A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Electronic searches were conducted on CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, SIOP, ASPHO, ASCO, ASH and four Chinese databases from inception to 8 March 2020. Language of publications was restricted in English and Chinese.
Prospective and retrospective comparative studies were included.
Two authors independently assessed and extracted data. Quality of studies was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration\'s tool and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Subgroup analysis was performed by comparing different types of TKIs. Quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach.
Two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and four cohort studies enrolling 536 patients were included. For RCTs, the pooled HR was 0.68 (95% CI 0.26 to 1.78) in overall survival (OS), 0.63 (95% CI 0.28 to 1.42) in event-free survival (EFS), respectively, comparing TKI arm with non-TKI arm for treatment of paediatric Ph+ALL. There was significant difference in OS and EFS between imatinib arm and dasatinib arm (HR 2.26, 95% CI 1.02 to 5.01; HR 2.36; 95% CI 1.27 to 4.39, respectively). For cohort studies, the pooled HR was 0.25 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.47) in OS, 0.25 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.56) in EFS, respectively, comparing TKI arm with non-TKI arm. There was no significance difference in adverse drug reaction between TKI group and without TKI group (risk ratio (RR) 0.82, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.08 in RCT; RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.59 in cohort studies; respectively), and imatinib versus dasatinib (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.23). The quality of evidence was rated as low for OS, EFS and adverse drug reaction (ADR).
The combination of TKIs with chemotherapy is likely to improve the OS and EFS rates in paediatric Ph+ALL, and dasatinib is superior than imatinib. Large sample size and prospective controlled studies are warranted.
CRD42018104107.