrane and Web of Science). The endpoints were progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and adverse events (AEs). Results and discussion We included six RCTs that contained 2,447 patients receiving induction therapy with platinum‐based combination therapies. The maintenance therapy Bev+Pem group had prolonged PFS (HR?=?0.74, 95 CI 0.69–0.80, p?