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 dataset was authored by Shixun Zhou and uploaded to figshare in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Compare the efficacy of different drug classes on ALS functional decline based on ALSFRS-R scores.
• Assess the safety profiles of interventions based on serious adverse event (SAE) risk.
• Rank therapies for preserving respiratory function based on forced vital capacity (FVC) outcomes.
• Identify promising specific agents, such as masitinib or talampanel, for further clinical investigation.
• Explore heterogeneity within drug classes, such as enzyme inhibitors, for subgroup analysis.

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 for comparative effectiveness ranking.
• Registered with PROSPERO (CRD420251000672), indicating a systematic review protocol.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 124.8 KB DOCX file, suggesting it contains summary results rather than the underlying trial-level data.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain analytical tasks.

Provenance

Source

Systematic review of PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science.

Collection Method

Bayesian network meta-analysis performed in R using the gemtc package.

Time Range

Literature search conducted until February 25, 2025.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-24 13:39:39; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global (trials from international sources).