Efficacy and Safety of Thymosin for Esophageal Cancer: Meta-Analysis of 18 RCTs

18 randomized controlled trials with 1,272 patients were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The study, authored by Tao Sun and last updated in May 2026, evaluates the clinical efficacy, immune function impact, and safety of thymosin combined with anticancer therapy for esophageal cancer. It reports pooled results for outcomes including objective response rate, survival rates, T-cell levels, and adverse event incidence.

Use Cases

• Validate the pooled efficacy of thymosin-based combination therapy based on reported risk ratios for objective response and survival rates.
• Assess the impact on immune function parameters based on reported mean differences for CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ ratio, and NK cell levels.
• Evaluate the safety profile of combination therapy based on reported risk ratios for gastrointestinal reactions, leukopenia, and radiation-related adverse events.
• Critically appraise evidence quality for clinical decision-making based on the described GRADE assessment results.

Strengths

• Includes data from 18 randomized controlled trials, aggregating results from 1,272 patients.
• Reports specific pooled effect estimates (Risk Ratios and Mean Differences) with 95% confidence intervals for multiple clinical and immunological outcomes.
• Conducted sensitivity analysis, publication bias assessment, and trial sequential analysis as described in the methodology.

Limitations

• The methodological quality of the included RCTs is described as limited, and the GRADE assessment indicates evidence quality ranges from 'very low' to 'low'.
• A comprehensive safety assessment is limited by a reported lack of data on thymosin-specific side effects.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Systematic review of Chinese and English databases, registered on PROSPERO (CRD420261282381).

Collection Method

Meta-analysis of identified randomized controlled trials using Review Manager and Stata.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-29 06:13:12; freshness should be verified.