Survival outcomes after using charged particle radiotherapy as a treatment modality for gliomas: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Charged particle therapy is an emerging radiation treatment for a number of tumors; however, more research is needed to determine its safety and efficacy when treating intra-axial brain tumors (commonly known as gliomas). The overall survival of patients treated with charged particle radiation versus those receiving photon therapy were compared in this systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS: The databases used as part of the search strategy were the following: MEDLINE (PubMed), Google Scholar, Scopus, and Cochrane. The search was conducted in order to find pertinent clinical studies. A random-effect meta-analysis was used to generate pooled estimates of overall survival at 1,3, and 5 years.

RESULTS: Nineteen studies with a total of 1140 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Following treatment, the patient's follow-up period lasted 44.4 months (range: 14.3 - 91.2 months). At one year (relative risk 1.17, 95% CI 1.07 - 1.28; p = 0.049), three years (relative risk 1.73, 95% CI 1.41 - 2.12; p = 0.001), and five years (relative risk 2.00, 95% CI 1.52 - 2.63; p = 0.005), charged particle radiotherapy had a significantly higher pooled overall survival than photon therapy.

CONCLUSION: Charged particle therapy could be associated with better clinical outcomes for patients with gliomas compared to photon therapy. More prospective randomized trials and comparative studies are strongly encouraged to enable accurate meta-analysis and a better exploration of prognosis.