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Efficacy of adjuvant Immunochemotherapy with polysaccharide K for patients with curatively resected colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of centrally randomized controlled clinical trials

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Abstract

The benefits of immunochemotherapy employing the biological response modifier polysaccharide K (PSK) for patients with curatively resected colorectal cancer was reassessed by means of a meta-analysis of data with center randomization from 1,094 patients enrolled in three clinical trials. In all three trials, patients were followed up for at least 5 years after surgery and enrollment of the last patient and outcomes for standard chemotherapy were compared with those for chemotherapy plus PSK. The endpoints were overall survival and disease-free survival; and intent-to-treat analysis was performed without patient exclusion. Data were analyzed using the weighted average of the individual log hazard ratios. The overall survival risk ratio for all eligible patients was 0.71 (95% confidence interval (CI) : 0.55–0.90; P=0.006), and the disease-free survival risk ratio was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.58–0.90; P=0.003). The results of this meta-analysis suggest that adjuvant immunochemotherapy with PSK can improve both survival and disease-free survival of patients with curatively resected colorectal cancer.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the EBM center of Kyoto University and by Epidemiological and Clinical Research Information Network (ECRIN), a nonprofit organization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiological& Clinical Research Information Management, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Yoshidakonoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Junichi Sakamoto & Koji Oba

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Health Care Research, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

    Satoshi Morita

  3. Department of Surgery, Aichi Prefectural Hospital, Okazaki, Japan

    Takanori Matsui

  4. Department of Surgery, Kochi University, Kochi, India

    Michiya Kobayashi

  5. Department of Surgery, Yokoyama Gastrointestinal Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

    Hiroaki Nakazato

  6. Department of Biostatistics, School of Health Science and Nursing, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuo Ohashi

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  1. Junichi Sakamoto
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Meta-Analysis Group of the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon Rectum

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Correspondence to Junichi Sakamoto.

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Sakamoto, J., Morita, S., Oba, K. et al. Efficacy of adjuvant Immunochemotherapy with polysaccharide K for patients with curatively resected colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of centrally randomized controlled clinical trials. Cancer Immunol Immunother 55, 404–411 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-005-0054-1

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