Systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical efficacy of drug therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia

Abstract

Background: A meta-analysis was performed to examine the clinical efficacy of drugs in the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Methods: combinations of terms of “acute myeloid leukemia”, “fludara”, “cytarabine”, “cladribine”, “aclacinomycin”, “granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)”, and “hyaluronic acid” were searched in Chinese databases. “acute myelogenous leukemia”, “fludara”, “cytarabine”, “cladribine”, “aclacinomycin”, “granulocyte colony-stimulating factor”, and “hyaluronic acid” were searched in English databases. Review Manager 5.3 was employed for the meta-analysis. Results: Ultimately, 12 articles were included. Most of the articles had a low-risk bias, and were of medium or high quality. The complete remission rates were tested for heterogeneity [chi-square test (Chi2) =4.10, degrees of freedom (df)=10, I2=0%; P=0.94]. The fixed effect model analysis showed that the difference between experimental participants and controls was considerable [Z=13.15, odds ratio (OR) =12.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): (8.77, 18.76); P<0.01]. The overall effective rates were tested for heterogeneity (Chi2=1.58, df=7, I2=0%; P=0.98), and difference between experimental participants and controls was considerable [Z=10.70, OR =1.32, 95% CI: (7.32,17.89); P<0.01]. The overall adverse reaction rates were tested for heterogeneity (Chi2=0.42, df=5, I2=0%; P=0.99), and the difference between experimental participants and controls was considerable [Z=5.00, OR =0.38, 95% CI: (0.26, 0.55); P<0.01]. The circles of some studies in the funnel diagrams were symmetrical with the midline, the accuracy of included trials was high, the publications were not biased, and the final conclusions were reliable. Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed that drug treatments of AML can improve complete remission and total effective rates and reduce adverse reaction rates, and thus are worthy of clinical promotion.