Li L, et al. - The goal of the present research was to discover the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in brain metastases (BMs). Results of this study suggested that patients with EGFR mutations were more susceptible to develop into BMs than those with EGFR wild type, particularly during the course of the disease.

Methods

• Electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CBM, WanFang, CNKI were looked to identify relevant trials.
• The incidence of BMs in EGFR mutations or wild type NSCLC was the primary endpoint whereas overall survival calculated from the BMs emerging (BMOS) was the secondary endpoint.

Results

• 22 studies incorporating 8,152 members were eligible.
• Researchers reported that EGFR mutations group possessed a significantly higher risk of BMs (OR =1.99; 95% CI, 1.59–2.48; P=0.000) than EGFR wild type group.
• In the stratified analysis, contrasted with EGFR wild type group, EGFR mutations group had a significant higher incidence (OR =2.01; 95% CI, 1.56–2.59; P=0.000) of subsequent BMs while only a trend of increasing the incidence of initial BMs (OR =1.38; 95% CI, 0.98–1.94; P=0.066).
• They observed that exon 19 deletion had a trend of increasing the incidence of BMs than exon 21 mutation (OR =1.44; 95% CI, 0.77–2.68; P=0.252).
• Contrasted with EGFR wild type group, EGFR mutations group possessed a prolonged overall BMOS (HR =0.68; 95% CI, 0.47–0.98; P=0.038) and a longer BMOS in initial BMs (HR =0.50; 95% CI, 0.31–0.80; P=0.004) yet no significant difference in NSCLC with subsequent BMs (HR =0.95; 95% CI, 0.42–2.15; P=0.901).