Background: It remains controversial whether patients benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) after resection of pulmonary metastasis (PM) from colorectal cancer (CRC). This meta-analysis was intended to evaluate the efficacy of ACT in patients after resection of PM from CRC.
Methods: We systematically retrieved articles from PMC, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase (up to March 5, 2019). Survival data, including overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), were tested by hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results: We included 18 cohort studies with a total of 3885 patients. The meta-analysis showed that ACT had no significant effect on OS (HR = 0.78; 95% CI = 0.60-1.03; P = 0.077) and DFS (HR = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.74-1.11; P = 0.339) in patients after resection of PM from CRC. There was no significant difference in OS (HR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.42-1.50; P = 0.474) in patients after resection of PM from CRC treated with bevacizumab (BV). Subgroup analysis showed that ACT did not improve OS (HR = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.57-1.29; P = 0.461) in patients who had undergone previous resection of extra PM. ACT did not improve OS in patients who had positive hilar/mediastinal lymph node metastasis (HR = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.57-1.14; P = 0.22).
Conclusion: In conclusion, ACT does not provide survival benefits for patients after resection of PM from CRC. ACT and targeted agents (BV) are not suggested for these patients.
Keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Colorectal cancer; Meta-analysis; Prognosis; Resection of pulmonary metastasis.