Efficacy of biological response modifier lentinan with chemotherapy for advanced cancer: a meta‐analysis

Abstract

Lentinan is a common biological response modifier. This study was sought to evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant lentinan combined with chemotherapy for advanced cancer. A meta‐analysis of published prospective controlled trials investigating the effects of lentinan for kinds of advanced cancer was performed. Sensitivity analysis, inverted funnel plots, and trial sequence analysis were conducted to explore the reliability and stability of results. Seventeen clinical studies were identified containing 1423 patients. Twelve trials included gastrointestinal cancer (GIC), three trials included lung cancer (LC), and two trials included the two cancers. There was a increase in survival rate in 1 year (risk ratios [RR], 1.46, P = 0.001) and overall response rate including both complete and partial response (RR, 1.28, P = 0.005). There was also a reduction in progressive disease (RR, 0.57, P = 0.0005), nonsevere adverse events (RR, 0.88, P = 0.004), and severe adverse events (RR, 0.73, P = 0.007). Similar results were shown in the two subgroups of GIC and LC. Limited trials reported the data of median overall survival and time to treatment failure, and the data were insufficient for quantitative analysis, and no significant difference were found in 2‐year survival rate. Adjuvant lentinan used with chemotherapy achieved improvements in 1‐year survival rate, response rate, and adverse events in advanced cancer. The effect seemed to be similar irrespective of cancer type. However, its sustained efficacy on survival was still unclear.

The Optimal Chinese Herbal Injections for Use With Radiotherapy to Treat Esophageal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis

“…Lentinan injection, the backbone of β-(1, 3)-glucan with β-(1, 6) branches, has also been administered for antitumor therapy in China and Japan for decades. Correlative studies have revealed the properties of Lentinan injection in relation to immunomodulation and improvements in the response rate as well as adverse events in advanced cancer treatment (Ina et al, 2013; Wang et al, 2017). With regard to CHI safety, our results revealed that some types of CHIs elicited a greater beneficial impact on reliving ADRs (leucopenia, gastrointestinal reactions, and radiation esophagitis) than radiotherapy alone.…”

Lentinan Inhibits Tumor Progression by Immunomodulation in a Mouse Model of Bladder Cancer

“…[23][24][25] In addition, the safety profile of LNT and its ability to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy provide additional evidence for the development of LNT as an antitumor agent. 26,27 In view of the high costs of chemotherapy and molecularly targeted medications, LNT also has inherent cost-effectiveness benefits. 28 There is growing evidence supporting the idea that chemotherapies and cancer immunotherapies can be synergized through modulating the activity of different immunocytes or the immunogenicity of cancer cells by immunotherapies as well as inducing immunogenic cell death by chemotherapies.…”

“… 23 - 25 In addition, the safety profile of LNT and its ability to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy provide additional evidence for the development of LNT as an antitumor agent. 26 , 27 In view of the high costs of chemotherapy and molecularly targeted medications, LNT also has inherent cost-effectiveness benefits. 28 …”

Lentinan relieves hepatitis B surface antigen induced functional impairment of monocytes/macrophages

“…Several studies have examined the immunemodulating effects of lentinan in cancer treatments. Tumour patients who received lentinan enhanced survival rates [14,18]. Administration of lentinan promoted the generation of CTLs, as well as the complement response that helped the CTLs recognize tumour cells.…”