Table 1.

Characteristics of 13 RCTs included in the final meta-analysis

First author	Year	Country	Sample size		Pathology	Neoadjuvant treatment schedule	Jadad score
			CRTS	SA
Urba [12]	2001	USA	50	50	SCC (25%); AC (75%)	45 Gy; 1.5 Gy per fraction over 3 weeks	2
						Two cycles: cisplatin 20 mg/m2 days 1–5; fluorouracil 300 mg/m2 days 1–21; vinblastine 1 mg/m2 days 1–4
An [13]	2003	China	48	49	SCC	36 Gy, 1.2 Gy per fraction over 17 days	3
						First cycle: 5-fluorouracil 1 mg/m2, 5–6 hours, days 1–5; cisplatin 25 mg/m2.
						Second cycle: 5-fluorouracil 0.5 g/m2, days 21–25; cisplatin 25 mg/m2, days 22–25
Lee [14]	2004	Korea	51	50	SCC	45.6 Gy, 1.2 Gy per fraction over 28 day	2
						Two cycles: cisplatin 60 mg/m2 days 1; fluorouracil 1000 mg/m2 days 3–5
Burmeister [15]	2005	Australia	128	128	SCC (37%); AC (62%)	35 Gy in 15 fractions over 3 weeks	3
						One cycles: cisplatin 80 mg/m2 days 1; fluorouracil 800 mg/m2 days 1–4
Natsugoe [16]	2006	Japan	22	23	SCC	40 Gy, 2 Gy per fraction over 4 weeks	2
						cisplatin 7 mg over 2 hours; 5-fluorouracil 350 mg over 24 hours
Tepper [17]	2008	USA	30	26	SCC (25%); AC (75%)	50.4 Gy, 1.8 Gy per fraction over 5.6 weeks	3
						Two cycles: cisplatin 100 mg/m2 days 1; fluorouracil 1000 mg/m2 per day days 1–4
Cao [18]	2009	China	118	118	SCC	40 Gy, 2 Gy per fraction over 4 weeks	2
						cisplatin 20 mg/m2 per day days 1–5; fluorouracil 500 mg/m2 per day days 1–5; mitomycin 10 mg/m2 per day day 1
Hurmuzlu [19]	2010	Norway	62	45	SCC (36%); AC (64%)	66 Gy, 2 Gy per fraction over 6.5 weeks	3
						Three cycles: cisplatin 100 mg/m2 days 1; fluorouracil 1000 mg/m2 per day days 1–5
Lv [20]	2010	China	80	80	SCC	40 Gy, 2 Gy per fraction over 4 weeks	2
						Two cycles: cisplatin 20 mg/m2 per day, days 1–3, 22–25;
						paclitaxel 135 mg/m2
Saeki [24]	2011	Japan	76	92	SCC	30-42 Gy , 1.8 Gy per fraction	3
						cisplatin: 5 mg/m2/day, 5-FU: 250 mg/m2/day, administered on weekdays, repeated every 3-4 weeks
van Hagen [21]	2012	Netherlands	168	186	SCC (23%); AC (75%)	41.4 Gy, 1.8 Gy per fraction over 4.6 weeks	2
						5 weeks chemotherapy: carboplatin area under curve =2 , paclitaxel 50 mg/m2 on day 1 weekly
Fujiwara [22]	2013	Japan	52	36	SCC	40 Gy, 2 Gy per fraction over 4 weeks	3
						5-FU (500 mg/m2/day), CDDP (15-20 mg/day), days 1-5, repeated every 3 weeks
Smit [23]	2013	Italy	75	75	SCC	41.4 Gy,1.8 Gy per fraction over 4.6 weeks	3
						5 weeks: paclitaxel (50 mg/m2), carboplatin (area under the curve = 2)

CRTS: chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery SA: surgery alone SCC: squamous cell carcinoma AC: adenocarcinoma.