A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 11 studies with a total of 3005 subjects. Platinum based combination chemotherapy showed a significant benefit on overall survival with a combined hazard ratio (HR) 0.86 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.95, p=0.003); 14% reduction in the risk of death; 5% absolute benefit at 5 years (95% CI 1 to 7%); overall survival increased from 45% to 50%. This effect was observed irrespective of the type of local treatment and did not vary between subgroups of patients. The HR for all trials, including those that used single-agent cisplatin, tended to favour neoadjuvant chemotherapy (HR= 0.89, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.98, p=0.022). Although platinum based combination chemotherapy was beneficial, there was no clear evidence to support the use of single-agent platinum, indeed there was significant difference in the effect between these groups of trials (p=0.029).
Primary/Secondary Keywords