Treatment Protocols in the Efficacy and Safety of Anti-EGFR Medicines in Combination with Standard Therapy for Patients with Nasopharyngeal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of standard therapy (radiotherapy/RT/CT) with that of antiepidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) monoclonal antibody (NPC) therapy in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal cancer. METHODS: A meta-analysis was performed to meet the objective of this study. The English databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched. The literature review compared anti-EGFR-targeted therapy with conventional therapy practices. The main outcome measure was overall survival (OS). Secondary goals were progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and adverse events (grade 3). RESULTS: The database search resulted in 11 studies, with a total of 4219 participants. It was found that combining an anti-EGFR regimen with conventional therapy did not enhance OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.18; 95%confidence interval [CI] = 0.51–2.40; p = 0.70) or PFS appreciably (HR = 0.95; 95%CI = 0.51–1.48; p = 0.88) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. While LRRFS increased considerably (HR = 0.70; 95%CI = 0.67–1.00; p = 0.01), the combined regimen did not improve DMFS (HR = 0.86; 95%CI = 0.61–1.12; p = 0.36). Treatment-related adverse events included haematological toxicity (RR = 0.2; 95%CI = 0.08–0.45; p = 0.01), cutaneous reactions (RR = 7.05; 95%CI = 2.15–23.09; p = 0.01), and mucositis (RR = 1.96; 95%CI = 1.58–2.09; p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Individuals who have nasopharyngeal cancer do not have an increased chance of surviving until a local recurrence of their disease if they get normal therapy in addition to an anti-EGFR regimen. However, this combination does not enhance overall survival. On the other hand, this factor adds to an increase in the number of adverse effects.