Effectiveness and Safety of Targeted Agents Combined With Chemoradiotherapy for the Treatment of Esophageal Cancer: A Network Meta-Analysis

BackgroundConcurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the preferred treatment strategy for inoperable esophageal cancer (EC). However, the effect of CRT needs to be improved.MethodsThis study comprehensively analyzed targeted agents combined with CRT for the treatment of EC by a network meta-analysis. The search was performed in public databases from incipient to 5 August 2021. Randomized controlled trials comparing the effect of targeted agents combined with CRT and CRT alone on EC patients were included.ResultsTen studies were included. For progression-free survival (PFS), nivolumab (67.4%) and erlotinib (64.6%) had advantages based on Cox analysis. Regarding the frequency of PFS, cetuximab (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.91; p=0.042) and nivolumab (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.34, 2.44; p