Compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced NSCLC, the patients who received synchronous combination of chemotherapy and EGFR TKIs presented a significant increase in the incidence of grade 3/4 anemia and rash (anemia: RR = 1.40, 95%CI = 1.10–1.79, P = 0.007; rash: RR = 7.43, 95%CI = 4.56–12.09, P<0.001). Here, EGFR is linked to anemia (phenotype).