Background: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of topoisomerase inhibitors in the treatment of high-grade gliomas (HGGs).
Materials and methods: Using median overall survival (mOS) and survival gain, we compared the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs in a meta-analysis of 624 HGG studies, including 44,850 patients from studies published between 1976 and 2011.
Results: Patient cohorts treated with etoposide had significant improvement in mOS (15.66 months vs. 13.27 months, p=0.026, 49 vs. 795 cohorts) and significant survival gain advantage (p=0.022) over cohorts treated without etoposide. In contrast, patient cohorts treated with irinotecan had significantly worse mOS (10.20 vs. 13.55 months, p=0.008, 35 vs. 810 cohorts) and a disadvantage compared to cohorts treated without irinotecan in survival gain analysis.
Conclusion: Results from this analysis suggest that etoposide may improve overall survival for patients with HGG, whereas the use of irinotecan might result in inferior outcomes.
Keywords: Anaplastic; etoposide; glioblastoma multiforme; high-grade glioma; irinotecan; meta-analysis; teniposide; topotecan.