Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40660223›Full record

SynthesisBMC cancer2025

Assessing the clinical outcomes of immunotherapy and docetaxel combinations in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a meta-analysis.

Azka Syed, Hasan Raza, Hameer Khan Khaskheli, Izza Rafique, Sameen Shahid, Nimra Shahzadi, Abdelrahman Sayed Al Komi, Abdullah A Assiri, Muhammad Abbas Khokhar, Najeeb Ullah Khan

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Azka SyedDepartment of Biosciences, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan.
Hasan RazaInstitute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Hameer Khan KhaskheliInstitute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE) University of Sindh, Karachi, Pakistan.
Izza RafiqueDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Sameen ShahidCentre for Applied Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Nimra ShahzadiCenter for Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Abdelrahman Sayed Al KomiFaculty of Medicine, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
Abdullah A AssiriDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. aalabdullah@kku.edu.sa.
Muhammad Abbas KhokharKing Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan.
Najeeb Ullah KhanInstitute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan. najeebkhan@aup.edu.pk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite breakthroughs in treatment, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) continues to pose a substantial problem. This meta-analysis sought to assess the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy-chemotherapy combinations in mCRPC.

methodsA thorough search of ClinicalTrials.gov, Embase, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science was performed to retrieve randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between January 2000 and July 2024. The primary outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), PSA response rate, time to PSA progression, and severe adverse events (SAEs). Data were aggregated using fixed-effect or random-effects models dependent on heterogeneity.

resultsFour RCTs involving 2,289 participants were included. The pooled results showed no statistically significant advantage of immunotherapy-chemotherapy combinations over placebo or docetaxel alone for OS (HR = 0.95; 95%CI: 0.79-1.14; P = 0.56), PFS (HR = 0.93; 95%CI: 0.80-1.07; P = 0.32), PSA response rate (RR = 0.99; 95%CI: 0.66-1.49; P = 0.96), time to PSA progression (HR = 1.01; 95%CI: 0.90-1.14; P = 0.85). The risk of SAEs was also not significantly different between the intervention and control groups (RR = 0.95; 95%CI: 0.71-1.29; P = 0.76).

conclusionExisting findings do not suggest a significant advantage of immunotherapy-chemotherapy combos over chemotherapy alone in mCRPC. However, the small number of trials and study heterogeneity call for caution in interpretation. Further high-quality RCTs are required to determine the role of these combinations in mCRPC treatment.

Indexed as

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsDocetaxelImmunotherapyProstatic Neoplasms, Castration-ResistantHumansMaleNeoplasm MetastasisProgression-Free SurvivalRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeDocetaxelDocetaxelImmune checkpoint inhibitorsImmunotherapyMCRPCMetastatic castration-resistant prostatic cancer

Identifiers

PMID40660223
PMCPMC12261593

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.