Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRi) are now standard of care in patients with EGFR mutations in
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and are increasingly being used in other EGFR mutated
cancers, including gastrointestinal, and head and neck. However, EGFRi are well known to cause
acneiform eruptions, which are shown to positively correlate with
tumor response to treatment, but may be severe enough to cause interruption of their treatment. Although most guidelines call for the use of
tetracyclines to treat these
acneiform eruptions, there is mounting evidence for the use of systemic
retinoids instead. The objective of this review is to summarize available data on the use of systemic
retinoids for management of
acneiform eruptions on EGFRi. This study was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (
PRISMA) guidelines. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from database inception until December 10th, 2021. All articles were screened and relevant data extracted independently in duplicate by two reviewers. In total, 16 case reports, case series and retrospective reviews were included. Forty-three patients were treated with
retinoids for their
acneiform eruption due to EGFRi. The majority (77%) noted moderate to significant improvement
after treatment initiation with minimal adverse events (16%). The findings of this systematic review suggest that systemic
retinoids are a safe and effective
therapy for the management of
acneiform eruptions induced by EGFRi.