O No gef placebo 1 0 1 No No No gef docetaxel 2 0 1 No No No gef docetaxel 2 2 1 No No No gef placebo 2 0 1 No No No gef docetaxel 1 0 1 No Yes Yes gef docetaxel 1 0 1 No Yes Yes gef docetaxel 0 1 No Yes Yes Platinum +gef 101 300 298 86 87 43 42 733 733 22948146 1129 563 68 73 245 244 82 79 2 1 No Yes No gef 100 99 0 1 No Yes No gef 97 74 74 74 76 62 63 61 62 70 71 61 60 62 61 63.0 59.5 NR NR 57 58 114 62.6 0 1 Yes Yes Yes gef 114 63.9 363 61 1 0 No Yes No GP+gef 365 59 23.3 27.8 63.2 64 22.7 26.3 39.0 39.6 36* 67.8 22 24 12* 21 36.4 33.4 33 33 31 30 38.4 38.1 32.9* 43.0 345 63 38.6 1 0 No Yes No PCp+gef 345 61 42.3 86 64.0 69.8 0 10.4 9.3 9.6 9.6 0.9 1.8 23.7* 16.2 100 100 0 0 7 5 100 100 11.7 11.5 0 0 36.8* 28.8 4.5 4.1 7.3 6.3 blind dropoutsNo. of centers Group nJadad Score EGFR mutation CTnaive Asian origin Median age Female ( ) ECOG. = 2( )Stage . = IV( )89.6 97.4 95.4 98.1 97.0 86.8 81.6 NR NR NR NR 81.7 81.9 100 100 100 100 77.9 81.1 81 80 NR NR 80.8 79.5 86.6 82.Herbst RS. (2004)multiGiaccone G. (2004)Maemondo M. (2010)Crino L. (2008)Goss G. (2009)Takeda K. (2010)FCCP site Gaafar RM. (2011)`re More JF. (2010)Kim ES. (2008)Thatcher N. (2005)Cufer T. (2006)Maruyama R. (2008)Lee DH. (2010)The Efficacy of Bevacizumab for Advanced NSCLCNR: not reported. *unbalanced between groups. CT: chemotherapy; bev: bevacizumab; erl: erlotinib; cet: cetuximab; gef: gefitinib. GP: Cisplatin-Gemcitabine; PCp: Paclitaxel-carboplatin; TC: Taxane-carboplatin; NP: cisplatin-vinorelbine; D/M:docetaxel/pemetrexed. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062038.tThe Efficacy of Bevacizumab for Advanced 
NSCLCFigure 
1. Flow chart showing the progress of trials through the review. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062038.gand erlotinib), monoclonal antibodies targeting EGFR (cetuximab), and anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (bevacizumab). In different ASP-015K Clinical trials, the hazard ratios for PFS and OS of bevacizumab use ranged from 0.55 to 0.85 and from 0.71 to 1.03, respectively [9?4]. In terms of gefitinib use, the ranges of hazard ratios for PFS and OS were from 0.30 to 1.09 and from 0.77 to 1.64, respectively [15?7], which overlapped those of bevacizumab. Similarly, controversial and inefficient results have been reported for other targeted drugs in studies with small sample size and/or different inclusion and exclusion criteria. In this study we performed an updated meta-analysis to systematically study the efficacy of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC patients. Our meta-analysis is different from the previous ones in that we target to provide information for future research in comparisons between bevacizmab and other targeted drugs. Information used in the study was obtained from reported and unreported randomized controlled clinical trial studies, and targeted drugs included gefitinib, erlotinib and cetuximab. Our meta-analysis has a higher power in testing efficacy compared to previously reported individual clinical trials, and will help make evidence-based clinical decisions for the treatment of NSCLC.limited from 1999 to 2011. MeSH terms searching was performed in PubMed. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting abstracts were also searched from 2000 to 2011. At the same time, the reference of related systematic reviews and clinical trials were screened.2. Inclusion CriteriaThe relevant clinical trials were manually selected carefully based on the following criteria: (1) randomized controlled trial (RCT); (2) patients with confirmed stage IIIB, st.O No gef placebo 1 0 1 No No No gef docetaxel 2 0 1 No No No gef docetaxel 2 2 1 No No No gef placebo 2 0 1 No No No gef docetaxel 1 0 1 No Yes Yes gef docetaxel 1 0 1 No Yes Yes gef docetaxel 0 1 No Yes Yes Platinum +gef 101 300 298 86 87 43 42 733 733 22948146 1129 563 68 73 245 244 82 79 2 1 No Yes No gef 100 99 0 1 No Yes No gef 97 74 74 74 76 62 63 61 62 70 71 61 60 62 61 63.0 59.5 NR NR 57 58 114 62.6 0 1 Yes Yes Yes gef 114 63.9 363 61 1 0 No Yes No GP+gef 365 59 23.3 27.8 63.2 64 22.7 26.3 39.0 39.6 36* 67.8 22 24 12* 21 36.4 33.4 33 33 31 30 38.4 38.1 32.9* 43.0 345 63 38.6 1 0 No Yes No PCp+gef 345 61 42.3 86 64.0 69.8 0 10.4 9.3 9.6 9.6 0.9 1.8 23.7* 16.2 100 100 0 0 7 5 100 100 11.7 11.5 0 0 36.8* 28.8 4.5 4.1 7.3 6.3 blind dropoutsNo. of centers Group nJadad Score EGFR mutation CTnaive Asian origin Median age Female ( ) ECOG. = 2( )Stage . = IV( )89.6 97.4 95.4 98.1 97.0 86.8 81.6 NR NR NR NR 81.7 81.9 100 100 100 100 77.9 81.1 81 80 NR NR 80.8 79.5 86.6 82.Herbst RS. (2004)multiGiaccone G. (2004)Maemondo M. (2010)Crino L. (2008)Goss G. (2009)Takeda K. (2010)Gaafar RM. (2011)`re More JF. (2010)Kim ES. (2008)Thatcher N. (2005)Cufer T. (2006)Maruyama R. (2008)Lee DH. (2010)The Efficacy of Bevacizumab for Advanced NSCLCNR: not reported. *unbalanced between groups. CT: chemotherapy; bev: bevacizumab; erl: erlotinib; cet: cetuximab; gef: gefitinib. GP: Cisplatin-Gemcitabine; PCp: Paclitaxel-carboplatin; TC: Taxane-carboplatin; NP: cisplatin-vinorelbine; D/M:docetaxel/pemetrexed. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062038.tThe Efficacy of Bevacizumab for Advanced NSCLCFigure 1. Flow chart showing the progress of trials through the review. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062038.gand erlotinib), monoclonal antibodies targeting EGFR (cetuximab), and anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (bevacizumab). In different clinical trials, the hazard ratios for PFS and OS of bevacizumab use ranged from 0.55 to 0.85 and from 0.71 to 1.03, respectively [9?4]. In terms of gefitinib use, the ranges of hazard ratios for PFS and OS were from 0.30 to 1.09 and from 0.77 to 1.64, respectively [15?7], which overlapped those of bevacizumab. Similarly, controversial and inefficient results have been reported for other targeted drugs in studies with small sample size and/or different inclusion and exclusion criteria. In this study we performed an updated meta-analysis to systematically study the efficacy of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC patients. Our meta-analysis is different from the previous ones in that we target to provide information for future research in comparisons between bevacizmab and other targeted drugs. Information used in the study was obtained from reported and unreported randomized controlled clinical trial studies, and targeted drugs included gefitinib, erlotinib and cetuximab. Our meta-analysis has a higher power in testing efficacy compared to previously reported individual clinical trials, and will help make evidence-based clinical decisions for the treatment of NSCLC.limited from 1999 to 2011. MeSH terms searching was performed in PubMed. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting abstracts were also searched from 2000 to 2011. At the same time, the reference of related systematic reviews and clinical trials were screened.2. Inclusion CriteriaThe relevant clinical trials were manually selected carefully based on the following criteria: (1) randomized controlled trial (RCT); (2) patients with confirmed stage IIIB, st.
