Systematic meta-analysis of the toxicities and side effects of the targeted drug lenvatinib.
Huihui Liu, Kai Wang, Yu Sun et al.
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In 30 seconds
This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed adverse events associated with lenvatinib in patients with cancer, synthesizing cohort studies and randomized controlled trials identified through December 31, 2024. Nine studies were included, with toxicities evaluated across multiple organ systems and by severity. Hypertension was a prominent finding: the reported risk ratio was 2.34 (95% CI, 2.09–2.62) for any grade and 2.60 (95% CI, 2.21–3.06) for grade ≥3. The authors conclude that lenvatinib’s anticancer efficacy is accompanied by clinically important toxicities.
Key findings
- Across nine included studies, the meta-analysis evaluated lenvatinib adverse events across multiple organ systems and severity levels.
- For hypertension, the risk ratio was 2.34 (95% CI, 2.09–2.62) for any grade.
- For grade ≥3 hypertension, the risk ratio was 2.60 (95% CI, 2.21–3.06).
Why it matters
The synthesis highlights that lenvatinib’s therapeutic use is accompanied by adverse events across several organ systems, with hypertension quantified for both any-grade and severe events. Consolidated toxicity estimates can inform safety discussions and monitoring considerations when interpreting lenvatinib’s role in cancer treatment, while the findings should be understood in the context of the included studies.
What to keep in mind
The analysis included only nine studies, and the abstract does not provide details on cancer types, study-level variation, or the pooled estimates for toxicities other than hypertension.