title: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy comparison of taxanes and platinum versus 5-fluorouracil and platinum in nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a squamous-cell carcinoma especially prevailing among the natives of southern China. The regimen of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) that include platinum and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is considered to be the standard treatment for NPC. However, its clinical use is limited by its toxicity. Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the regimen of CCRT with taxanes and platinum versus the regimen of CCRT with 5-FU and platinum in NPC treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medline, the Cochrane library, and the Chinese medical literature database were searched for eligible studies. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (Version 5.2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six random controlled trials (RCTs) including 514 patients met our criteria. Meta-analysis showed that the regimen of CCRT with taxanes and platinum had an improved significant difference in complete remission (CR) and less incidence rate in adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal impairment grades III-IV, liver and kidney impairment grades I-II, and radiodermatitis grades III-IV versus the conventional regimen of CCRT with 5-FU and platinum, while the longterm effectiveness rate of overall survival, locoregional failure-free survival, or distant metastasis failure-free survival between the two groups was therapeutic equivalence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The regimen of CCRT with taxanes and platinum in NPC therapy may be more efficient and safe compared to the conventional modality of 5-FU and platinum in CCRT. However, we need more high-quality studies of multi-center and randomized double-blind clinical trials to further compare, analyze, and confirm the findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Wuxi No. 9 People's Hospital, Soochow University & Wuxi Hand Surgery Hospital, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214062, China.
authors.forename: Xichuang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214023, China. Email: hongyuan2011@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Wuxi No. 9 People's Hospital, Soochow University & Wuxi Hand Surgery Hospital, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214062, China.
authors.forename: Jinhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214023, China.
authors.forename: Jianlin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ningbo No. 6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315450, China.
authors.forename: Panpan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Xiyin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Wuxi No. 9 People's Hospital, Soochow University & Wuxi Hand Surgery Hospital, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214062, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214023, China.
authors.forename: Huizhu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010984:Platinum / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D043823:Taxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D043823:Taxoids; D010984:Platinum; D005472:Fluorouracil