REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1592995
Recombinant human adenovirus type 5 administration for the treatment of malignant ascites or pleural effusion in cancer patients: a meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
Changsong Duan*
Xue Liu- Department of Medicine, Shanghai Sunway Biotech Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
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Objective: H101 (recombinant human adenovirus type 5) has favorable efficacy and safety in cancer patients with malignant ascites or pleural effusion (MA/MPE), but a comprehensive evaluation has not yet been conducted. This meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively investigate the efficacy and safety of H101 in these patients. Methods: The meta-analysis was registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD420251052407). A comprehensive study search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Wan Fang, CNKI, and SinoMed until October 2024. Studies reporting remission and safety results in cancer patients with MA/MPE treated with H101 were screened. The overall remission rate (ORR) of ascites or pleural effusion and adverse reactions were analyzed. Results: Thirteen studies involving 993 patients were included. The pooled ORR (95% confidence interval (CI)) was 69.9% (63.5%; 76.4%). The pooled rates (95% CI) of fever, nausea or vomiting, and leukopenia were 22.5% (10.2%; 34.9%), 14.0% (6.8%; 21.2%), and 24.3% (9.6%; 39.1%), respectively. Subgroup analysis revealed that ORR was higher in studies with a single cancer type than in those with multiple cancer types (P=0.012). There was no publication bias in ORR, the rate of nausea or vomiting, or the rate of leukopenia. The publication bias in the rate of fever was corrected by the trim-and-fill method, and the adjusted rate was 5.4% (0.0%; 22.0%). All included studies were high-quality, with low risks of bias. Sensitivity analyses revealed high robustness. Conclusion: H101 is effective and safe for treating MA/MPE in cancer patients, and may be a promising modality for their clinical management.
Keywords: Malignant ascites or pleural effusion, Recombinant Human Adenovirus Type 5, efficacy, Safety, Meta-analysis
Received: 13 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Duan and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Changsong Duan, Department of Medicine, Shanghai Sunway Biotech Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.