To measure the safety and efficacy of oxaliplatin (OX) application in neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were used for a literature search. Cochrane's risk of bias tool of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was used for quality evaluation. The statistical analyses were performed using RevMan 5.3. In addition, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and pooled risk ratios (RRs) were calculated. Seven RCTs were included in our meta-analysis. After adding OX to fluoropyrimidine (FU), a marginal significant improvement in disease-free survival was noted compared with FU alone (RR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.78-1.00; P = 0.05). Neoadjuvant CRT with OX significantly decreased the distant metastasis rate (RR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.67-0.94, P = 0.007). However, no improvement in the local recurrence rate (RR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.68-1.08; P = 0.19) was noted. In addition, neoadjuvant CRT with OX also significantly increased the pathologic complete response (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.02-1.51; P = 0.03). Grade 3-4 acute toxicity and grade 3-4 diarrhea was considerably higher for OX/FU compared with FU alone. In conclusion, the use of OX on the basis of FU/capecitabine in preoperative CRT is feasible. LARC patients are likely to benefit from CRT regimens with OX.
Keywords: meta-analysis; neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy; oxaliplatin; rectal neoplasms.