Neoadjuvant therapy or upfront surgery in advanced endometrial cancer: A
systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical outcomes
Abstract
Background Neoadjuvant therapy is increasingly used in the first-line
setting in people with advanced endometrial cancer despite a paucity of
evidence for this approach. Objective To systematically evaluate the
literature in this area. Search Strategy Electronic searches of Ovid
MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Clinical trials.gov and the International clinical
trials registry platform were performed for studies published between
1990 and 2021 comparing neoadjuvant therapy with upfront debulking
surgery in Stage 3 or 4 endometrial cancers. Selection Criteria Studies
reporting overall survival, progression free survival, adverse events
and/or quality of life in those undergoing neoadjuvant therapy or
upfront debulking. Data Collection and Analysis Odds ratios (OR) and log
hazard ratios (HR) along with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were
calculated and pooled for analysis. Risk of bias was assessed using the
ROBINS-I tool. Main Results Eight non-randomised studies with a total of
50,510 patients were identified. These showed that patients undergoing
primary chemotherapy had similar survival outcomes to those undergoing
primary surgery (HR 1.26 (95% CI 0.95-1.69)). Fewer patients in the
neoadjuvant group had surgery but those that did were less likely to be
suboptimally cytoreduced (OR 0.24; 95% CI 0.21-0.28). Surgical
morbidity was no different between the two approaches (OR 0.51, 95%
confidence interval 0.08-3.25). However, the potential for bias in these
studies is very high. Conclusion There is significant uncertainty as to
whether the outcomes for those undergoing primary cytoreductive surgery
or neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the presence of unresectable disease are
better. Prospective reporting of outcomes is needed.