Anti-VEGF therapy produces significant reduction in anatomical measures of CNV

Retina. 2010;30(9):1390-1399.

Treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with anti-VEGF therapy leads to rapid reduction of lesion size that is evident on optical coherence tomography.

In a subset of 61 patients enrolled in the ANCHOR study who had OCT assessments, mean change from baseline in total area of lesion, area of choroidal neovascularization and total area of choroidal neovascularization leakage was significantly greater among patients treated with Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) compared with photodynamic therapy. In the study, results were significantly better among patients treated with ranibizumab compared with PDT at both 1 year and 2 years.

"Whereas the PDT group had a mean increase from baseline at month 12 and a mean decrease from baseline at month 24 in total area of CNV leakage, the two ranibizumab-treated groups had mean decreases at months 12 and 24," the investigators noted.

Mean area of classic CNV increased from baseline in the PDT group but decreased among ranibizumab-treated patients at both 12 months and 24 months.

"The lesion anatomical findings reported ... demonstrate the ability of ranibizumab to substantively arrest the pathologic process in neovascular AMD, allowing a normalization of macular anatomy as well as providing clinically significant improvement in visual acuity in many patients," the study authors said.