Objective To assess the effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy with complete resection for non-small cell lung cancer. Methods We searched MEDLINE （1966 ～ 2005 ）, EMBASE （1984-2005 ）, The Cochrane Library （Issue 2,2005 ）, CBMdisc （1979-2005 ）, CNKI （1994-2005 ）, VIP （1989-2005 ）, CMCC （1994-2005 ） and Wanfang Database with key words of non-small cell lung cancer or NSCLC and adjuvant chemotherapy, to identify randomized control trials （RCTs） of platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy plus complete resection versus complete resection alone for non-small cell lung cancer patients. Two reviewers evaluated the quality of literature independently. Then we conducted meta-analysis using RevMan 4.2.7 software. Results We identified 9 RCTs and did not carry out pool analysis for the difference of chemotherapy regimens between the studies. The results of three studies showed that 5 years＇ mortality of adjuvant chemotherapy group was lower than that of surgery group alone. The results of the other 6 studies showed there was no statistical difference in 5 years＇ mortality between the adjuvant chemotherapy plus surgery and surgery alone groups. Conclusions The effectiveness of some adjuvant chemotherapy regimens with complete resection in patients with non-small cell lung cancer has been improved. But the number of each chemotherapy regimen RCT is too small and with poor quality. So more multi-center RCTs with a larger sample size and high quality are needed.
Objective To assess the efficacy and toxicity of the maintenance radiotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods We searched MEDLINE (1950 to 2009), EMbase (1966 to 2009), The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2009), CBMdisc (1978 to 2009), CNKI (1979 to 2009), VIP (1989 to 2009) and relevant internet websites to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of maintenance radiotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer. The quality of the included trials was assessed by Cochrane Systematic Review Handbook. Meta-analyses were conducted by RevMan 5.0 and SPSS 10.0 software. Results A total of 5 RCTs involving 529 patients were identified. The result of meta-analyses showed that the whole-abdominal radiation increased the 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) at RR1.76 and 95%CI 1.13 to 2.73, while it showed no effect on the 5-year overall survival (OS) at RR1.30 and 95%CI 0.96 to 1.76. The main adverse reactions of maintenance radiotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer included diarrhea and abdominal pains, whose severity was related to radiation dose. Conclusion The whole-abdominal radiation can increase the 5-year PFS while its effect on the 5-year OS needs to be further studied.
This is the sixth paper in the evidence-based medicine glossary series. In this paper, We mainly introduced the concept of research synthesis, systematic review and meta-analysis and review developing process of these glossary.