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Anti-VEGF treatment continues for years in most neovascular AMD patients
Ranibizumab treatment was discontinued in 21% of neovascular age-related macular degeneration patients because of complete inactivation of choroidal neovascularization, a long-term study found.
Fifteen percent of patients failed to respond to treatment, and 64% of patients needed continuous treatment for as long as 4 years.
The retrospective single-center chart review analyzed 855 neovascular AMD patients treated with Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) over a 4-year period. Patients had at least 15 months of follow-up, and patients who terminated treatment were included regardless of follow-up length.
Follow-up ranged from 4 months to 48 months, with a mean of 23.3 months.
There was a significant decrease in vision from 53.2 ETDRS letters at baseline to 50.5 letters (P < .001) at the last follow-up.
Within 2 years of treatment being initiated, 131 patients (15%) were considered bad responders or nonresponders and 181 patients (21%) were considered good responders. The remaining patients required continuous monitoring and treatment to determine whether injections should be continued.
Over the study period, 399 patients discontinued treatment. Of these, 83% did so in the first 2 years of treatment, 14% in the third year and 3% in the fourth year.