Thoracic injection of low-dose interleukin-2 as an adjuvant therapy improves the control of the malignant pleural effusions: a systematic review and meta-analysis base on Chinese patients

Background Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an important immunotherapy cytokine for various diseases including cancer. Some studies reported the efficacy and safety on cisplatin combined with IL-2 versus cisplatin alone for treating malignant pleural effusion (MPE) through thoracic injection. Methods We searched these studies from medical electronic database. A total of 18 studies that met the inclusion criteria were recruited in this meta-analysis. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were determined by the fixed effects model of meta-analysis. Results The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) of cisplatin plus IL-2 for controlling MPE was significantly higher than that of cisplatin alone ( p < 0.001). In addition, compared with cisplatin alone, the presence of IL-2 improved the quality of life (QOL) of patients with MPE ( p < 0.001). Although the use of IL-2 seemed to increase the probability of fever in patients ( p = 0.001), it did not lead to extra other side effects (AEs) including myelotoxicity, nausea/vomiting and chest pain ( p > 0.05). Conclusions The low-dose IL-2 improved the ORR, DCR and QOL of patients in the treatment of MPE. Although it may cause fever in patients, it did not increase other AEs.