title: Risk of severe rash in cancer patients treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the incidence and risk factors of severe rash associated with the use of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, EMBASE and oncology conference proceedings were searched for articles published till March 2016.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 18,309 patients from 37 randomized controlled trials were available for the meta-analysis. The overall incidence for severe rash was 6.6% (95% CI: 5.2-8.3%) among patients receiving EGFR-TKIs. The use of EGFR-TKIs significantly increased the risk of developing severe rash (risk ratio: 7.70; 95% CI: 5.79-10.23) in cancer patients. On subgroup analysis, the increased risk of severe rash was driven predominantly by drug type (p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EGFR-TKIs significantly increase the risk of developing severe rash in cancer patients.
authors: Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, China.
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, China.
authors: Yu-Ge
authors: YG
authors: Ran
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding 071000, China.
authors: Kun-Jie
authors: KJ
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D005076:Exanthema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017594:Publication Bias; D012306:Risk; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D066246:ErbB Receptors
keywords: EGFR-TKIs; RCTs; afatinib; cancer; erlotinib; gefitinib; meta-analysis; risk factors; severe rash; systematic review