Effectiveness of taxanes over anthracyclines in neoadjuvant setting: A systematic-review and meta-analysis

Table 2 Subgroup as well as overall meta-analysis for all considered outcomes

Outcome	Sub-Group	Number of studies	Events taxane	Events anthracycline	Egger’s test P-value	I2 Statistic	Risk Ratio(95%CI)	Grade
pCR (BA)	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	2	21/125	24/128	-	38.3	0.74 (0.23-2.39)	High
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	6	106/562	103/627	0.110	41.9	1.23 (0.86-1.76)	High1
	Overall	8	127/687	127/755	0.573	34.4	1.14 (0.84-1.55)	High1
pCR (B)	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	1	16/47	8/50	-	-	2.13 (1.01-4.50)	Moderate2
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	6	443/1951	329/1959	0.475	72.6	1.48 (1.04-2.12)	Moderate1, 3
	Overall	7	459/1998	337/2009	0.331	69.6	1.54 (1.11-2.15)	Moderate1, 3
pCR (DCIS)	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	2	29/189	24/186	-	85.4	1.06 (0.25-4.47)	Moderate1, 3
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	4	761/1679	183/683	0.339	71.4	1.23 (0.86-1.75)	Moderate1, 3
	Overall	6	790/1868	207/869	0.277	71.7	1.20 (0.84 -1.70)	Moderate1, 3
Overall response	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	4	249/356	221/349	0.956	66.2	1.12 (0.94-1.33)	Low3, 4
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	7	1098/1348	1024/1345	0.045	71.4	1.14 (1.02-1.27)	Low3, 4
	Overall	11	1347/1704	1245/1694	0.031	69.1	1.13 (1.04-1.24)	Low3, 4
Complete clinical response	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	4	62/356	45/349	0.908	00.0	1.40 (1.01-1.93)	Moderate4
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	7	548/2231	511/2176	0.273	60.1	1.13 (0.88-1.43)	Low3, 4
	Overall	11	610/2587	556/2525	0.106	49.5	1.18 (0.97-1.44)	Moderate4
Breast conserving surgery	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	1	40/86	30/85	-	-	1.32 (0.91-1.90)	Moderate2
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	8	1040/2206	1007/2199	0.633	00.0	1.03 (0.97-1.09)	High1
	Overall	9	1080/2292	1037/2284	0.406	01.1	1.04 (0.98-1.10)	High1
Overall survival	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	3	18/255	31/251	0.002	74.9	0.41 (0.13-1.31)	Low1, 35
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	4	424/2026	456/1960	0.899	0.0	0.91 (0.79-1.05)	High1
	Overall	7	442/2281	487/2211	0.059	37.4	0.86 (0.70-1.05)	High1
Disease free survival	Taxane v/s Anthracycline	3	71/285	84/289	0.144	0.00	0.92 (0.63-1.36)	High1
	Taxane + Anthracyline v/s Anthracycline	4	722/2026	772/1958	0.685	0.00	0.89 (0.80-0.99)	High1
	Overall	7	793/2311	856/2247	0.791	0.00	0.89 (0.80-0.99)	High1
Loco-regional recurrence	Overall	4	120/2026	161/1960	0.808	0.00	0.74 (0.59-0.94)	High
Distant metastasis	Overall	4	426/2026	441/1960	0.264	0.00	0.94 (0.82-1.07)	High

¹Involves non-blinded RCT(s) but objective measurement will not change the drawn evidences.

²Evidence is based on few sample (Imprecise).

³Imprecision because of higher heterogeneity (I²).

⁴Involves non-blinded RCTs which may change the drawn evidence.

⁵Publication Bias.pCR: Pathological complete response; DCIS: Ductal carcinoma in situ.