Probiotics Reduce Treatment-related Complications in Adult Colorectal Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of probiotics as a therapeutic approach for managing colorectal cancer treatment-related complications. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Scopus databases were searched. The Mantel-Haenszel model was applied for all outcomes. Ten RCTs with 1,276 patients were included. There was a significant decrease in the incidence of diarrhea (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.42; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.55; p < 0.001), surgical site infection (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.89; p = 0.023), urinary infection (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.20 to 0.91; p=0.028), pulmonary infection (OR 0.30; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.60; p<0.001), abdominal distention (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.76; p=0.004), length of ATB therapy (Mean Difference [MD] -1.66 days; 95% CI -2.13 days to -1.19 days; p < 0.001), and duration of postoperative pyrexia (MD -0.80 days; 95% CI -1.38 days to - 0.22 days; p=0.007) in the probiotic group. Nevertheless, length of hospital stay, time to first defecation, and time to first solid diet, were not different between groups. Our findings suggest that probiotics is effective for managing treatment-related complications in patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer, with a lower rate of adverse events.