Efficacy and Safety of Nab-Paclitaxel Chemotherapy for Patients with Gastric Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Single Arm Meta-analysis

Aim: This study aims to investigate the efficacy of nab-paclitaxel mono-chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for previously treated adenocarcinoma patients. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective single-arm clinical studies that tested nab-paclitaxel monotherapy for treating gastric carcinoma. The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA. Results: We included 6 studies with a total of 271 patients. The pooled analysis of response rate, overall survival, and progression-free survival were 0.21 (95% CI: [0.16,0.28]), 11.65 (95% CI: [10.56, 12.75]), and 2.983 (95% CI: [2.625, 3.342]), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the doses regarding response rate and progression-free survival. However, the overall survival of the 150 mg/m2 dose was statistically significantly higher than the 260 mg/m2 dose. The treatment was associated with manageable toxicity profiles. Conclusion: Nab-paclitaxel mono-chemotherapy is an effective treatment option for previously treated and recurrent gastric cancer with a manageable toxicity profile. Future studies should aim to compare Nab-paclitaxel to other agents in direct head-to head comparison.