Everolimus therapy and side‑effects: A systematic review and meta‑analysis

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pharmacology
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Conventional chemotherapy causes significant side effects on normal cells.
• Targeted therapies aim to reduce these adverse effects but can still impact healthy tissues.
• Everolimus is a targeted agent used in cancer treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and evaluate the type and incidence of side effects in patients treated with everolimus.
• To compare the safety profile of everolimus with conventional chemotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of studies from PubMed and Scopus databases.
• Keywords used: 'everolimus', 'side effects', 'toxicities', 'adverse events'.
• Screening of 912 studies, with 181 included for adverse event analysis.

Main Results:

• Primary adverse events included stomatitis, leukopenia, anorexia, anemia, and fatigue.
• Most reported adverse events were limited to grade 1 or 2.
• Everolimus demonstrates a distinct safety profile compared to traditional chemotherapy.

Conclusions:

• Everolimus is a relatively safe targeted therapeutic agent.
• Adverse events associated with everolimus are generally manageable and less severe than those of conventional chemotherapy.
• Further research into managing everolimus-associated adverse events is warranted.