Background: Nab-paclitaxel is formulated to address several limitations of paclitaxel. Methods: A systematic review was done of several databases and a meta-analysis with a random-effects model was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of nab-paclitaxel in metastatic gastric cancer (MGC). Results: Included studies revealed that nab-paclitaxel provides a 30.4% overall response rate and 65.7% disease control rate in MGC patients. The overall survival was 9.65 months and progression-free survival was 4.48 months, associated with the treatment line and regimen. The highest incidence of grade 3 and higher treatment-related adverse events was for neutropenia (29.9%). Conclusion: Nab-paclitaxel provides better disease response and longer survival with manageable side effects in MGC compared with paclitaxel.
Keywords: chemotherapy; nanomedicine; nanoparticle; response rate survival.