Whole brain radiotherapy plus erlotinib for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases: A meta-analysis and network pharmacology mechanisms

The apparent increase in the incidence of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases is due to the employment of advanced diagnostic methods and increased public health consciousness. The chief treatment for multiple brain metastases is whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), erlotinib is permitted as first line of therapy for terminal NSCLC patients at present. However, no comprehensive statistical and systematic analysis has been performed to verify the clinical effectiveness and security of this treatment. Consequently, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess effectiveness and safety of WBRT plus erlotinib in the cure of brain metastases from NSCLC. To investigate the mechanism of erlotinib in the treatment of brain metastases from NSCLC by network pharmacology. The results of this meta-analysis indicated that WBRT combined with erlotinib is an effective and safe treatment of brain metastases from NSCLC. WBRT combined with erlotinib can remarkably improve the overall response rate and disease control rate, and extend the 1-year survival rate, the progression-free survival, the median survival time and medium PFS. This study reveals the mechanism of multi-target and multi-pathway action of erlotinib in the treatment of brain metastases from NSCLC, and provides a basis for the study of clinical anti-tumor action mechanism of erlotinib.