Chemotherapy combined with dendritic cell vaccine and cytokine-induced killer cells in the treatment of colorectal carcinoma: a meta-analysis

AIM: To investigate the efficacy and safety of dendritic cell (DC) vaccine combined with cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell therapy in colorectal carcinoma (CRC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched systematically for clinical trials of DC vaccine and CIK cell therapy combined with chemotherapy for CRC. The primary and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), respectively. Pooled risk ratios were used to assess the treatment efficacy. Both random and fixed effects models were used for statistical analysis. The study population consisted of 871 CRC patients enrolled in four trials. RESULTS: OS and DFS were significantly improved in patients who received chemotherapy combined with DC vaccine and CIK cells, and no severe adverse events were shown. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that the addition of DC vaccine and CIK cell therapy to chemotherapy is feasible and effective in patients with CRC.