Contribution of meta-analyses to the evaluation of treatments for advanced colorectal cancer.

In the last decade, the Meta-Analysis Group in Cancer (formerly Advanced Colorectal Cancer Meta-Analysis Project) has systematically used a meta-analytic to reassess the efficacy and toxicity of various fluoropyrimidine regimens in advanced colorectal cancer, as well as to investigate related questions, such as the relation between tumor response and survival. In this paper, the basic methodology of meta-analysis is reviewed and the findings of seven successive meta-analyses conducted between 1989-2000 by the Meta-Analysis Group in Cancer are summarized. The interested reader can refer to the statistical appendix for details on the methodology used for all meta-analyses.