Efficacy and safety of tyrosine kinase inhibitors for advanced metastatic thyroid cancer: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been approved for treating patients with clinically advanced metastatic thyroid cancer. However among the many TKIs, it remains unknown which regimen is the best choice for these patients. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis to compare the survival benefits and efficacy of the available first-line regimens. We conducted an active search for phase II, III, or IV randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases to compare the effects of at least 2 drugs in the systemic treatment of advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer up to May 2023. The network meta-analysis model was adjusted using Bayesian Network model. Twelve trials with 2535 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and serious adverse events (SAEs) were taken as reference indicators. We also performed subgroup analyses of OS and PFS in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RR-DTC) to explore the variations of TKIs in different groups. Results: As a result, apatinib had the best effect on overall survival (OS) (hazards ratio [HR] = 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.18–0.98), lenvatinib 18 mg/d has the best effect on progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.064–0.27), and cabozantinib 60 mg/d has the best safety profile. Conclusions: Our network meta-analysis showed that we believe that cabozantinib has the potential to become a widely used drug in clinical practice.