Efficacy of biological response modifier lentinan with chemotherapy for advanced cancer: a meta‐analysis

Lentinan is a common biological response modifier. This study was sought to evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant lentinan combined with chemotherapy for advanced cancer. A meta‐analysis of published prospective controlled trials investigating the effects of lentinan for kinds of advanced cancer was performed. Sensitivity analysis, inverted funnel plots, and trial sequence analysis were conducted to explore the reliability and stability of results. Seventeen clinical studies were identified containing 1423 patients. Twelve trials included gastrointestinal cancer (GIC), three trials included lung cancer (LC), and two trials included the two cancers. There was a increase in survival rate in 1 year (risk ratios [RR], 1.46, P = 0.001) and overall response rate including both complete and partial response (RR, 1.28, P = 0.005). There was also a reduction in progressive disease (RR, 0.57, P = 0.0005), nonsevere adverse events (RR, 0.88, P = 0.004), and severe adverse events (RR, 0.73, P = 0.007). Similar results were shown in the two subgroups of GIC and LC. Limited trials reported the data of median overall survival and time to treatment failure, and the data were insufficient for quantitative analysis, and no significant difference were found in 2‐year survival rate. Adjuvant lentinan used with chemotherapy achieved improvements in 1‐year survival rate, response rate, and adverse events in advanced cancer. The effect seemed to be similar irrespective of cancer type. However, its sustained efficacy on survival was still unclear.