Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a squamous-cell carcinoma especially prevailing among the natives of south China.The regimen of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) that include platinum and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)is considered to be the standard treatment for NPC.However,its clinical use is limited by its toxicity.Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the regimen of CCRT with taxanes and platinum versus the regimen of CCRT with 5-FU and platinum in NPC treatment.Methods Medline,the Cochrane library,and the Chinese medical literature database were searched for eligible studies.Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (Version 5.2).Results Six random controlled trials (RCTs) including 514 patients met our criteria.Meta-analysis showed that the regimen of CCRT with taxanes and platinum had an improved significant difference in complete remission (CR) and less incidence rate in adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal impairment grades Ⅲll-Ⅳ,liver and kidney impairment grades Ⅰ-Ⅱ,and radiodermatitis grades Ⅲ-Ⅳ versus the conventional regimen of CCRT with 5-FU and platinum,while the long-term effectiveness rate of overall survival,Iocoregional failure-free survival,or distant metastasis failure-free survival between the two groups was therapeutic equivalence.Conclusions The regimen of CCRT with taxanes and platinum in NPC therapy may be more efficient and safe compared to the conventional modality of 5-FU and platinum in CCRT.However,we need more high-quality studies of multi-center and randomized double-blind clinical trials to further compare,analyze,and confirm the findings.