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LUCAS trial: Bevacizumab, ranibizumab comparable in treat-and-extend protocol
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NEW ORLEANS — At 1 year, bevacizumab and ranibizumab had equivalent effects on visual acuity when administered according to an inject-and-extend protocol for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, according to a speaker who gave results of the LUCAS trial here.
“This is the first multicenter study where an inject-and-extend protocol has been utilized for the treatment of exudative AMD,” Karina Berg, MD, said at Retina Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.
Karina Berg
Funded by Oslo University Hospital, Norway, the LUCAS trial is a prospective, randomized, double-masked multicenter non-inferiority trial comparing Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) and Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) in a treat-and-extend protocol. Four hundred thirty-two patients with active choroidal neovascular membrane and edema involving the fovea were enrolled; 86% of patients completed the 1-year visit. Best corrected visual acuity in the study eye ranged from 20/25 to 20/320.
The difference between the two drugs in mean visual acuity change at 1 year was no more than 2.9 letters, Berg said.
There was a small but statistically significant difference in the number of required injections, favoring ranibizumab, Berg said, and the number of reported serious adverse events was small.
“There were some serious medical conditions reported at 1 year, as one would expect in an elderly population, but the numbers are small,” Berg said.
Disclosure: Berg is a consultant for Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals.