Network Meta-Analysis of ALS Therapies: Efficacy and Safety from 109 Trials

A systematic review and network meta-analysis of pharmacological and biological therapies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The analysis includes 109 randomized controlled trials involving 16,353 participants, sourced from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science up to February 25, 2025. The document was authored by Shixun Zhou and uploaded to figshare in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Compare the relative efficacy of different drug classes for ALS functional decline based on ALSFRS-R scores.
• Assess the safety profiles of various pharmacological interventions based on serious adverse event (SAE) data.
• Identify promising therapeutic combinations, such as cell therapy with neuroprotective agents, for further investigation.
• Rank interventions for specific outcomes like forced vital capacity (FVC) preservation using surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) methodology.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on 109 randomized controlled trials, providing a substantial evidence base.
• Includes data from 16,353 participants, offering a large sample size for meta-analysis.
• Employs a Bayesian network meta-analysis methodology, allowing for comparative effectiveness ranking.
• Systematic review protocol is publicly registered (PROSPERO CRD420251000672), enhancing transparency.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 25.5 KB DOCX document; the underlying tabular data (e.g., effect estimates, trial characteristics) is not directly accessible.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the manuscript text.
• Row count for any underlying data tables is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for direct computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Shixun Zhou.

Collection Method

Systematic literature review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials.

Time Range

Literature search covered publications until February 25, 2025.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-24 13:39:35; includes literature search up to February 25, 2025.

Geography

Global (trials were not restricted by geography).