ObjectiveTo systematically review efficacy and safety of docetaxel chemotherapy combine with 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) in treatment of esophageal cancer.MethodsDatabases including PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI and WanFang Data were searched from inception to February 2017 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomized control trials (qRCTs) about docetaxel chemotherapy combine with 3D-CRT in treatment of esophageal cancer. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 12.0 software.ResultsA total of 17 RCTs involving 1 353 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the radiotherapy alone, the docetaxel chemotherapy combine with 3D-CRT could improve effective rate (OR=1.25, 95%CI 1.07 to 1.47, P=0.003), 3-year survival rate (OR=1.91, 95%CI 1.19 to 3.06, P=0.006), but there were no significant differences in 1-year survival rate (OR=1.28, 95%CI 0.95 to 1.72, P=0.105), hematologic toxicities (OR=1.13, 95%CI 0.85 to 1.49, P=0.389) and gastrointestinal reactions (OR=1.19, 95%CI 0.90 to 1.57, P=0.181).ConclusionsCompared with radiotherapy alone, docetaxel chemotherapy combine with 3D-CRT can improve the effective rate, 3-year survival rate, but not increase the incidences of adverse effects. Due to limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify above conclusion.