[Efficacy and safety of rituximab in children and adolescents with mature B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a Meta analysis].

Objectives: To study the efficacy and safety of rituximab combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of children and adolescents with mature B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) through a Meta analysis.

Methods: The databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, and Weipu were searched to obtain 10 articles on rituximab in the treatment of mature B-NHL in children and adolescents published up to June 2022, with 886 children in total. With 3-year event-free survival (EFS) rate, 3-year overall survival (OS) rate, complete remission rate, mortality rate, and incidence rate of adverse reactions as outcome measures, RevMan 5.4 software was used for Meta analysis, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias analysis.

Results: The rituximab+chemotherapy group showed significant increases in the 3-year EFS rate (=0.38, 95%: 0.25-0.59, <0.001), 3-year OS rate (=0.29, 95%: 0.14-0.61, =0.001), and complete remission rate (=3.72, 95%: 1.89-7.33, <0.001) as well as a significant reduction in the mortality rate (=0.31, 95%: 0.17-0.57, <0.001), as compared with the chemotherapy group without rituximab. There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of adverse reactions between the two groups (=1.28, 95%: 0.85-1.92, =0.24).

Conclusions: The addition of rituximab to the treatment regimen for children and adolescents with mature B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can bring significant survival benefits without increasing the incidence of adverse reactions.