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Bevacizumab well-tolerated in glioblastoma
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Bevacizumab alone or in combination with irinotecan is a safe and effective treatment for patients with glioblastoma.
Timothy Cloughesy, MD, director of the neuro-oncology program at the University of California Los Angeles Health System, presented results from a phase-2, randomized trial of bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) alone and in combination with irinotecan in patients with recurrent, treatment-refractory glioblastoma at the 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The trial began in June 2006 and included 167 patients with glioblastoma who were randomly assigned to bevacizumab (n=85) or bevacizumab plus irinotecan (n=82) based on first or second relapse.
In the bevacizumab arm, median overall survival was 9.2 months (95% CI, 8.2-10.7) vs. 8.7 months (95% CI, 7.8-10.9) in the bevacizumab plus irinotecan group.
Six-month progression-free survival, a primary endpoint, was 42.6% (95% CI, 29.6-55.5) in the bevacizumab group and 50.3% (95% CI, 36.8-63.9) in the bevacizumab plus irinotecan group.
The overall response rate was higher in the combination group (37.8%; 95% CI, 26.5-50.8) compared with bevacizumab alone (28.2%; 95% CI, 18.5-40.3). The median duration of response was 5.6 months for bevacizumab and 4.3 months for bevacizumab plus irinotecan. – by Stacey L. Adams
For more information:
- Cloughesy TF, Prados MD, Wen PY et al. A phase II, randomized, non-comparative clinical trial of the effect of bevacizumab (BV) alone or in combination with irinotecan (CPT) on 6-month progression free survival (PFS) in recurrent, treatment-refractory glioblastoma (GBM). Presented at: 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting; May 30-June 3, 2008; Chicago.