William Novotny

BACKGROUND: Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, has shown promising preclinical and clinical activity against metastatic colorectal cancer, particularly in combination with chemotherapy. METHODS: Of 813 patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer, we randomly assigned 402 to receive irinotecan, bolus fluorouracil, and leucovorin (IFL) plus bevacizumab (5 mg per kilogram of body weight every two weeks) and 411 to receive IFL plus placebo. The primary end point was overall survival. Secondary end points were progression-free survival, the response rate, the duration of the response, safety, and the quality of life. RESULTS: The median duration of survival was 20.3 months in the group given IFL plus bevacizumab, as compared with 15.6 months in the group given IFL plus placebo, corresponding to a hazard ratio for death of 0.66 (P<0.001). The median duration of progression-free survival was 10.6 months in the group given IFL plus bevacizumab, as compared with 6.2 months in the group given IFL plus placebo (hazard ratio for disease progression, 0.54; P<0.001); the corresponding rates of response were 44.8 percent and 34.8 percent (P=0.004). The median duration of the response was 10.4 months in the group given IFL plus bevacizumab, as compared with 7.1 months in the group given IFL plus placebo (hazard ratio for progression, 0.62; P=0.001). Grade 3 hypertension was more common during treatment with IFL plus bevacizumab than with IFL plus placebo (11.0 percent vs. 2.3 percent) but was easily managed. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of bevacizumab to fluorouracil-based combination chemotherapy results in statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in survival among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with advanced or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a phase II trial, 99 patients were randomly assigned to bevacizumab 7.5 (n = 32) or 15 mg/kg (n = 35) plus carboplatin (area under the curve = 6) and paclitaxel (200 mg/m(2)) every 3 weeks or carboplatin and paclitaxel alone (n = 32). Primary efficacy end points were time to disease progression and best confirmed response rate. On disease progression, patients in the control arm had the option to receive single-agent bevacizumab 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks. RESULTS: Compared with the control arm, treatment with carboplatin and paclitaxel plus bevacizumab (15 mg/kg) resulted in a higher response rate (31.5% v 18.8%), longer median time to progression (7.4 v 4.2 months) and a modest increase in survival (17.7 v 14.9 months). Of the 19 control patients that crossed over to single-agent bevacizumab, five experienced stable disease, and 1-year survival was 47%. Bleeding was the most prominent adverse event and was manifested in two distinct clinical patterns; minor mucocutaneous hemorrhage and major hemoptysis. Major hemoptysis was associated with squamous cell histology, tumor necrosis and cavitation, and disease location close to major blood vessels. CONCLUSION: Bevacizumab in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel improved overall response and time to progression in patients with advanced or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer. Patients with nonsquamous cell histology appear to be a subpopulation with improved outcome and acceptable safety risks.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of first-line, single-agent trastuzumab in women with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred fourteen women with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer were randomized to receive first-line treatment with trastuzumab 4 mg/kg loading dose, followed by 2 mg/kg weekly, or a higher 8 mg/kg loading dose, followed by 4 mg/kg weekly. RESULTS: The objective response rate was 26% (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.2% to 34.4%), with seven complete and 23 partial responses. Response rates in 111 assessable patients with 3+ and 2+ HER2 overexpression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) were 35% (95% CI, 24.4% to 44.7%) and none (95% CI, 0% to 15.5%), respectively. The clinical benefit rates in assessable patients with 3+ and 2+ HER2 overexpression were 48% and 7%, respectively. The response rates in 108 assessable patients with and without HER2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis were 34% (95% CI, 23.9% to 45.7%) and 7% (95% CI, 0.8% to 22.8%), respectively. Seventeen (57%) of 30 patients with an objective response and 22 (51%) of 43 patients with clinical benefit had not experienced disease progression at follow-up at 12 months or later. The most common treatment-related adverse events were chills (25% of patients), asthenia (23%), fever (22%), pain (18%), and nausea (14%). Cardiac dysfunction occurred in two patients (2%); both had histories of cardiac disease and did not require additional intervention after discontinuation of trastuzumab. There was no clear evidence of a dose-response relationship for response, survival, or adverse events. CONCLUSION: Single-agent trastuzumab is active and well tolerated as first-line treatment of women with metastatic breast cancer with HER2 3+ overexpression by IHC or gene amplification by FISH.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial investigated the safety and efficacy of two doses of bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor, plus fluorouracil (FU)/leucovorin (LV) versus FU/LV alone in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred four previously untreated patients with measurable metastatic colorectal cancer were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups: 36 to FU (500 mg/m(2))/LV (500 mg/m(2)) alone, 35 to FU/LV + low-dose bevacizumab (5 mg/kg every 2 weeks), and 33 to FU/LV + high-dose bevacizumab (10 mg/kg every 2 weeks). FU/LV was given weekly for the first 6 weeks of each 8-week cycle. RESULTS: Compared with the FU/LV control arm, treatment with bevacizumab (at both dose levels) plus FU/LV resulted in higher response rates (control arm, 17%, 95% confidence interval [CI], 7% to 34%; low-dose arm, 40%, 95% CI, 24% to 58%; high-dose arm, 24%, 95% CI, 12% to 43%), longer median time to disease progression (control arm, 5.2 months, 95% CI, 3.5 to 5.6 months; low-dose arm, 9.0 months, 95% CI, 5.8 to 10.9 months; high-dose arm, 7.2 months, 95% CI, 3.8 to 9.2 months), and longer median survival (control arm, 13.8 months; 95% CI, 9.1 to 23.0 months; low-dose arm, 21.5 months, 95% CI, 17.3 to undetermined; high-dose arm, 16.1 months; 95% CI, 11.0 to 20.7 months). After cross-over, two of 22 patients had a partial response to bevacizumab alone. Thrombosis was the most significant adverse event and was fatal in one patient. Hypertension, proteinuria, and epistaxis were other potential safety concerns. CONCLUSION: The encouraging results of this randomized trial support further study of bevacizumab 5 mg/kg plus chemotherapy as first-line therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer.