Risk of peripheral edema in cancer patients treated with MEK inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials

AbstractBackground: MEK inhibitors are a group of drugs that have shown reliable effects in the treatment of metastatic melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer. Peripheral edema is an adverse event associated with MEK inhibitors; however, there has been no systematic attempt to evaluate peripheral edema data observed with these agents. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the risk of peripheral edema in cancer patients treated with MEK inhibitors.Materials and methods: The authors searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Clinical Trials.gov without language restriction. The final search was conducted on January 9, 2017. Risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for dichotomous data. Heterogeneity was calculated and reported via Tau2, Chi2, and I2 analyses.Results: A total of 13 eligible studies were obtained. Patients treated with MEK inhibitors (Trametinib and Selumetinib) had an increased risk overall of peripheral edema (RR = 3.05, 95% CI = 1.98–4.70; p < .00001), b...