ASCO 2017: Bevacizumab Beyond Disease Progression in Advanced Lung Cancer
Based on the findings of the randomized phase III AvaALL trial, the use of bevacizumab beyond disease progression in patients with non–small cell lung cancer after first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab does not offer a survival benefit. Jaafar Bennouna, MD, of the University of Nantes Institut de Cancerologie de l’Ouest in France, presented the findings of this trial at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 9004) and discussed them in more detail with Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, of Washington University, in a video recorded at the ASCO Meeting for JNCCN 360.
Nearly 500 patients took part in this open-label trial. Initially these patients were treated with four to six cycles of chemotherapy plus bevacizumab and at least two cycles of maintenance bevacizumab. After first disease progression, they then received second-line standard of care therapy (docetaxel, pemetrexed, or erlotinib) with or without bevacizumab.
The median overall survival in those who were treated with continued bevacizumab plus chemotherapy was 11.9 months, compared with 10.2 months in those who did not receive continued bevacizumab. The hazard ratio was 0.84, and the P value was .1016. Although no new safety signals were identified, the primary endpoint of efficacy was not met.
