• Wei-Xiang Qi, Da-Liu Min, Zan Shen, Yuan-Jue Sun, Feng Lin, Li-Na Tang, Ai-Na He, and Yang Yao.
• Department of Oncology, The Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200233, China.
• Int. J. Cancer. 2013 Jun 15; 132 (12): 2967-74.

AbstractVascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been widely used in advanced cancers. Concerns have arisen regarding the risk of venous thromboembolism with the use of these drugs. Currently, the contribution of VEGFR-TKIs to venous thromboembolism is still unknown. We performed a meta-analysis to determine the incidence and relative risk (RR) of venous thromboembolism events (VTEs) associated with these agents. Eligible studies included phase II and III prospective trials evaluating US Food and Drug Administration approved VEGFR-TKIs (pazopanib, sunitinib, sorafenib and vandetanib), and data on VTEs were available. Overall incidence rates, RR and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated employing fixed- or random-effects models depending on the heterogeneity of included trials. A total of 14 studies (4,430 patients) were selected for this meta-analysis. The incidence of VTEs related to VEGFR-TKIs was 3% (95%CI: 1.7-5.1%), and there was no statistically significant increase in the risk of VTEs for VEGFR-TKIs versus controls in overall population (RR0.912, 95%CI: 0.617-1.348, p = 0.643). On subgroup analysis, no significant increase in the risk of VTEs was found among different VEGFR-TKIs or tumor types. No evidence of publication bias was observed. The use of VEGFR-TKIs does not significantly increase the risk of VTEs, the risk of VTEs in patients with cancer is driven predominantly by tumor types, host factors and concomitant usage of anticancer agents. These results would provide important information for clinicians who use VEGFR-TKIs to treat patients with solid cancer.Copyright © 2012 UICC.

12 keywords...

hide…