Meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of R-CHOP chemotherapy for the treatment of low and moderate malignant B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Objective To comprehensively evaluate the curative effect and adverse effects of rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxoruhicin and prednisone(R-CHOP) chemotherapy and CHOP chemotherapy alone on the treatment for low and moderate malignant B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Methods By the application of the systematic review method of Cochrance International Collaboration, the world-wide randomized controlled trials (RCT) on the comparison between different curative effects of R-CHOP and CHOP chemotherapy alone on the treatment low and moderate malignant B cell NHL was collected and the study results was evaluated systematically. Results Seven RCT studies involving 1569 patients and had no heterogeneity between themselves (χ=5.31,P=0.50). The baseline of patients" characteristics was comparable in all the studies. By comparing complete response (CR) rate and adverse effects through fixed effect analysis model, the results showed that R-CHOP was better than CHOP chemotherapy on the treatment for low and moderate malignant B cell NHL(OR =2.22, 95 %CI 1.72-2.85, P ＜0.000 01), and adverse events of R-CHOP had no significant difference compared with CHOP chemotherapy alone (P＞0.05). Conclusion With good curative effect on the treatment low and moderate malignant B cell NHL and without obvious differences from the CHOP chemotherapy alone in adverse effects, R-CHOP chemotherapy should be recommended as the best treatment method for low and moderate malignant B cell NHL And much more well-designed clinical RCT should be made to further prove its clinical effect. Key words: Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin;  Antineoplastic combined chemotherapy protocols;  Metaanalysis;  Randomized controlled trials