Cetuximab versus nimotuzumab for the treatment of advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A network meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: We conducted a network meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of cetuximab and nimotuzumab in the treatment of advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODS

A systematic literature search was performed though Pubmed, Embase, Cochran Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical (CBM) and Wanfang databases. Totally, 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (n=1201) met the study selection criteria and were incorporated in this network meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Compared with cetuximab, the results of network meta-analysis indicated that nimotuzumab may achieve higher complete remission rate (CRR) or overall remission rate (ORR) of the primary tumor, but no difference was noticed in 1- and 2-year overall survival (OS) rate and certain toxicities such as myelosuppression, radiodermatitis, mucositis and gastrointestinal reactions. Although nimotuzumab increased the 3-year OS rate, compared with cetuximab, this result needs to be interpreted cautiously because of the studies' heterogeneity.

CONCLUSION

Even though we didn't find significant difference between cetuximab and nimotuzumab in terms of survival outcomes, nimotuzumab is more advantageous in short-term efficacy.