The efficacy and safety of bevacizumab combined with FOLFOX regimen in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: It is necessary to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of bevacizumab (BEV) combined with 5-fluorouracil + leucovorin + oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) regimen in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. METHODS: We searched the PubMed et al databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the BEV combined with the FOLFOX regimen in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer up to January 20, 2021. The Cochrane Collaborations’ risk of bias tool was used for the quality assessment of included RCTs. Revman5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Eleven RCTs with a total of 3178 patients with advanced colorectal cancer were included, meta-analysis results showed that the objective response rate (odds ratio [OR] = 3.15, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 2.25–4.40, P < .001) and cancer control rate (OR = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.91–3.90, P < .001) of BEV + FOLFOX were higher than that of FOLFOX group. And the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse reactions (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.07–1.55, P = .008) in the BEV + FOLFOX group was higher than that of the FOLFOX group, there were no significant differences in the incidence of leukopenia (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.72–1.50, P = .83), hypertension (OR = 3.92, 95% CI: 0.81–18.88, P = .09) and neurotoxicity (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.8–1.27, P = .98) between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: BEV combined with the FOLFOX regimen is more effective than the FOLFOX regimen alone in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer, but it may also increase the risk of gastrointestinal adverse reactions.