Search

Background and Objective: Ramucirumab is a novel antiangiogenic agent approved as second-line therapy for patients with advanced stomach cancer and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Although existing evidence from clinical trials has demonstrated hypertension is one of the major adverse events of this agent, overall risks have yet to be reported. Methods: We carried out a meta-analysis of published studies to determine the overall incidence and relative risk (RR) of hypertension associated with ramucirumab. Statistical analyses were conducted to calculate the summary incidence, RRs, and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) by using a random effects model. Results: Eleven studies with a total of 3,851 patients with multiple cancers were included. The overall incidence of all-grade hypertension was 20.0 % (95 % CI 15.0-26.0) with 8.6 % (95 % CI 6.3-11.7) being high-grade hypertension. The risk of developing hypertension was greater in ramucirumab-treated patients (RR for all grades 2.77, 95 % CI 1.94-3.94, p < 0.001, RR for high-grade 3.58, 95 % CI 2.45-5.23, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Administration of ramucirumab to patients with cancer is associated with increased risk of hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]