Hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab for treatment of malignant ascites or pleural effusion: a meta-analysis of efficacy

Objective To make a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy (HPC) combined with bevacizumab for malignant ascites or malignant pleural effusion, and to provide the references for further practice and studies. Methods VIP, Wanfang data, PubMed and CNKI were searched from inception to January 2018. HPC combined with bevacizumab or HPC alone for malignant ascites or pleural effusion were collected for controlled clinical trial (CCT). According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, two reviewers checked studies, extracted data and assessed quality of the included studies. RevMan 5.3 software was used to make a meta-analysis. Results A total of 4 CCT involved 226 patients. Meta-analysis showed that compared with the HPC alone, HPC combined with bevacizumab had a higher rate in clinical efficiency (OR = 4.82, 95 % CI 2.45-9.49, P < 0.000 01), malignant ascites or pleural effusion control rate (OR = 4.06, 95 % CI 1.09-15.11, P < 0.05), quality of life improvement rate (OR = 6.79, 95 % CI 3.53-13.08, P < 0.000 01), and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion HPC combined with bevacizumab can improve the clinical effective rate, effusion control rate and quality of life improvement rate of the patients with malignant ascites or pleural effusion. Key words: Chemotherapy, cancer, regional perfusion; Pleural effusion, malignant; Ascites, malignant; Bevacizumab; Controlled clinical trial